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Apt Pupil (1998)

A local high school boy, Todd Bowden, discovers Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander living in his neighborhood under the assumed name Arthur Denken. Rather than turn Dussander over to the authorities, Todd makes a strange deal where Dussander will tell him “what it felt like” during the Holocaust of  World War II in exchange for Todd’s silence. Todd becomes an “apt pupil” of the horror stories Dussander tells and the two enter into a bizarre relationship of mixed hate and friendship culminating when Todd helps Dussander cover up a vicious murder.

Apt Pupil stars:

Brad Renfro as Todd Bowden

Ian McKellen as Kurt Dussander

Joshua Jackson as Joey

Apt Pupil is psychological thriller about how far a young boy will go to uncover the horrible atrocities of World War II concentration camps and how far he’s willing to go to experience it for himself.

Apt Pupil is not a book nor movie that pops to mind when I think of  Stephen King’s work, but when I decided to take a look at his work for reviewing purposes, whether good or bad, I knew I had to include this one just because I didn’t know that much about it. With that said, I actually enjoyed the movie adaptation. While I don’t consider this a traditional Stephen King work, it does have enough suspense in a cat-and-mouse setting to keep me entertained. Some of the best suspense movies are like watching chess matches unfold and Apt Pupil certainly has that element.

While I do like a good psychological thriller, I enjoy watching Ian McKellen on screen as well.I’ve seen several of his movies from LOTR to X-Men and I must say there is something electrifying  when he’s on screen. He has the personality of being likable yet under the surface you can sense and see that he’s not necessarily the “good guy.”

Even though this is an entertaining film, the film’s ending and novella’s ending are not the same. ***SPOILER ALERT***

 

In the novella’s ending, after Dussander’s death, Todd murders Mr. French and then goes up on an overpass and begins to snipe people in cars going by until the police kills him. In the movie, he essentially gets away with everything without having to kill Mr. French. This just proves once again that Stephen King doesn’t always gives us a happy ending, yet Hollywood insist on doing so.

Although Apt Pupil was not a box office success, grossing just 3.58 million its opening weekend, it does convey an eerie tale of corruption, manipulation, and madness, and this is one I think is worthy of watching.

Mitchell Wells

Founder and Editor in Chief of Horror Society. Self proclaimed Horror Movie Freak, Tech Geek, love indie films and all around nice kinda guy!!

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