The Keep
Within an uninhabited citadel (the “Keep” of the title) in World War II-era Romania lies entrapped a dangerous demonic entity named Radu Molasar (Michael Carter). The inner walls of the citadel contain 108 T-shaped icons, supposedly made of nickel. When the German Army under the command of Capt. Klaus Woermann (Jürgen Prochnow) occupies the castle to control the Dinu Mountain Pass following the commencement of Operation Barbarossa, Molasar is unleashed by a pair of looting soldiers who identify one glowing icon as being made of silver. In the ensuing days, Molasar kills several soldiers. A detachment of Einsatzkommandos under the command of sadistic SD Sturmbannführer Eric Kaempffer (Gabriel Byrne) then arrives to deal with what is thought to be partisan activity, executing villagers as collective punishment.
At the instigation of the local priest, the Germans retrieve a Jewish historian, Prof. Theodore Cuza (Ian McKellen), from a concentration camp. He deciphers a mysterious message emblazoned on a wall of the citadel. Molasar saves the professor's daughter, Eva (Alberta Watson), from sexual assault by two Einsatzkommandos by feeding on their essence, and then enlists the aid of her grateful father to escape. Cuza is also cured of his debilitating scleroderma by the touch of Molasar and therefore becomes doubly indebted to the entity, who is taking on a solid form. However, a mysterious stranger named Glaeken (Scott Glenn) suddenly arrives to foil this plan. After an unsuccessful attempt by the professor to have the stranger stopped, the two supernatural beings confront each other. Molasar, who is not perturbed by Christian crosses, is weakened and drawn back into the innermost recesses. Glaeken is transfixed, taking the place of the seal that was broken by the German looters.
fantasy, gothic, murder, allegory, cult, good versus evil, psychedelic