Stephen King's Desperation
The film was directed by frequent King collaborator Mick Garris and stars Ron Perlman, Tom Skerritt, Steven Weber and Annabeth Gish.Mary is thrown in a cell along with a young boy, David Carver, his parents, Ralph and Ellen, and an old man, Tom Billingsley.David reveals that he prays because God made "his" presence known to him by miraculously saving his friend Brian from the brink of death.In a disused theater, Tom tells of events that took place 120 years ago when Chinese workers digging in a local mine known as 'The China Pit' discovered an evil spirit named "Tak".Mary wakes up to find herself trapped in a shed, surrounded by rattlesnakes, scorpions, and tarantulas, waiting to be the next host for Tak.Johnny confesses that 40 years ago in Vietnam, he saw a boy possessed by Tak blow up the bathroom of a bar, killing 87 people.[2] Though originally intended as a two-part miniseries, Desperation aired in its entirety on May 23, 2006, on ABC, after a red-carpet premiere screening at Tucson's historic Fox Theatre (built in 1929).ABC aired Desperation at the same time as Fox's American Idol, an action that King himself was upset with,[3] believing it did not do as well in the ratings because of that.