Storm (1987 film)
Encyclopedia
Storm is a 1987 Canadian drama film
and first feature starring David Palffy
and Stan Kane
directed by David Winning
. The movie was the debut of director Winning. Two college students on a survival weekend in the wilderness cross paths with three aging criminals looking for treasure buried decades earlier. Made in 24 days on a budget of about $70,000 CDN. The original 81-minute movie was filmed near Bragg Creek, west of Calgary, in the summer of 1983, with an initial cast and crew of 10 people. It was released by Warner Home Video
on September 1, 1988. Director Winning appears in a small cameo as the younger villain.
and the United States
. This addition met with mixed reviews as Globe and Mail author Stephen Godfrey wrote in his “A Storm Warning” article. He said “the scenes are as refreshing as the rest of the film and show Winning’s talent for creating suspense and sympathy. But the structure of the film is now unbalanced; in its original form, Storm was an elaborate tease, a cat-and-mouse game that escalated gradually...” The new segments were filmed in the winter of January 1987 in Bragg Creek and Calgary, Alberta with the original cast.
in an August 28, 1985 review called it a remarkable new thriller and a comic combination of Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Deliverance
. Peter Goddard of the Toronto Star
wrote Winning’s sense of movement within a scene is already masterly. He could make ice melting seem exciting. And Fred Haeseker
in a November 1987 Calgary Herald
review said it’s a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of time-honored shock effects and rite-of-passage clichés, seen with a sense of humor that is usually missing from the pictures that spawned them.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
and first feature starring David Palffy
David Palffy
David Palffy is a Canadian film and television actor of Welsh and Hungarian descent. He has a degree from the University of Calgary . He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and was cast in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. Palffy has many television/film credits as an actor and as a...
and Stan Kane
Stan Kane
Stan Kane is a Canadian / Scottish actor who is best known for his role as the menacing villain Jim in David Winning's first feature film Storm....
directed by David Winning
David Winning
David Winning is a Canadian and American dual Citizen film and television director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and occasional actor. Although Winning has worked in numerous film and TV genres, his name is most commonly associated with science fiction, thrillers and drama.-Biography:Winning...
. The movie was the debut of director Winning. Two college students on a survival weekend in the wilderness cross paths with three aging criminals looking for treasure buried decades earlier. Made in 24 days on a budget of about $70,000 CDN. The original 81-minute movie was filmed near Bragg Creek, west of Calgary, in the summer of 1983, with an initial cast and crew of 10 people. It was released by Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
on September 1, 1988. Director Winning appears in a small cameo as the younger villain.
Cast
- David PalffyDavid PalffyDavid Palffy is a Canadian film and television actor of Welsh and Hungarian descent. He has a degree from the University of Calgary . He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and was cast in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. Palffy has many television/film credits as an actor and as a...
as Lowell Stein - Stan KaneStan KaneStan Kane is a Canadian / Scottish actor who is best known for his role as the menacing villain Jim in David Winning's first feature film Storm....
as Jim - Tom Schioler as Booker Lewis
- Harry Freedman as Burt
- Lawrence ElionLawrence ElionLawrence Elion was a Canadian / British actor who was best known for his role as the hapless first victim Stanley in David Winning's debut feature film Storm....
as Stanley - Stacy Christensen as Cobi
- James HutchisonJames HutchisonJames Hutchison may refer to:*James Hutchison , former Mayor of Dover, Delaware, from 1994 to 2004*James Hutchison , member of the Australian Federal House of Representatives...
as The Hostage - Sean O'Byrne as Danny
New version
23 minutes of additional material added in 1987 was requested by Golan-Globus Films to bring the film up to feature-length for theatrical distribution in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This addition met with mixed reviews as Globe and Mail author Stephen Godfrey wrote in his “A Storm Warning” article. He said “the scenes are as refreshing as the rest of the film and show Winning’s talent for creating suspense and sympathy. But the structure of the film is now unbalanced; in its original form, Storm was an elaborate tease, a cat-and-mouse game that escalated gradually...” The new segments were filmed in the winter of January 1987 in Bragg Creek and Calgary, Alberta with the original cast.
Distribution and theatrical release
Storm was picked up by Cannon Films Cannon International for worldwide distribution in December 1986. The Canadian theatrical release was handled separately by Thomas Howe Associates of Vancouver, Canada with a premiere in Calgary November 26, 1987 followed by a Canadian theatrical run. Storm also ran theatrically in Los Angeles in December 1989 to qualify for the Academy Awards and was reviewed positively by the LA Times.Reception
Kevin Thomas, of the LA Times called the movie taut, ambitious and darkly comic in a 1989 review. He said the film worked very effectively as a comment on the male psyche and how lethal the mix of fear and aggression can be when men have a need to prove their masculinity for reasons imagined or real.. Globe and Mail writer Jay ScottJay Scott
Jay Scott was the pen name of Jeffrey Scott Beaven , a Canadian film critic.Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Scott fled to Canada in 1969 as a draft dodger. He settled in Calgary, and began writing film reviews for the Calgary Albertan a few years later...
in an August 28, 1985 review called it a remarkable new thriller and a comic combination of Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Deliverance
Deliverance
Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...
. Peter Goddard of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
wrote Winning’s sense of movement within a scene is already masterly. He could make ice melting seem exciting. And Fred Haeseker
Fred Haeseker
Fred Haeseker was the film critic and entertainment writer at the Calgary Herald from 1979 until 1999. During this time he wrote hundreds or reviews on current releases as well as news about the local filmmaking scene in Calgary; including articles on the first efforts of director David Winning ...
in a November 1987 Calgary Herald
Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
review said it’s a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of time-honored shock effects and rite-of-passage clichés, seen with a sense of humor that is usually missing from the pictures that spawned them.
External links
- Storm trailer at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....