The Tommyknockers

The Tommyknockers is a 1993 television miniseries based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Stephen King. Broadcast on ABC, it was directed by John Power, adapted by Lawrence D. Cohen and starred Marg Helgenberger and Jimmy Smits. Plot Bobbi Anderson (Helgenberger), a Western fiction writer, and her boyfriend, Jim "Gard" Gardner (Smits), a poet, live with their dog, Peter, on the outskirts of Haven, Maine. Bobbi suffers from writer's block and Gard is a recovering alcoholic who currently is not writing. One day, Bobbi stumbles over a manmade stone object protruding from the ground. She shows Gard and they begin excavating the object and discover a series of connected cubes made of an unknown alloy. As Bobbi and Gard unearth more of the object, the residents of Haven begin to undergo subtle changes. Insomnia becomes common, along with rudimentary telepathy. Some individuals begin inventing wild gadgets using kitchen tools, batteries, small appliances, and other odds and ends. These inventions have a green glow when active. Gard is astonished when Bobbi's "telepathic typewriter" is able to create a well-written novel about buffalo soldiers. Bobbi also begins to dig compulsively around the artifact, revealing more and more of it. Gard has a metal plate in his head from a skiing accident, and Anderson believes that might be inhibiting whatever is "improving" the others. Even the children start showing changes. A child named Hilly Brown uses his "magic machine" on his brother Davey, which makes Davey disappear. Sheriff Merrill (Cassidy) leads the town in an unsuccessful search for the child. The search for Davey Brown slackens as the people of Haven, including Davey's parents Bryant (Carradine) and Marie (Corley), become more obsessed with their inventions and become drained of energy and life. Both Hilly, who receives a brain tumor from trying to bring Davey back with his magic machine; and Deputy Becka Paulson (Beasley), who becomes insane after seeing her cheating husband Joe Paulson (De Young) being electrocuted; are hospitalized and recite sayings about the "tommyknockers." Merrill is still persistent in the search, and discovers Bobbi unearthing the huge object. Hilly's grandfather Ev researches the town's history, uncovering newspaper articles going back more than two centuries documenting inexplicable mass murders, deadly hunting accidents, and even a Native American tribal chief claiming that the area is cursed.