DVD cover.
Firestarter 2: Rekindled is a 2002 direct-to-television sequel to the film Firestarter. It is a television miniseries made in 2002 and is PG-13. It goes light on the violence and focuses on how Charlie McGee is running from the government, as well as how she is learning to use her powers properly.
Plot[]
Part 1[]
In 1989, the McGee family's cabin in Colorado is invaded by a platoon of agents working for The Shop, a subdivision of the DSI that wants to harness certain individuals' supernatural powers as military weapons; The Shop particularly wants the McGees' daughter Charlie. Charlie's father Andy evacuates with his daughter to safety, but when Charlie's mother Vicky Tomlinson tries to catch up, the Shop agents shoot her.
In 2001, Charlie, now 20 years old, wakes up from her nightmare about the home invasion. She gets a drink from the refrigerator only to find a strange man sitting at her table. This is another nightmare Charlie has, as when she wakes up for real, her bed is on fire, which she extinguishes with her fire extinguisher.
At a hospital, Vincent Sforza and his brother Henry talk about their father, who is dying. Before Vincent leaves, Henry places something his father left Vincent on Vincent's windshield. Vincent is an accountant and insurance investigator working for the research firm Systems Operations Corporation; the company's current goal is to research specific people who have won a class action lawsuit so that they can grant them reimbursement checks. Vincent is ordered to search for Charlie, despite closing the case twice and insisting by evidence that she is dead, but his boss Joel Lowen refuses to listen, claiming that the head of Research and Development requested that Systems Operations do another search. Meanwhile, Vincent's associate Gil James will be reimbursing Mary Conant in Reno, Nevada. In addition to finding Charlie, Vincent is also tasked with finding James Richardson, a man who was previously employed at Millington College in Millington, Colorado, and regularly receives pensions from the college.
At the college, Vincent accidentally bumps into Charlie, who is working as an assistant librarian under the alias Tommy Andrews, and is secretly doing research to find a way to surpress her powers. Vincent accesses the library's archive and comes across files for an experiment called LOT-6, performed at the college in 1979. The experiment consisted of a series of psychotropic drugs (one in particular was identified as di-lysergic triune acid) administered to 12 students. One of the students committed suicide during procedure, while six of the students developed mental illness, three of which committed suicide within the first two years.
While partying at a nightclub one night, Charlie and another partygoer start having sex on top of his car, but her supernatural power kicks in, forcing her to abandon the partygoer. It is revealed that her supernatural power is pyrokinesis, the ability to start fires with her mind. She unleashes her destructive power in an alleyway, while having a flashback involving her father begging her to stop using her power.
The next morning, Vincent receives a version of the LOT-6 VHS tape, restored by Henry, who is shocked by the tape, and tells his brother to warn him next time he sends something similar. Vincent pays a visit to the widow of Joseph Wanless, the Doctor of Psychology who administered the LOT-6 experiment. She tells him everything involving the experiment, including his obsession with Charlie. It is also revealed that Richardson was one of the students. Vincent reads Charlie's file, and it's revealed that after Vicky's death, Charlie was remanded to the custody of the State of Colorado, and when Andy disagreed, he stole her back, prompting an attack on the Manders' farm, where Andy and Charlie had sought shelter. Wanless's widow shows Vincent the tape recording of the incident: a state official, backed by Shop agents, attempted to kidnap Charlie, but Charlie used her destructive powers against the platoon, incinerating them. Andy begged his daughter to stop, to which she responded that she didn't want to. Charlie walks in during the screening and is traumatized. Vincent and Charlie formally meet, and decide to investigate LOT-6 together. Vincent then contacts Joel and tells him about what he has discovered, catching the attention of Joel's associate John Rainbird.
