...being the title of an HP Lovecraft/August Dereleth book, seems to describe the film quite well: a story of an unfathomable tragedy and mystery. Mark Pennington did the right thing by keeping the motivations of the entity
absolutely unclear-perhaps they were unknowable and UNEXPLAINABLE.
Those who want a movie to lead you by the hand with a detailed explanation,
with a tidied up happy ending, go watch TeeVee. I watched SIGNS in the same week as this. SIGNS was so utterly forgettable,
cliched and ridiculous that ive already nearly forgotten it...TeeVee style filmaking transposed onto the big screen. The first time I saw TMP, i thought it an OK, if not *slightly* overly stylized ...what-Horror film? No. Docu-Horro-Sci-Fi...no... Cut out about 10% of the MTV tricks and the film would have been perfect- My second viewing of the film made me realize that Pennington made a strong
attempt at telling a well-written, mature, non-cliched LOVE STORY. No. Make
that a LOSS STORY, of which the unexplained was a strong backdrop, and not
just the main theme. As the film is viewed again one begins to see and to feel, thanks to the excellent score by Tomandandy, the sense of grief and pain that Klein holds inside. Gere underplays this, so it is hard to see his anguish until he breaks down and gives up on his search for meaning-as he looks tearfully at his wife's photo one final time... The music score signals you from the studio logo onwards, the fact that you are entering an eerie, uncharted universe, one with no pat, coy explanations or easy answers. I am amazed that TMP turned out as well as it did. Adult Horror. The feeling of sadness, dread, mystery and tragedy grow until the final
crescendo of the collapsing bridge. The character of the Sheriff was played to perfection. Here was a woman who
grew up around these simple people and their rising unease, and she did not let it get the best of her. And she emanated such pure love, both for the people
around her, AND Klein, that she literally shone. My only gripe was the 'you could see it coming'-"Wake up # 37" ending, with the sudden !OMINOUS MUSIC! cue. I would have had her withdraw and
reflect, tears welling up in her eyes as an echoing voice in her head made it dawn on her that she was the fortunate one referred to in her own dream.
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