[KING'S CORNER] You Know They Got a Hell of a Band (2006)

You Know They Got a Hell of a Band (Nightmares & Dreamscapes) - King's Corner Review

Welcome to King's Corner. A recurring series of reviews based on the film and TV adaptations of Stephen King's novels and collections, reviewed and released in order of the original source material publishing date.

Director: Mike Robe

Starring: Kim Delaney, Steven Weber, Erin Wright, William McNamara, Joey Sagal

Written by: Mike Robe

Produced by: Jeffrey M. Hayes, John J. McMahon

Cinematography by: Ben Nott

Original Score by: Jeff Beal

Synopsis:

A husband and wife are road tripping and take a wrong turn on the highway only to end up in a town where it's both Heaven and Hell all at once and everything is both what it seems like and not what it seems like at the same time.

Thoughts:

Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Otis Redding. Are these names that you would associate with horror? Probably not but Stephen King sure as hell found a way to try and make them scary. He has always been very vocal in his work about his love of music, particularly rock n roll (and lately Lou Bega's 'Mambo No. 5' which put a humorous strain on his marriage). In many of his books a particular section or chapter would begin with a lyric to set the mood for what is to come and some of his work has focussed on musicians as characters like Jamie, the main character of his novel 'Revival'. Outside of the likes of the fictional singer Larry Underwood from 'The Stand' he has rarely written about specific real life singers until the release of his short story, 'You Know They Got a Hell of a Band'. 

The story was first published in the 1992 horror anthology 'Shock Rock' before being added to King's short story collection 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes' the following year. The story follows a young couple on a road trip travelling through Oregon. On their journey they come across a strange town called Rock and Roll Heaven which appears to be inhabited by dead rock stars. In the note section of 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes' King states how the setup to this story is almost identical to 'Children of the Corn' and 'Rainy Season'; only the religious cult of children and the toads are replaced by famous deceased inhabitants of the town. King goes on to say this is intentional as it plays around with the idea of how musicians use similar chord structures but produce different music. In his story King wanted to draw attention to how so many of these icons died before their time, playing around with the idea of the "27 Club" but by that same token he wanted to strip away the romanticism associated with it. 

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The story was one of eight from King that was chosen to be part of the short lived TV show, 'Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From The Stories Of Stephen King'. It acted as the season finale for the series. The episode was written and directed by Mike Robe who previously made the TV movie, 'Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story'. That movie follows a young rock band from the 1950's trying to make it big and Robe's work on the project is what probably got him the job on this episode but rather than glorifying the musicians of that era, he had the unenviable task of trying to make them scary. 

As the final episode of the short lived series, it is hard to know when it was shot in terms of the shooting order of the series but it certainly feels like it was shot last as it comes across like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of the budget. It continues the visual style from most of the other episodes of the series but there is no flair to the shot compositions other than the times it becomes arch with its use of Dutch angles but the utilisation of these is akin to something like 'Are You Afraid of the Dark'. There are some sequences that go to black and white retaining just one colour which feels completely pointless and distracting as it adds nothing to the episode in terms of tension or atmosphere. 

For over half of the episode husband and wife, Mary (Kim Delaney) and Clark Rivingham (Steven Weber) are in their car which gives way to some of the most terrible CGI rear screen projection you're likely to see in any piece of television from that era. It may add to the idea of artifice which revolves around the idea of what the town Rock and Roll Heaven is but it just comes off as being shoddy. These shoddy effects extend to the town itself. When Mary and Clark first see it from their car, Clark describes it as looking like something from a Norman Rockwell painting but the version we see looks like a Windows 98 screensaver. The only thing that drags you through this unintentional horror show is Jeff Beal's playful score which is in the vein of Danny Elfman and is one of the only things that truly aligns with the mischievous tone of the source material. 

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Speaking of the source material, the relationship between Mary and Clark is a bit toxic (in the same way as the couple in Children of the Corn). Just like that adaptation those sharp ends have been sanded off for something more generic and uninteresting which doesn't give Delaney or Weber much to do in their respective roles. She initially is laid back and wants to relax whilst he is looking for adventure on the road. When they reach the town he is enamoured by the air of nostalgia whereas she suspects something sinister and wants to leave. Despite this conflict between the two, there is nothing further explored between the two leaving the audience with two uninspiring leads that spin their wheels throughout the episode. 

The famous deceased musicians that inhabit the town include Janis Joplin (Erin Wright), Buddy Holly (Kristian Schmid), Roy Orbison (Tony Rickards) and the king himself, Elvis Presley (Joey Sagal) as the mayor. There's a certain glee to see which musician is going to appear next as they enter the show with a wink and a nod to let you know who they. However some of the costuming and accents are as convincing as a contestant on 'Stars in Their Eyes'. It does become very tiresome, very quickly as everytime they appear on screen someone says, “hey look it's Jimi Hendrix" or something along those lines. Your intelligence is tested further when they play a snippet of their music on the jukebox in the local diner. It's all too hackneyed to evoke any sense of real horror. Buddy Holly bleeds from his eyes and Janis Joplin vomits up maggots but it all feels contrived and tiresome to the point that once you get to the end you don't care about the fate of any of the characters. 

'You Know They Got a Hell of a Band' never really felt like the kind of story that needed an adaptation. When you read it, you can tell that King is just riffing on his love of rock music in a darkly comic manner similar to an episode of 'The Twilight Zone' but this adaptation doesn't fare much better as it doesn't get much of a tune from the source material. In staying too reverential to the structure of the source material it delivers a very weak and uninspired piece of television. 

Verdict: ⭐️½

-Joseph McElroy