By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.
“He is a man filled with a demon lost in the dimension that surrounds our world. He thinks our world and his are the same. He knows your greatest strength is your love and he hates you for that. He has been trying to pull this family apart and he will continue to try. If he succeeds he will possess Carol Anne and destroy your spirit.”
If you say Poltergeist to the younger generation today they will look at you like you had two heads. But despite emcouraging them to go watch the Poltergeist movies (well the forst two anyway), they are missing out on one of movie history’s most terrifying and iconic villains ever.
Reverned Henry Kane is the human guise of the Beast and intent on claiming Carol Anne as his own like in the first movie. Having been brought up in a religious household, priests popping in at all hours was nothing new to us. It did mean however that we would never get to see the end of whatever episode of Charlie’s Angels or Starsky and Hutch we were watching at the time because there was no Skyplus or internet streaming sites. A priest’s arrival to your home commanded an unpoken respect and certain degree of bowing before him as a man of God, not physically but inwardly. You were on your best behaviour, no cursing and all of your focus was on him as tea and biscuits were consumed even though you were itching to turn the television back on. Indeed the Church’s word was law at a certain part of history so thank God that power didn’t exist when Henry Kane came on the scene. Never has religion been more terrifying.
Played by the late Julian Beck, the impact Kane made is not to be underestimated. This is remarkable as Beck was actually terminally ill during filming so the fact he delivered so beautifully is to be applauded. There is something not right when you look at Kane. He is thin but seems like a kindly old reverend but all of this is offset by that sharklike smile of his. It is almost as if there are too many teeth for that head but given the Beast within, it is one of the few times I’ve felt uneasy by someone smiling. His whole demeanour is that of a kind, charming old man who just wants to preach the word of God but we as the audience know this is far from the truth. Even his clothes seem out of time. The first time we see him is when Carol Anne is sitting at the kitchen table drawing although she doesn’t know who he is or why she is drawing him. The drawing is as terrifying as the man himself. When Carol Anne first sees him at the mall no one else does as people walk right through him. He introduces himself but mom Diane (JoBeth Williams) intervenes. His voice is almost sing song with that southern drawl. But the most terrifying encounter is when Henry Kane arrives at the Freeling home. It is cinematic brilliance from the initial view of his shadow walking the sidewalk and quietly singing a hymn. Jt is hypnotic and his face is almost misshapen. Given Beck’s gaunt appearance and sunken eyes due to his stomach cancer, it adds so much to his perfomance ironically. It is rare to create such a chilling entrance especially in broad daylight and the sun is shining. Suddenly it begins to rain. Kane is focused on Carol Anne in the garden. He sings with every step but the little girl is mesmerised until dragged onto the proch by her mother. There Kane faces all four of the Freeling family. The dog runs away whining at his touch and his request to come ina nd speak to the family about God is refused by Steve. They will talk on the porch. Carol Anne feels ill and is taken into the house. The flicker of frustration on Kane’s face is quickly replaced by that shark smile.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/8WdoyVjYvIw
But this slow, creepy stroll is a prelude for the electric exchange between Kane and Steve Freeling (Expendables Craig T Nelson). It is a battle for the soul of Carol Anne between techniclally two fathers. There is a vampire element here as Kane cannot come in without being invited and his eyes bulge hynotically as he tries to get rid of the obstacle that is Steve. This is where Kane tries to manipulate Steve by preying on his fears for his family’s safety.
As the poltergeist activity has started up again, an Indian shaman named Taylor lives at the Freeling house using his abilities to keep them safe. Kane tries to discredit Taylor as a charlatan claiming the Reverned helps families in crisis against such men. As we learn later Kane is mesmerising, capable of influencing entire crowds to do his bidding without question. He gets into Steve’s head and his fears about not being man enough to protect his family strike home. At the same time his presence is triggering visions in Diane’s head of Kane smiling in a cavern while people die in despair around him. Kane is earnest, he is sincere and almost persuades Steve to let him inside the house but when Steve rejects his plea, the facade falls away. Kane shouts out that they are all going to die and in a plsit second becomes mild mannered again before leaving. As Steve watches both the rain and Kane disappear.
It is later revealed that beneath the Freeling’s old home is the actual chamber Diane sees in her visions and it is filled with bodies including Kane’s. He was head of an apocalyptic cult that believed the end of days were coming and led his followers to this place and sealed them in under the guise of the promised land. But when the day came and went of the supposed end of days, Kane kept them all there to die. He became the monster he is and controls all the souls of his followers. Carol Anne was one of those souls that died that day but she escaped and now he wants her back.
Since he cannot persude Steve, he deides to control him. Steve gets drunk and swallows a worm that is possessed by Kane. Only Diane’s love for him breaks the hold forcing Steve to vomit up the worm which now has Kane’s face. it is grotesque to say the least as it goes down Steve’s throat and worse when vomited back up. Craig T Nelson brilliantly echoes Kane’s mannerisms especially when he begins to sing the same hymn Kane did earlier in the movie. It then becomes a tentacled monster which Steve defeats but another indicator just how powerful Kane really is. There is only one way to defeat him. As a family they must travel to the Other Side and fight Kane there with Taylor and psychic Tangina (from the first movie). Diane has rossed into the afterlife while still alive so she can move between them which explains her visions of Kane’s horror.
Returning to the scene of the first movie and their wrecked home, the Freelings travel across where Kane is a misshapen monster. Only by spearing him while on this side do they defeat him. Kane does not know love so is helpless against the power of a family and their love for each other.
But Kane would return in Poltergeist 3 when Carol Anne is being cared for in Chicago by relatives. This time Kane was played by Corey Burton in heavy makeup. But it wasn’t the same. While many think Poltergeist 3 without the Freelings was a mistake (which it was) Beck’s Kane was so unique and so frightening they could never hope to replicate it. Thye didn’t and the movie bombed. Perhaps a better course would have been to give Kane nother guise.
Julain Beck died on 14th September 1985 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York before Poltergeist 2 was released. While the critics were not endeared by the sequel, there was no doubt that Beck’s role as Reverend Kane was nothing short of classic. He gave the character everything and if you wth the sne again where he tries to get into the Freeling house by manipulating Steve, his body language is reptilian as he shifts from nasty to nice. Kane will reign forever as the scariest of villains and singing hymns will never be the same again.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 