One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.
Acting
McKellen's magnetic monster; Renfro's chilling boy-next-door rot
Direction
Singer's clinical framing makes evil feel domestic, almost cozy
Writing
King's novella sharpened into surgical dread
Director
Bryan Singer
Brad Renfro
Todd Bowden
Ian McKellen
Kurt Dussander
Bruce Davison
Richard Bowden
Elias Koteas
Archie
Joe Morton
Dan Richler
David Schwimmer
Edward French
Jan Tříska
Isaac Weiskopf
Michael Byrne
Ben Kramer
Ann Dowd
Monica Bowden
Heather McComb
Becky Trask
James Karen
Victor Bowden
Joshua Jackson
Joey
Mickey Cottrell
Sociology Teacher
Michael Reid MacKay
Nightmare Victim
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Brad Renfro was only 14 during filming; Ian McKellen requested script changes to make their dynamic even more ambiguously intimate.
The film's production was plagued by lawsuits from extras alleging Singer created a hostile environment — a dark meta-layer given the film's subject of hidden monstrosity.
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