Joel's true intentions are revealed: create Radiant Thunder, a project that involves experimenting on six specific young boys to give them supernatural powers, and then harnessing those powers as military weapons, intending to rob a bank as a show of force. Rainbird asks Joel about the previous test subjects, particularly Charlie. Despite being told that Charlie is dead, Rainbird still believes that Charlie is alive given her destructive capabilities. The new test subjects include Paul Jablonski, who has the power of suggestion; Andrew Amalfitano, a blind boy who can tell when people are lying; Jack Czierniewski, who has telekinetic abilities; Max Czierniewski, who also has telekinetic abilities and a psychopathic anatomical knowledge; Edward Michaelson, who has a supersonic voice; and Cody Weinberg, a supposedly mute and catatonic boy whose powers are yet unknown.
Rainbird, who is in charge of the children, tells them about Charlie. Charlie and Andy were captured by the Shop, and Charlie refused to show the Shop because Andy told her not to show her powers. Rainbird, a professional killer working for the Shop, pretended to be Charlie's friend and negotiated with her: to make the Shop truly desperate for a demonstration of her power, if she showed a small amount of her power, they may grant her access to see her father; Rainbird's actual intentions were to kill Charlie when the Shop was done with her. Rainbird one day showed Charlie her father drugged, bound and gagged to a chair. The Shop had grown impatient, and ordered that she unleash her power on a person, specifically her father. The alternative option is that Rainbird would be killed, and Charlie would never see her father again. Andy tells Charlie the truth: Rainbird not only kept them separated, but is also the man who ordered the killing of her mother. With the truth revealed, Rainbird plunged a scalpel pen into Andy's ear, killing him, but not before Andy told him that he lost. Charlie, having witnessed Rainbird murder her father, unleashed her power upon Rainbird, burning him and leaving him for dead. Rainbird survived, but the left side of his face was scarred from the burns.
In Reno, Gil arrives at Mary Conant's house with the offer of a reimbursement check, but Mary refuses to open the door and threatens to call the police. Later that day, Gil calls out to Mary, claiming that he accidentally ran over her cat. When she opens the door, he attacks her and suffocates her with a plastic bag.
Meanwhile, back at the Wanless residence, Vincent expresses his true opinions on the LOT-6 experiment, thinking that it was a scam so the government could get more money; Mrs. Wanless overhears this and kicks them out. At lunch, Henry calls Vincent and shows him something in the LOT-6 footage, somebody is apparently invisible. Charlie is shaken by what she sees, and Vincent decides to share the files he has gathered with her. In Vincent's apartment that night, Vincent and Charlie have sex, but her pyrokinetic instincts return, forcing her to leave. Vincent is confused, but then flips the light switch and sees that his room is now charred. Realizing Charlie's true identity, he calls Joel, who relays to Rainbird. Vincent follows Charlie to her apartment and tries to convince her that Systems Operations can help her. Although hesitant, she finally agrees to arrive there the following night.
Joel thanks Vincent for tracking down McGee, and Vincent reveals that his brother remastered the LOT-6 footage. Later, he tries to find the payments for the recipients of the class action lawsuit, but doesn't find any. He calls Gil, but Gil assures him that everything is fine. Vincent then does a search on the recipients and learns that they are all dead: one died from a supposed suicidal drug overdose, one died in a supposed car crash, one died from supposed heart failure, and one died from a supposed suicidal gunshot wound. This, combined with Gil's joking comment from earlier, and Joel's question about who restored the LOT-6 footage, finally reveals Systems Operations' true intentions: find the LOT-6 test subjects under the guise that they won a class action lawsuit and murder them to keep things quiet and start anew. Realizing that his brother is in danger, Vincent calls Henry and tells him to evacuate his apartment. Although confused, Henry does so just as the Systems Operations crew arrives at his apartment.
That night, Charlie arrives at Systems Operations, and enters a warehouse with a realistic town set. She meets Rainbird, and is horrified that he is still alive. Rainbird's ultimate intention is revealed: he wishes to physically make God. Vincent is held hostage by Gil, but he knocks Gil out, steals his gun, and points it at Rainbird. Vincent and Charlie try to escape, but are surrounded by Systems Operations members. They escape into a mock-up of a bank and come across Paul, Edward, and Andrew. Paul causes Vincent to shoot his foot, and in retaliation, Charlie sets Paul's shoes on fire, causing him to run out of the building. Edward tries to defeat them with his voice, but Charlie binds and gags him to a table. Cornered in an indoor alley by Gil and two Systems Operations members, Vincent reaches for his gun, but Charlie unleashes her power against them before returning back inside. They meet Cody, whose power is finally revealed: he is an energy sink, an individual who feeds off of energy, including life. Charlie tries to use her power against Cody, but he feeds off Charlie's energy and renders her unconscious.
