''Quicksilver Highway'' is a 1997 television

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and sp ...

film directed by

Mick Garris Mick Garris (born December 4, 1951) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter born in Santa Monica, California. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, as well as making Stephen King adaptations. Early life Garris was born in Sant ...

. It is based on

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

The Body Politic ''The Body Politic'' was a Canadian monthly magazine, which was published from 1971 to 1987.

" and

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's 1992 short story "

Chattery Teeth Chattering teeth, sometimes called chattery teeth, are a wind-up toy invented by Eddy Goldfarb. Originally named "Yakity Yak Talking Teeth", Goldfarb and Marvin Glass sold it to novelty company H. Fishlove & Co. who released it in 1949. Chatteri ...

". The film was originally shown on

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

before being released on home media.

Plot

The main story is centered on Aaron Quicksilver (played by

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

), a travelling showman who tells horror stories to the people he meets. He first runs into a newly married couple who are hitchhiking, to whom he tells the story "Chattery Teeth", about a man who is saved from a dangerous hitchhiker by a set of wind-up toy teeth. He later runs into a

pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...

to whom he tells "The Body Politic", a story about a man whose hands rebel against him.

Cast

: Aaron Quicksilver *

Matt Frewer Matthew George Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American-Canadian actor, singer and comedian. He portrayed the 1980s icon Max Headroom in the 1985 TV movie and 1987 television series of the same names. He became prominent when playing role ...

: Charlie/Dr. Charles George * Raphael Sbarge: Kerry Parker/Bill Hogan *Melissa Lahlitah Crider: Olivia Harmon Parker/Lita Hogan * Silas Weir Mitchell: Bryan Adams *

Bill Nunn William Goldwyn Nunn III (October 20, 1953 – September 24, 2016) was an American actor known for his roles as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's film ''Do the Right Thing'', Robbie Robertson in the Sam Raimi ''Spider-Man'' film trilogy and as Terre ...

: Len *

Veronica Cartwright Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1949) is a British-American actress. She is known for appearing in science fiction and horror films, and has earned numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. As a child actress, sh ...

: Myra * Bill Bolender: Scooter * Amelia Heinle: Darlene *Cynthia Garris: Ellen George *

Kevin Grevioux Kevin Grevioux (; born September 9, 1962) is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and comic book writer. He is best known for his role as Raze in the ''Underworld'' film series, which he co-created, as well as his voicework in the cartoon ...

: Sergeant * Christopher Hart: Lefty *

William Knight William, Bill, or Billy Knight may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Frederick Knight (1933–2022), voice actor * William Henry Knight (1823–1863), British painter Politics * William Knight (died 1622), Member of Parliament (MP) for H ...

: Rhinoplasty Man *Shawn Nelson: Driver *Sherry O'Keefe: Harriet DaVinci *

: Anesthesiologist *

Constance Zimmer Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for playing Dana Gordon in the television series '' Entourage'' (2005–2011) and Claire Simms in the television series ''Boston Legal'' (2006–2007). Sh ...

: Patient *

: Surgeon *

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978 ...

: Surgical Assistant

Production

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

met with Garris about him writing the pilot script for a possible horror television series directed by

John McTiernan John Campbell McTiernan Jr. (born January 8, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his action films, especially ''Predator'' (1987), '' Die Hard'' (1988), and ''The Hunt for Red October'' (1990). His later well-known films incl ...

and produced by his wife, Donna Dubrow. The agency suggested multiple ghost stories and

urban legends An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family ...

to write about, but Garris had another idea. The series would follow a mysterious character who describes himself as "only a storyteller" but is actually much more than that. Each episode would be set in a different location, with the same actors playing different characters. Just after

Brandon Tartikoff Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was the president of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as ''Hill Stre ...

signed on as producer, Garris pitched the idea to staff at the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...

; the heads of the network weren't interested as they didn't want any horror material in their broadcast schedule, but a couple of the network's executives like

Greer Shephard Greer Shephard is an American television producer and director. She was an executive producer on the FX (TV network), FX series ''Nip/Tuck''. She is also an executive producer on the Turner Network Television, TNT series, ''The Closer''. Along with ...

got on board. After writing a pilot script based on

's short story "

," Garris pitched the series to Fox. However, Fox wanted a two-hour television film. He wrote a screenplay of

's "

The Body Politic ''The Body Politic'' was a Canadian monthly magazine, which was published from 1971 to 1987.

" to serve as the film's second part after "Chattery Teeth." Casting director Lynn Kressel, who previously worked with Garris on ''

The Stand ''The Stand'' is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few survivin ...

'' (1994) and '' The Shining'' (1997), came up with the idea of

as Quicksilver; while the network loved the decision, Garris was a bit skeptical, reasoning that he want a "little more seductive" actor to play the part. In the end, however, Garris loved the decision. The moment Fox began developing the project, McTiernan left the director's seat on the project, leaving Garris to have to direct the screenplay himself. "The Body Politic" was filmed at the

Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. Attractions Pacific Park T ...

, while "Chattery Teeth" was filmed in

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 173,516, making Lancaster the 153rd largest city in the United ...

. When playing Dr. Charles George,

had a tough time making the hand move as if it had a separate mind; it took around three days for him to master the trick, and by the third day was having "hand nightmares" while resting between shoots. Steve Johnson handled the chattery teeth effects, while

Flash Film Works Flash Film Works is a computer graphics company that provides visual effects for films, television shows and commercials. It is owned by director William Mesa and is located in Los Angeles, California. History In 1993, Visual Effects Superviso ...

and Bill Mesa was responsible for the moving hands. Around 90% of the hands were digitally animated with

LightWave 3D LightWave 3D is a 3D computer graphics program developed by NewTek. It has been used in films, television, motion graphics, digital matte painting, visual effects, video game development, product design, architectural visualizations, virt ...

and composed in the shots with the Chyron program Liberty. The more practical hand effects, such as George's left hand, were performed by Christopher Hart, whose work as a magician got him hand-only characters in projects such as three ''

Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...

'' films. The same trick for composing Hart's hand into the shots of ''The Addams Family'' films was used in ''Quicksilver Highway''; Hart wore a rubber prosthetic on the top of his hand and a green sleeve, and by using

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...

ing and footage that matched the background of the shots of Hart's hand, his arm was removed. Four days were spent shooting Hart's hand.

Home media

The home media version of ''Quicksilver Highway'' switched the orders of the two stories from the television version, where "The Body Politic" comes first and "Chattery Teeth" last. Fox required this change, which Garris disliked as he felt "The Body Politic" was more climactic than "Chattery Teeth."

References

Works cited

* *

External links

* * {{Clive Barker American horror television films 1990s supernatural horror films Television shows based on works by Stephen King 1997 television films 1997 films American supernatural horror films 1997 horror films Films directed by Mick Garris Films based on multiple works Films based on short fiction American horror anthology films Films based on works by Clive Barker Films based on works by Stephen King Films scored by Mark Mothersbaugh Films shot in Los Angeles County, California 1990s American films