Somewhat tame King adaptation was the kinda thing I’d watch late at night as a kid and have weird nightmares afterward. Sometimes They Come Back kind of gives me a Twilight Zone vibe, and I’d definitely show this to my younger family members who want to watch something spooky but not shit their pants terrifying. It’s fine, I came in half a star higher because it reminds me of the early 90’s and because I’m a Robert Rustler fan lol.

Chilling thriller gets good mileage from Stephen King's short story. Tim Matheson is superb as the high school teacher who returns to his hometown 30 years after his brother died. The bullies responsible, who also died in the accident, come back one by one to seek revenge against Matheson.

Have you tried to describe a color to a blind person?

"Sometimes They Come Back" is what the outcome would be if you tried to describe Stephen King's work to a person who was somehow Stephen King-blind.

Hilariously evil dude-bro jocks harass their new teacher and also murder the teacher-pets. May be slight and lesser-King but I thought it was still enjoyable.

Great movie,haven't read the short story it was based on,so i can't judge it from every angle but i found it too good for a tv movie,can't believe the low ratings,it's an underrated gem without a doubt.

that hokey 90s horror thriller aesthetic is my jam so even tho this is not great I still pretty much loved it

As goofy as it was at times, I found myself genuinely interested in this movie and it's characters. Don't expect to get scared watching this, but it will definitely be worth your while to watch.

"Run, Jimmy, run!"

I recently read the short story this movie is based on and I had to watch it, obviously. It reminded me a lot of the previous Stephen King adaptation I had watched - "Silver Bullet", also based on a short story -: it gives you this Twilight Zone episode vibe... and has terrible special effects.

Still, I'm a mess and I cried like a baby at the end. Fight me.

Turns out my memory of watching this in grade 5, and thinking this wasn't all too great was accurate!

Based on a short story by Stephen King, this TV movie feels very much like a TV movie. Tim Matheson starts to see dead bullies (including Robert Rusler, having fun) replace missing kids in the class that he teaches, Brooke Adams is his concerned wife, and William Sanderson does well in a small role.
This is below average, the main premise is depicted in a way that feels far too ridiculous when translated from page to screen (by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal), and the direction from Tom McLoughlin is spectacularly dull.
It still bemuses me that this somehow got two loose sequels.

This is one of those take it or leave it King adaptations. I features some good work by director Tom McLoughlin, but he’s saddled with a clunky script that doesn’t quite capture the essence of King and it drags heavily in the final act.

Tim Matheson acts with the nuances of an 18 wheeler smashing through a dynamite factory, while Robert Rusler is eating it up as the head teen punk back from the beyond.

When the score isn’t blaring whammy bar laden guitar riffs, it sounds a bit like an Alan Silvestri jam and is one of the brighter spots of the film.