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Nomads (1986 film)

October 20, 2023

Nomads is a 1986 American horror film written and directed by John McTiernan, adapted from the novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. It stars Pierce Brosnan, Lesley-Anne Down, and Anna Maria Monticelli. The story involves a French anthropologist who is an expert on nomads. He stumbles across a group of urban nomads who turn out to be more than he expected.

Nomads
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn McTiernan
Written byJohn McTiernan
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyStephen Ramsey
Edited byMichael John Bateman
Music byBill Conti
Distributed byAtlantic Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • March 7, 1986 (1986-03-07)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.3 million (US)[1]

Plot Edit

Jean-Charles Pommier, a French anthropologist, dies violently and painfully. The moment he dies in the emergency room of a Los Angeles city hospital, the physician treating him, Dr. Eileen Flax, becomes possessed with his memories. Dr. Flax relives the last week of Pommier's life until the moment of his death.

After travelling abroad and studying the religious beliefs and spiritual rituals of non-Western cultures, Pommier finally settles down with his patient wife Niki in Los Angeles to teach at UCLA. His home in the suburbs is vandalized one night by a gang of street punks who travel about in a black van. They are very interested in his house, and he finds that they have built a macabre shrine in his garage to a murderer who recently killed two girls who lived in the house. He studies them because their subculture exhibits similarities to the ones he has studied.

He begins to observe them, following them and covertly photographing them. He develops the pictures and is puzzled to find that they do not show up in them. He realizes that they are actually the Einwetok, demonic Inuit trickster spirits that take human form, commit acts of violence and mischief, and who are attracted to places of violence and death. They become aware of him, so they plan to claim his soul to keep their existence a secret.

Dr. Flax wakes in the bedroom of Pommier's house in the arms of his wife. They try to flee the city to escape the nomads, but the street fills with an army of leather-clad bikers and punks. They storm the house, forcing the women to flee to the attic. One of the nomads, Dancing Mary, breaks into the attic but leaves after scaring them.

Much later, the nomads have left the house, and the women leave the attic to find everything in the house destroyed. Upon packing their bags, they flee the city. The next day, as they are driving down a back road, a leather-clad man on a motorcycle rides around them. Flax warns Niki that whatever she sees, she should not stop. As they drive past them, they are horrified to see that it is Pommier, who is now one of the nomads.

Cast Edit

Production Edit

Gérard Depardieu was considered to be the lead before role went to Brosnan. It was Brosnan's first lead role in a film, and he welcomed the opportunity to play a character so different from Remington Steele.[2]

Lesley-Anne Down was paid $250,000 and was cast by producer Elliott Kastner. She says that McTiernan "was exceptionally hostile toward me... He didn’t want me anywhere near that film. He wanted to go more Hitchcockian and have some blonde, Yankee whatever." She says that he was having an affair with Anna-Maria Monticelli. Down thought some of the film "was very good, and some of it was plainly f**king stupid. I believe, had he gone for more of a supernatural or ghostly situation, and not so much "Here are these people who do this", it would have been a better film. But making it all a reality didn't work. He should have made it a straight-up supernatural horror film, and then it would have been good."[3]

Critical reception Edit

The film has earned a 33% approval rating on film review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews. The average rating is 4.5/10.[4]

Jay Scott of The Globe and Mail described Nomads as "a breathlessly unself-conscious film (there is none of the self-congratulatory stylization of Blood Simple), the tone alternates maniacally between scaring the audience and making it giggle. Until the end. And then, via one of the funniest, cleverest and most unexpected conclusions to any movie in history, Nomads comes off the fence it has been sitting on with a bravura jump." Scott credited director John McTiernan, noting that "he has brought to his project a staggeringly resourceful technique. The sharply unpredictable editing, the hypnotic use of slow motion and rack focus (that's when the background and foreground reverse in clarity), the ominous rock music – everything adds up to a debut of singular confidence, full of fun and creepiness."[5] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated it 1.5/4 stars and wrote that even if viewers cared about the characters, the film is too confusing to understand.[6] Variety wrote, "Nomads avoids the more obvious ripped-guts devices in favor of dramatic visual scares. [...] In fact, everything seems to come naturally in a tale that even has the supernatural ring true."[7] Walter Goodman of The New York Times called the Innuat "as menacing as the chorus from West Side Story".[8]

