Line #10 YMMV/TheKeep


1	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: As mentioned on the main page under CultSoundtrack, the score by Music/TangerineDream is one of the film's most memorable aspects, in particular the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QWx54FwauQ opening theme]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsWk2aGYvxM "Stealing the Silver Cross"]][[note]]Originally from the band's album ''Logos Live''[[/note]].
2	* BadassDecay: A bit of a tossup. In the novel, [[SociopathicHero Glaeken]] murders a boat captain who betrays him and also kills two Romanian soldiers, but doesn't fight back against the Einsatzkommando and gets taken out rather easily. In the film, the captain never betrays him and he merely bullies his way past the Romanians, but the movie makes up for this by letting him openly resist the Einsatzkommando and even kill one of them.
3	* CompleteMonster:
4	** [[EldritchAbomination Radu Molasar]], the ancient, demonic force [[SealedEvilInACan sealed within the Keep]], [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduces itself]] by murdering the tomb raiders that discover it, going on to devour the life from countless German soldiers in the area and driving the local villagers slowly insane with its presence. Vying for its freedom to walk among the Earth again, Radu Molasar [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates]] a Jewish professor named Theodore Cuza by pretending to be a guardian for the Jewish people, restoring his body and stringing him along for his own ends. Radu Molasar kills the SS leader [[AssholeVictim Kaempffer]] and his entire garrison, and, when Cuza denies him his freedom upon seeing it for the monster it is, Radu Molasar returns him to his crippled body out of spite and attempts to murder both him and his daughter for their defiance.
5	** [[SociopathicSoldier SD Sturmbannführer Erich Kaempffer]] is a brutal Nazi enforcer dispatched to investigate the Keep in response to the German deaths. Kaempffer [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduces himself]] having three of the local villagers executed to curb "partisan" activity, ordering his men to execute more for each German death until they run out of villagers to kill. Giving free rein to his men to abuse the villagers and threatening to torture those who do not comply, Kaempffer ensures the compliance of Cuza when he's brought in to translate the Keep's message by threatening to have him and his daughter sent to the camps. A craven bully at heart, Kaempffer guns down his own associate Woermann to steal his cross, shortly before he is killed by the malignant force [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters he himself is little different from]].
6	* CreepyAwesome; Molasar all the way, particularly his faux outrage at the Nazis invading his land, and his chilling introspective delivery of every line he gives.
7	-->'''Molasar:''' Where am I from? I am... from YOU!
8	* CultClassic: Despite going through terrible series of ExecutiveMeddling, which turned the plot into incomprehensible mess, along with bombing hard in cinemas and being buried by Paramount to pretend it never happend, the film still gained a very strong and dedicated following. The main reason why there were [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes any tapes to circulate at all]] for ''decades'' was due to the cult following.
9	* HilariousInHindsight:
10	** In this movie Creator/IanMcKellen plays a Jewish man during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII going off the deep end using supernatural means to eliminate the Nazis. Fifteen years later he plays a former [[Film/AptPupil Nazi in hiding.]] A further two years later, he plays a Holocaust Survivor whom has [[Film/XMen1 powers beyond mortal men and goes off the deep end once again for a good cause.]] Adding to the irony, many people have compared to the design of Molasar to [[Film/XMenApocalypse Apocalypse]]...one of the movies that [=McKellen=] didn't appear in.
11	** At the end of the film, he gives an epic YouShallNotPass speech to [[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing a demonic entity.]]
12	* JustHereForGodzilla: Quite a number of people watch the film solely for Music/TangerineDream's [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic epic score]]. That or Creator/MichaelMann's direction and the gorgeous visuals that come with it, regardless of his OldShame stance on the film.
13	* PeripheryDemographic: Music/TangerineDream fandom, due to their fantastic score for the movie. And due to the premise and the plot, it also has a second life as a fan-made ''TabletopGame/HollowEarthExpedition'' and ''TabletopGame/SavageWorlds'' modules, since all it takes is re-dating the setting few years earlier (and in case of SW, that's not even needed).
14	* RetroactiveRecognition: Neither Creator/GabrielByrne nor Creator/IanMcKellen were well-known to most film-goers at the time (though [=McKellen=] at least was already well-established as a stage actor).
15	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Despite author F. Paul Wilson deriding the design as a bastard son of [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] and ComicBook/{{the Incredible Hulk}}, the [[https://youtu.be/EaIPvjpKa3c costuming and makeup designs for Molasar]] remain very convincing for the era the film was made, and still looks impressive compared to the modern-era motion capture effects
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Context YMMV / TheKeep