Firestarter (1984)
A father and daughter with psychic powers are captured by a government agency intent on testing their abilities.
Genre
Characters/Groups
Charlie McGee - Drew Barrymore
Dr. Joseph Wanless - Freddie Jones
Vicky McGee - Heather Locklear
Captain Hollister - Martin Sheen
John Rainbird - George C. Scott
Norma Manders - Louise Fletcher
Orville Jamieson - Drew Snyder
Young Serviceman - Jack Magner
Serviceman's Girlfriend - Lisa Anne Barnes
Security Guard - Larry Sprinkle
Women in Stall - Cassandra Ward-Freeman
Bearded Student - Scott R. Davis
Blinded Agents - Robert Miano and Leon Rippy
DSI Technicians - Etan Boritzer and Joan Foley
DSI Orderlies - Orwin Harvey and George P. Wilbur
Character thumbnails with links to profiles
Detailed Synopsis
Andrew McGee is pushing his way through the crowd in Washington, D.C. while carrying Charlie McGee. Meanwhile, Bates is driving a car with Orville Jamieson and Mayo while tailing Andrew and Charlie. Charlie tells Andrew she is scared and Orville tells Bates and Mayo not to look Andrew in the eyes. Orville and Mayo get out of the car and start chasing Andrew, but Andrew manages to hail a Taxi Driver and tells the Taxi Driver to take him to the airport. The Taxi Driver at first refuses to take them, but Andrew uses his mind powers to convince the Taxi Driver that he has given him a 500 dollar bill. Andrew falls asleep from exhaustion and has a memory of his past.
Dr. Joseph Wanless explains the drug trial he is about to perform with its participants including, Andrew, Vicky McGee and Bearded Student for the drug, Lot 6. Bearded Student asks if the experiment is being conducted by The Shop, and Dr. Wanless tell him it is not. Vicky asks when they will get their money and Dr. Wanless tells her after the experiment. Andrew introduces himself to Vicky and during the experiment, assisted by a Grad Assistant, Vicky is able to read Andrew's mind and they start to speak to each other telepathically. Suddenly all the other participants start to scream, including Bearded Student, whose eyes start to leak blood.
Andrew wakes up and he and Charlie get out of the taxi at the airport. Orville contacts Knowles and Steinowitz and tells them to go to the airport. He explains to Mayo and Bates how Andrew's powers work, but that he many be too exhausted to use them much more. Andrew tells Charlie that he will have to steal in order for them to be able to get plane tickets, but she tells him stealing is wrong. He tells her that it is one of those lesser of two evils and she understands. Charlie then recalls how she made Vicky scream one time. As they are walking, Charlie overhears Young Serviceman tell Serviceman's Girlfriend he doesn't want anything to do with her, even after she tells him that she is pregnant. Andrew uses his mind powers to make the telephone in the phone booth give him all the change. As the Young Serviceman and Serviceman's Girlfriend continue to argue, Charlie stares at the Young Serviceman and starts his boots on fire with her mind powers. Andrew grabs Charlie and runs out of the airport and the Young Serviceman runs into the women's restroom and shoves his boots in the toilet. A Security Guard then tells Young Serviceman to get out of the restroom stall after Women in Stall screams. Charlie apologizes to Andrew for setting the Young Serviceman's feet on fire and he tells her she is getting better at controlling her emotions. They go to a motel and Andrew has a memory from the past.
Andrew holds up a piece of toast and has Charlie use her mind powers to burn the toast and then to control her powers. Vicky tells Charlie it is time for bed and Charlie has a tantrum and sets Vicky's oven mitts on fire. He remembers the day he came home to find Vicky dead with a piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth. Andrew calls Joan Dugan and finds Blinded Agents using chlorophyll to make Charlie go unconscious. Andrew uses his mind powers to make the Blinded Agents drop their weapons and bring Charlie to him. Andrew then tells them they are blind, and the Blinded Agents scream out in pain. Joan walks out of the house, bleeding from her head and Andrew tells her to go back inside and that she won't remember anything.