In his memoir, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that he was so impressed by the film's tense atmosphere made with a low budget that he hired John McTiernan to direct Predator.[9]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ "Nomads". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  2. ^ Mann, Roderick (4 Sep 1984). "PIERCE ('STEELE') BROSNAN UPGRADING HIS IMAGE: BROSNAN". Los Angeles Times. p. g1.
  3. ^ "Hammerdown". Fangoria. No. 340. March 2015. p. 62.
  4. ^ "Nomads Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  5. ^ Scott, Jay (12 Apr 1986). "Creepy, confusing Nomads Film is 'vewy' well done, and it has a clever ending". The Globe and Mail. p. D.11.
  6. ^ Ebert, Roger (1986-03-10). "Nomads". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2015-05-21 – via RogerEbert.com.
  7. ^ "Review: 'Nomads'". Variety. 1985. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  8. ^ Goodman, Walter (1986-03-07). "Nomads (1986)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  9. ^ Schwarzenegger, Arnold (1977-08-26). Total Recall – Arnold Schwarzenegger. ISBN 9781849839747. Retrieved 2015-08-04 – via Google Books.

External links Edit

October 20, 2023
nomads, 1986, film, nomads, 1986, american, horror, film, written, directed, john, mctiernan, adapted, from, novel, chelsea, quinn, yarbro, stars, pierce, brosnan, lesley, anne, down, anna, maria, monticelli, story, involves, french, anthropologist, expert, no. Nomads is a 1986 American horror film written and directed by John McTiernan adapted from the novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro It stars Pierce Brosnan Lesley Anne Down and Anna Maria Monticelli The story involves a French anthropologist who is an expert on nomads He stumbles across a group of urban nomads who turn out to be more than he expected NomadsTheatrical release posterDirected byJohn McTiernanWritten byJohn McTiernanProduced byElliott Kastner Cassian Elwes George PappasStarringLesley Anne Down Pierce Brosnan Anna Maria MonticelliCinematographyStephen RamseyEdited byMichael John BatemanMusic byBill ContiDistributed byAtlantic Releasing CorporationRelease dateMarch 7 1986 1986 03 07 Running time93 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office 2 3 million US 1 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Critical reception 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksPlot EditJean Charles Pommier a French anthropologist dies violently and painfully The moment he dies in the emergency room of a Los Angeles city hospital the physician treating him Dr Eileen Flax becomes possessed with his memories Dr Flax relives the last week of Pommier s life until the moment of his death After travelling abroad and studying the religious beliefs and spiritual rituals of non Western cultures Pommier finally settles down with his patient wife Niki in Los Angeles to teach at UCLA His home in the suburbs is vandalized one night by a gang of street punks who travel about in a black van They are very interested in his house and he finds that they have built a macabre shrine in his garage to a murderer who recently killed two girls who lived in the house He studies them because their subculture exhibits similarities to the ones he has studied He begins to observe them following them and covertly photographing them He develops the pictures and is puzzled to find that they do not show up in them He realizes that they are actually the Einwetok demonic Inuit trickster spirits that take human form commit acts of violence and mischief and who are attracted to places of violence and death They become aware of him so they plan to claim his soul to keep their existence a secret Dr Flax wakes in the bedroom of Pommier s house in the arms of his wife They try to flee the city to escape the nomads but the street fills with an army of leather clad bikers and punks They storm the house forcing the women to flee to the attic One of the nomads Dancing Mary breaks into the attic but leaves after scaring them Much later the nomads have left the house and the women leave the attic to find everything in the house destroyed Upon packing their bags they flee the city The next day as they are driving down a back road a leather clad man on a motorcycle