Firestarter is a 1984 film starring an adorable young Drew Barrymore who plays the child of parents who were part of a medical experiment that left them with telekinetic abilities. As a result, Drew’s character “Charlie” is born with pyrokenesis, but has a hard time controlling her powers. For an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, this film was incredibly tame. Tediously so. Grossly miscategorized in the horror genre and inexplicably R-rated, Firestarter certainly deviates from expectations. The pyrotechnics were certainly a spectacle, but effects like bullets richocheting off of Charlie as she manages to singlehandedly take down countless armed government agents (bless the 80’s) don’t hold up quite as well. A thriller at best, this film is certainly cute, but impressive it is not.
