If you find hospitals scary, don't watch this. Based on the bestseller by Robin Cook, and brought to the screen by Michael Crichton ( the man behind 'Westworld' and 'Jurassic Park' ), it is a terrifying exercise in Hitchcockian suspense. 'Dr.Susan Wheeler' ( Genevieve Bujold ) notices that a number of healthy people have been lapsing into comas during routine operations. All have happened in the same operating theatre. The comatose patients are then shipped off to the mysterious Jefferson Institute. When Susan's best friend Nancy ( Lois Chiles, later to appear in 'Moonraker' ) also lapses into a vegetative state, Sue investigates, uncovering a conspiracy led by Dr.Harris ( Richard Widmark ). The Jefferson Institute is illegally using the bodies for medical experiments. Attempting to expose the scheme, Susan is herself then drugged and sent off for an operation. It is down to her boyfriend, fellow doctor 'Dr.Mark Ryland' ( a young Michael Douglas ) to try and save the day...
French actress Bujold showed tremendous promise in 'Anne Of The Thousand Days' ( 1968 ) but sadly never lived up to it. Not her fault. The scripts she was offered were mostly poor, such as the execrable 'Swashbuckler' ( 1976 ). 'Coma', though, is an exception. Anyone who thinks movies in which women are the main characters are a relatively new invention should be made to watch it. Douglas' character, by comparison, is a supporting one.
'Coma', even when viewed thirty-three years later, is strong stuff. Scenes such as Susan being shown round the Jefferson Institute and encountering dozens of bodies suspended in mid-air are horrifying to this day. When an assassin follows her into a room full of vertically-stored corpses, she pushes them and they topple on top of him like falling dominoes. The suspense is highlighted by a typically brilliant Jerry Goldsmith score.
Things To Look Out For - one of the doomed patients is a young Tom Selleck ( future 'Magnum P.I.' ).
Film versions of books are often inferior, but 'Coma' does not dumb down the story. If anything, it is better. Cook's novel was badly let down by a weak ending. The film's climax, however, is right on the money.
French actress Bujold showed tremendous promise in 'Anne Of The Thousand Days' ( 1968 ) but sadly never lived up to it. Not her fault. The scripts she was offered were mostly poor, such as the execrable 'Swashbuckler' ( 1976 ). 'Coma', though, is an exception. Anyone who thinks movies in which women are the main characters are a relatively new invention should be made to watch it. Douglas' character, by comparison, is a supporting one.
'Coma', even when viewed thirty-three years later, is strong stuff. Scenes such as Susan being shown round the Jefferson Institute and encountering dozens of bodies suspended in mid-air are horrifying to this day. When an assassin follows her into a room full of vertically-stored corpses, she pushes them and they topple on top of him like falling dominoes. The suspense is highlighted by a typically brilliant Jerry Goldsmith score.
Things To Look Out For - one of the doomed patients is a young Tom Selleck ( future 'Magnum P.I.' ).
Film versions of books are often inferior, but 'Coma' does not dumb down the story. If anything, it is better. Cook's novel was badly let down by a weak ending. The film's climax, however, is right on the money.