Storm of the Century

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Storm of the Century
Cover of the published screenplay
Genre	Drama, Horror, Fantasy, Thriller
Created by	Stephen King
Starring	Timothy Daly Colm Feore Debrah Farentino Casey Siemaszko Jeffrey DeMunn
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	3
Production
Location(s)	Little Tall Island, Maine
Running time	256 min.
Broadcast
Original run	February 14, 1999 – February 28, 1999

Storm of the Century, alternatively known as Stephen King's Storm of the Century, is a 1999 horror TV miniseries written by Stephen King and directed by Craig R. Baxley. Promotional material for the miniseries claimed that it was King's first ever story written exclusively for a miniseries, but was actually his second after the not as well known Golden Years. King would later publish the screenplay in book form, with the screenplay format intact. The movie is rated PG-13.

Plot

A very powerful blizzard hits the fictional small town of Little Tall Island (also the setting of King's novel Dolores Claiborne) off the coast of Maine. While trying to deal with the storm, the citizens of the town are visited by Andre Linoge (Colm Feore), a menacing stranger who apparently knows all of the townsfolk's darkest secrets (among which are abortion, adultery, growing marijuana, and gay-bashing). After having killed one of the town's residents (Martha Clarendon), Linoge is jailed. Even though he is kept in jail by the town's trusted constable, Mike Anderson (Timothy Daly), Linoge is somehow able to force people to commit suicide or kill others from within his cell. Linoge constantly repeats "Give me what I want and I'll go away" through his victims as well as to his victims. Interestingly, although the adults are terrified of the stranger, all the children are drawn to him.

In a dream, the townspeople see themselves walking into the sea two-by-two with the word Croatoan (a reference to the colony of Roanoke) carved on their heads. Eventually, Mike finds out that Linoge is an anagram of the demon Legion and agrees to organize the townspeople so they can hear his demands.

What Linoge desires is an heir, one of the eight small children that he had incapacitated early on in the miniseries — someone to "carry on his work when he can no longer do it himself", as although Linoge's life spans millennia, he is not immortal. Any of the eight children, he states, will suit him. After he leaves, a strong argument breaks out in the town hall. Mike Anderson wants the townsfolk to unitedly reject Linoge's request, saying it would be better for all of the adults and children to die than to give Linoge a child to raise. Mike asks "how can they give a child to that man?" His argument, however, falls upon deaf ears, as the townspeople not only fear Linoge, but also fear the possibilities of Linoge killing the children (as Ursula says about her daughter, "Better she live with a bad man than be dead"). After they vote almost unanimously (except for Mike) to accept Linoge's demand, he has one parent of each child draw a magical stone from a bag he has (the stones seen earlier in Ralphie's possession). The child selected is Ralph Anderson, and after contemptuously thanking the town, he departs, assuming in the process his ancient form. Mike chases after him before falling on his knees outside the church, to no avail.

In the film's epilogue, Mike explains (in voiceover narration) that the community of Little Tall, which specializes in keeping secrets, has tried to heal from the traumatic events by attempting to return to a state of normalcy (without complete success, as several characters die in the following years from psychological issues relating to the event). The epilogue reveals that Mike, angry that the town (and his wife) was willing to sacrifice his child to appease pure evil, divorces Molly and leaves town. Molly, who is now remarried to Mike's deputy, has been going to therapy, in which she continues to deny what really happened to her son but admits (for reasons she refuses to specify) that Mike was right to leave her. Mike, meanwhile, has returns to school and becomes a federal marshal stationed in San Francisco. Years later when Mike was out for groceries, he spots Linoge and Ralphie on a busy street. Mike calls out to his son and they stop to look back at him. Ralphie makes eye-contact with him and bares his teeth to him; they are fangs, showing that Ralphie is no longer human. Mike is horrified to see this. However, before Mike has a chance to react, he loses them both in the crowd, and they vanish down a long alley. In a closing voiceover, Mike says he considered calling Molly to tell her but "in the daylight, I know better."

See also

• List of Stephen King films

External links

• Storm of the Century at the Internet Movie Database
• Allmovie entry for Storm of the Century