Storm of the Century

It stands as King's best and most effective TV project to date. Best of all is the human dimension of the drama. Where some King minis have built to fantastic payoffs so preposterous as to be laughable, this one uses his bag of tricks and special effects to pose a moral dilemma. The absorbing climax finds its ultimate horror not in a monster, but in the ethical choices of average people. [13 Feb 1999, p.1E]

As chilling and gripping as any Stephen King film since Stanley Kubrick's classic movie of ''The Shining,'' this six-hour mini-series works the way the most enduring horror tales do, stretching back to Edgar Allan Poe: by blending supernatural events with purely human psychological terror. The first King work written directly for television , Storm of the Century includes knowing echoes of ''The Shining'' and of Shirley Jackson's story ''The Lottery.'' Nervous laughter is also built in, and jumpy viewers can use every bit of it.

The film, which begins tomorrow night on ABC, is classic storytelling. It's Stephen King as spellbinder, gathering us around the prime-time campfire -- enthralling, dazzling and scaring our pants off before sending us to bed afraid to turn off the lights. [13 Feb 1999]

The Stephen King miniseries on ABC have underwhelmed me. I found The Shining tarnished, The Langoliers laughable, The Stand rickety, It exhausting and The Tommyknockers oh so knockable. Storm of the Century, however, wowed me. It is the most effective King miniseries the network has presented. In this genuinely unsettling epic, good and evil face off on a small Maine island pounded by a nor'easter in 1989. [14 Feb 1999]

King scares up a devil of a storm. Stephen King's mission in life is to scare us all to death. And he does a pretty good job of it, too, this week on ABC. [14 Feb 1999]

A somewhat intellectually provocative morality tale. [14 Feb 1999, p.F01]

"Storm" is classic King, scary as heck and loaded with dark, psychological twists and turns. [14 Feb 1999, p.D8]

But the Storm King doesn’t disappoint at all. As we have come to expect from his novels and his mini-series, he is Walt Disney’s Evil Twin.

A morality play disguised as horror, this three-part miniseries should win over a few remaining Stephen King holdouts while reinforcing the devotion of legions of fans.

King should write for TV more often.

King's first original mini-series script is a marathon of communal anxiety with a spooky moral: we are ready to mortgage our children for our own restless comfort.

His sly humor regularly saves his epic battles of good versus evil from being one-dimensional, and "Storm of the Century'' is no exception.

It's creepy, gory, and chilling. [14 Feb 1999, p.TV6]

Genuinely creepy. [12 Feb 1999, p.41]

King, who wrote this directly for the TV screen, not as a novel, is a master of psychological terror, and Storm of the Century delivers plenty, with several fine performances from a huge cast. At the same time, it is not too violent nor too bloody, just a night too long. [12 Feb 1999]

Packs a sinister wallop. It's a ripping good winter's tale. [12 Feb 1999, p.1D]

Originally aired as a miniseries on ABC, Stephen King's Storm Of The Century has an interesting story to tell and takes a long time to tell it. Too long, really, at more than four hours, but for those up to the task, there's enough going on to recommend it.

Diverting but stretched-out...While entertaining at times, Storm of the Century, too, rises barely midway up the horror scale. If you’re looking for a major fright, in other words, look elsewhere.

Ultimately, "Storm of the Century" becomes rather predictable. [14 Feb 1999]

"Hell is repetition," Linoge tells the town. Too bad King didn't take those words to heart before he put us through this dragged-out Storm. [12 Feb 1999]

It's edge-of-the-couch good in some spots. The trouble is that it has too many spots. So many that the title should have been changed to "Story That Lasts a Century." When you're done with all six hours of "Storm" you'll be exhausted. And if you're not one of King's rabid fans who will forgive him anything, you'll have a similar thought: "Gee, that was pretty good. Could have done it in two hours, but I'll live."