Firestarter (1984)

A father (David Keith) is on the run from a secret government agency with his young daughter (Drew Barrymore). While in college, he and his future wife (Heather Locklear) were given a drug as part of a government experiment which mutated their genes enough that their daughter has a power that the government wants ..... she can set fires just by willing it. Based on the Stephen King best seller, the premise is intriguing enough to push through the far fetched plot and often poor writing. In a movie about a government conspiracy, you better make sure that the government agents are realistic enough to be threatening. Here, they're practically cartoonish they're so inept. The film could also have used a stronger director than Mark L. Lester (CLASS OF 84). He doesn't bring enough tension to the film. Then there's the innocuous David Keith who leaves a hole on the screen. On the plus side, there's Barrymore and a restrained George C. Scott as a genuinely creepy government assassin. The film's pyrotechnic finale is very well done, I'll give it that. I'm not much on synthesizer scores but Tangerine Dream's underscore really complements the film. With Martin Sheen, Art Carney, Moses Gunn, Antonio Fargas and Louise Fletcher.