Part 2[]
Vincent holds Cody at gunpoint as Rainbird arrives; Charlie is freed, but Gil knocks Vincent out. Charlie has a conversation with her younger self about the right thing to do, and wakes up at a bus terminal. Waiting for the bus to Phoenix, Arizona, Charlie meets James Richardson and learns that he was one of the victims of the LOT-6 experiment and knew her parents. The experiment has given James the ability to tell the future. When Vincent discovers that he's been duped into luring Charlie back to Rainbird, Vincent also decides to help Charlie.
At Systems Operations, Rainbird monitors Cody, learning that he has become more responsive since he sapped some of Charlie's powers, and now has an insatiable thirst for energy, especially Charlie's, This starts to disturb the other kids, especially Paul, whom Cody frequently intimidates.
John's been working on perfecting the LOT experiments, and has created 6 young boys with rather unusual abilities. One has the power of suggestion, another can sense truth and deception, two can move things with their mind, one has the destructive voice from hell, and the most dangerous one of them all is an energy sink, someone who can suck the life and energy out of anyone or anything.
Rainbird is using these children to rob a bank as a test of warfare in the new decade. With Vince and James on her side, Charlie must decide whether to keep running, or fight Rainbird to the end. Charlie chooses to fight to the end, and after Rainbird kills Vincent, Charlie kills Rainbird—right in front of his experimental boys—by taking him into a fiery embrace, and literally turning him into a pile of ashes. Then Charlie ends up in a one-on-one battle against the energy sink.
Charlie uses her powers to destroy the energy sink, and the other experimental boys realize that Charlie was telling them the truth when she said that they become a little less human every time they use their abilities. Charlie, finally having no need to be in hiding, later boards a bus to Canada.
Cast[]
- Marguerite Moreau as Charlie McGee
- Skye McCole Bartusiak as adolescent Charlie
- Danny Nucci as Vincent Sforza
- Malcolm McDowell as John Rainbird
- Dennis Hopper as James Richardson
- John Dennis Johnson as Joel Lowen
- Darnell Williams as Gil James
- Dan Byrd as Paul Jablonski
- Devon Alan at Max Czierniewski
- Eric Jacobs as Jack Czierniewski
- Travis Charitan as Cody Weinberg
- Scott E. Cox as Andrew Amalfitano
- Emmett Shoemaker as Edward Michaelson
- Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Mary Conant
- Aaron Lee Radl as Andy McGee
- Karrie Combs as Vicky McGee
- Patrick Breaugh as Doctor Todd
- Sean Marble as Young Man in Bus
- Micaela Nelligan as Sarah Bell
- Jeremy Elliott as Henry Sforza
- Charles Gruber as Mr. Sforza
- Lance Nichols as Medical Examiner
- Mary Parker Williams as Mrs. Wanless
- Alex Nibley as Dr. Wanless
- Joey Miyashima as Registrar Secretary
- Ron Perkins at Special Agent Pruitt
- Roy Werner as Agent Finch
- Gary Cervantes as Agent Garcia
- DonRé Sampson as Henderson
- Charlie Paddock as Smythe
- Chato Alger as Bus Station Guard
- Cary Brayboy as Lobby Guard
- Hosea Simmons as Guard at Gate
- Star LaPoint as Girl in Library
- K.C. Clyde as Boy in Library
- Anthony J. Lattanzio as Police Officer
- Bernie M. Diamond as Old Man
- AJ Nielsen as girl with spiders (scream)
Notes[]
- The miniseries was made in the same year as the remake of Carrie.
- It was intended as a TV series, but it didn´t happen because of the low ratings.
Gallery[]
