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Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams, William Sanderson, Chris Demetral, Robert Hy Gorman ... see more see more... , Nancy McLaughlin , Duncan McLeod , Bentley Mitchum , Robert Rusler , Nicholas Sadler , Tasia Valenza , Don Ruffin , William Kuhlke , Matt Nolan , Timothy Graham

This adaptation of Stephen King's thriller is about a man who returns to his hometown after 27 years. Soon he is tormented by ghosts of the dead teens who killed his brother years before. ~ Kristie Ha... read more read more...ssen, Rovi

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47% liked it

10,316 ratings

R, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Tom McLoughlin

Release Date: May 7, 1991

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DVD Release Date: October 1, 1999

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Stats: 307 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (307)

  • blkbomb
    October 17, 2011
    blkbomb
    Vinnie Vincent: You always wanted to be like your brother didn't you Jimmy?
    Richard Lawson: Dead. 
    David North: VERY dead. 

    If PBS attempted to make a horror film, it would come out a lot like Sometimes They Come Back. This movie was pretty much torture to watch. Okay it is a ma... read morede for tv movie, but I don't care; at least make it somewhat enjoyable. I don't like to call movies corny because it's an overused statement, but damn is this movie corny. 

    The flashbacks that Jim has of him and his brother are simultaneously embarrassing to watch and hilarious. The dialogue is just so fake between them. As for the rest of the movie, it isn't as bad as the flashbacks, but still horrible. I haven't read the short story by Stephen King, but I highly doubt that this captured it like he wrote it. 

    The movie has a lot of King elements that he uses in so many of his stories. A man comes back to a town where he lived as a child like in Salem's Lot and Dolores Claiborne. There's a gang of hoodlums that tormented him and his brother as kids like in IT and Stand By Me. The whole plot is about overcoming something from the past that is effecting you presently and if you don't deal without it forever. I guess by those plot details, it reminds me most of IT. 

    Sometimes They Come Back is down there with the worst of the King adaptions that I have seen. Not quite to the level of Dreamcatcher, but still almost unwatchable. The cast is bad, especially the actress who plays his wife; I'd write her name, but honestly I don't care enough to even look at the credits.
  • allan913
    September 14, 2009
    allan913
    An instant classic. One of the greatest horror movies ever made and the greatest Stephen King adaptation ever. A terifying, riveting and mind-blwoing rollar-coaster ride of a thrill-machine.
  • matertenebraum
    July 27, 2009
    matertenebraum
    This film is a classic 'Stephen King' film. The scenes from this film I mostly enjoyed was Jimmy Normans flashbacks from his childhood memories 27 years before as well as very cool and brutal Nick Sadler (Vinnie Vincent) and Richard Lawson(Robert Rusler) while slaying Jimmys stud... read moreents one by one until they got they're own personal revenge on Jimmy for when they were killed 27 years before. A performance well done! What I liked about this film was the grimness/ darkness of the movie, which brings a shiver in my skin every time I watch it. This feeling brings upon me a sense of realism, as though what happened to Jimmy Norman as a child when his brother was murdered by the 4 gangsters and when they came back to haunt him years later has actually happened in real life; Which is amazing because all this would never happen in real life, other than the part when Jimmys brother was murdered.

    I found this film both scary and humorous (in one) for there were scenes that I didn't know whether to laugh at or scream at (ie. when the 3 gangsters turned into burnt corpses in their car just before they killed Chip Conway/ and the way Billy Sterns body was positioned and the way his face looked when he fell off his bike and landed in the ditch under the bridge. If you haven't seen this film, I suggest you should, as you'll be laughing and screaming all the way through it.
  • deano
    January 27, 2008
    deano
    Chilling thriller gets good mileage from Stephen King's book. Tim Matheson is superb as the high school teacher who returns to his hometown 30 years after his brother died in a freak accident. The bullies responsible, who also died in the accident, come back one by one to seek re... read morevenge against Matheson.
  • drblood
    June 24, 2007
    drblood
    A thoroughly entertaining ghost story with enough horror to please even the most bloodthirsty.
  • superclerk25
    February 26, 2007
    superclerk25
    Stephen King movie. Made for tv I think. Not too bad.
  • DrLappos
    July 30, 2007
    DrLappos
    Watchable..........
  • ileo
    March 29, 2007
    ileo
    A favorite.
  • jnhblueangel1885
    February 21, 2012
    jnhblueangel1885
    Takes a completely wrong approach to the film while giving away too much at the start. It's a complete waste of talent and money.
  • donibscott
    June 1, 2010
    donibscott
    Stephen King does not disappoint in this movie. It takes you from one extreme of emotion to another. There is a good story line, and the action in the movie to back it up. A must see if you are already a fan of horror.

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Critic Reviews

Scott Weinberg
October 10, 2001
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Sometimes movies suck. Full Review

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Sometimes They Come Back Trivia

  • Sometimes They Come _______ to the Future  Answer »
  • What Stephen King short story became a motion picture in 1991?  Answer »
  • What Movie is this Quote from? "What is it about the dark that makes you afraid?"   Answer »
  • What Movie is this Plot Line from? Jon Porter must once again fight demons back from the dead who are seeking to possess his teenaged daughter in this film.   Answer »
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