rides around them Flax warns Niki that whatever she sees she should not stop As they drive past them they are horrified to see that it is Pommier who is now one of the nomads Cast EditPierce Brosnan as Jean Charles Pommier a French anthropologist Lesley Anne Down as Dr Eileen Flax an ER doctor Anna Maria Monticelli as Veronique Niki Pommier Adam Ant as Number One a Nomad Mary Woronov as Dancing Mary a Nomad Nina Foch as Real estate agent Frances Bay as Bertril a nun Frank Doubleday as Razors a Nomad Josie Cotton as Silver Ring a Nomad Jeannie Elias as Cassie Hector Mercado as Ponytail a NomadProduction EditGerard Depardieu was considered to be the lead before role went to Brosnan It was Brosnan s first lead role in a film and he welcomed the opportunity to play a character so different from Remington Steele 2 Lesley Anne Down was paid 250 000 and was cast by producer Elliott Kastner She says that McTiernan was exceptionally hostile toward me He didn t want me anywhere near that film He wanted to go more Hitchcockian and have some blonde Yankee whatever She says that he was having an affair with Anna Maria Monticelli Down thought some of the film was very good and some of it was plainly f king stupid I believe had he gone for more of a supernatural or ghostly situation and not so much Here are these people who do this it would have been a better film But making it all a reality didn t work He should have made it a straight up supernatural horror film and then it would have been good 3 Critical reception EditThe film has earned a 33 approval rating on film review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews The average rating is 4 5 10 4 Jay Scott of The Globe and Mail described Nomads as a breathlessly unself conscious film there is none of the self congratulatory stylization of Blood Simple the tone alternates maniacally between scaring the audience and making it giggle Until the end And then via one of the funniest cleverest and most unexpected conclusions to any movie in history Nomads comes off the fence it has been sitting on with a bravura jump Scott credited director John McTiernan noting that he has brought to his project a staggeringly resourceful technique The sharply unpredictable editing the hypnotic use of slow motion and rack focus that s when the background and foreground reverse in clarity the ominous rock music everything adds up to a debut of singular confidence full of fun and creepiness 5 Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times rated it 1 5 4 stars and wrote that even if viewers cared about the characters the film is too confusing to understand 6 Variety wrote Nomads avoids the more obvious ripped guts devices in favor of dramatic visual scares In fact everything seems to come naturally in a tale that even has the supernatural ring true 7 Walter Goodman of The New York Times called the Innuat as menacing as the chorus from West Side Story 8 In his memoir Total Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that he was so impressed by the film s tense atmosphere made with a low budget that he hired John McTiernan to direct Predator 9 See also EditList of ghost filmsReferences Edit Nomads Box Office Mojo Retrieved 2015 05 21 Mann Roderick 4 Sep 1984 PIERCE STEELE BROSNAN UPGRADING HIS IMAGE BROSNAN Los Angeles Times p g1 Hammerdown Fangoria No 340 March 2015 p 62 Nomads Movie Reviews Pictures Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 2023 02 26 Scott Jay 12 Apr 1986 Creepy confusing Nomads Film is vewy well done and it has a clever ending The Globe and Mail p D 11 Ebert Roger 1986 03 10 Nomads Chicago Sun Times Retrieved 2015 05 21 via RogerEbert com Review Nomads Variety 1985 Retrieved 2015 05 21 Goodman Walter 1986 03 07 Nomads 1986 The New York Times Retrieved 2015 05 21 Schwarzenegger Arnold 1977 08 26 Total Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger ISBN 9781849839747 Retrieved 2015 08 04 via Google Books External links EditNomads at IMDb Nomads at AllMovie nbsp Nomads at Rotten Tomatoes nbsp Nomads at Box Office Mojo nbsp Nomads at AllMovie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nomads 1986 film amp oldid 1141815799, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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