This mini-series begins at a secret government lab in California that accidently releases an extremely lethal modification of the flu into the air which quickly infects everybody within the vicinity. Realizing the danger that this virus poses to his family, a security guard by the name of "Charlie Campion" (Ray McKinnon) hurries out of the compound and--with his wife and small child--drives as fast as he can in order to put distance between them and this horrific contagion. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts the virus takes hold and in a state of complete exhaustion he eventually succumbs to the disease and crashes into a gas pump at a grocery store in East Texas. Naturally, this sudden development brings out all of those inside the building-which then exposes all of them to the virus as well. So, with containment no longer possible, the virus soon spreads to all parts of the country leaving most of the population dead within weeks. The small number of people who do survive become split up into two factions with the main characteristic being a specific vision that each of them have. Those who are essentially good dream of an old black lady by the name of "Abigail Freemantle" (Ruby Dee) who beckons them to join her in Nebraska. The other dream involves a sinister man named "Randall Flagg" (Jamie Sheridan) who urges his followers to come to Las Vegas and join him. And it's this split that results in the horrors yet to come. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, having read the book by Stephen King a couple of years prior to this film, I have to say that I was a somewhat disappointed overall in that it didn't quite capture the dark horror to its fullest extent. But then, more often than not, that's typically the case for films based on novels anyway. In any case, this movie still managed to combine enough of the original suspense with some decent acting all around and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