At The Shop in Longmont, Virginia, Captain Hollister greets Elaine and Josie and Josie tells him, Orville said there is no word on Andrew and Charlie. She then tells him that John Rainbird is in his office. Hollister asks how Rainbird's trip to Venice went and Dr. Wanless walks into the room. Dr. Wanless tells Hollister he wants Andrew and Charlie killed due to the threat they pose. He explains how Lot 6 works and worries how strong her powers will be when Charlie hits puberty. Hollister suggests doing more experiments and Dr. Wanless threatens to expose The Shop. Andrew and Charlie hitch hike and get a ride from Irv Manders. Andrew lies to Irv about his wife just having a baby and as Irv is driving they pass by Knowles and Steinowitz who spot Andrew and Charlie riding with Irv. Bates and Orville question the Motel Owner and Knowles and Steinowitz radio Mayo about seeing Andrew who tells Orville and Bates. Irv invites Andrew and Charlie to eat lunch with him and Norma Manders. After lunch, Irv figures out Andy lied and asks him who he is running from. Andrew explains to Irv that The Shop is really the Department of Scientific Intelligence and tells him about The Shop's experiments. Charlie senses that The Shop agents are coming for them and she inadvertently starts to heat up the house. Andrew tells Charlie he can stop The Shop agents with her powers. The Shop agents arrive and Orville tells Charlie she will have to come with him. Charlie tells them to leave and Andrew threatens that the same thing that happened to the Young Serviceman will happen to them. Irv comes out with his rifle and tells them to leave and Charlie starts to heat the area up. Knowles and Steinowitz grab Andrew and Irv is shot by an agent. Charlie uses her powers to set Knowles and Steinowitz on fire and then Orville and finally most of the other agents are set on fire and killed. Irv gives Andrew his jeep and Andrew and Charlie drive to Chimney Rock Lake in Tennessee.
They stay at Andrew's father's house and Charlie asks if things will ever be normal again. Andrew tells her after they write the letters to the newspapers then they can live a normal life. During the night, Rainbird assassinates Dr. Wanless. Andrew and Charlie drive to the post office and Old Man coughs to Old Lady when he sees them. Old Lady asks Proprietor to use his phone. She then calls Hollister and tells him that Andrew went to the post office and Hollister tells Rainbird. Rainbird then tells Hollister he wants to personally kill Charlie. As the Mailman is driving, he is hailed by Rainbird and Bates. The Mailman gets out to help Rainbird, who then strangles the Mailman to death and steals the mail. Rainbird tracks down Andrew and Charlie and uses a tranquilizer rifle to shoot them with tranquilizer darts, rendering them unconscious. Andrew and Charlie are brought to The Shop where DSI Orderlies restrain Andrew while Dr. Pynchot tells Andrew that Charlie is okay. Dr. Pynchot introduces himself after Andrew tries to escape and tells Andrew he is at The Shop. Hollister brings coco to Charlie and she demands to know where Andrew is. Hollister tells her they want to study her powers. After Hollister leaves, Charlie tests her powers to make the coco boil. Andrew is forced to take pills by the DSI Orderlies while Charlie is given toys. Rainbird goes into Charlie's room posing as a janitor and tries to make friends with her.
Hollister and Dr. Pynchot test Andrew's abilities and send in Albright to speak with Andrew. Andrew tells Albright to put ink in his water and tries to make him drink it, but fails. Rainbird eventually fools Charlie into being his friend by appealing to her sense of empathy when the power goes out due to a storm and he tells her he is afraid of the dark from his experience from being a POW in Vietnam. Charlie agrees to the tests and Dr. Pynchot has her set wood on fire as the first test. The DSI Technicians notice the intense waves as she conducts the test and how quickly she is able to make the temperature rise. After she passes the test, a DSI technician that was in the room with her runs out and leaves the door open. Dr. Pynchot worries that Andrew and Charlie might see each other again and that Andrew will have Charlie kill them all. Hollister brings Andrew his pills and tells Andrew, he will be sent to Maui soon. When Hollister leaves, Andrew goes to the bathroom and spits out his pills. Rainbird takes Charlie riding after giving her a horse named Necromancer. Hollister continues to test Charlie's abilities and she passes all of the tests and during the tests the DSI Technicians continue to be amazed of her powers to heat the area. After the test, Charlie demands to see Andrew. Andrew tests his abilities on the television and realizes he is regaining his power.
Dr. Pynchot wants to do more tests, but Hollister and Rainbird think they have tested her enough. On a walk, Hollister tells Andrew he is leaving for Maui that day and Andrew uses his mind power to force Hollister to make sure Charlie is with him when he leaves. Andrew writes a note to Charlie telling her they are going to escape soon and has Hollister give it to her. Charlie tells Rainbird about what Andrew wrote. Agent Hunt walks in and tells Charlie he will be taking her to the stables. Rainbird goes to the stables and hides in the loft with a revolver. Hunt brings Charlie to the stables and then Charlie orders Hunt to leave. As they are going to the stables, Hollister tells Andrew how Rainbird convinced Charlie to do the experiments. Rainbird calls to Charlie, but before he can grab her, Andrew and Hollister walk into the barn and Charlie runs to Andrew and they hug. Charlie tells Andrew that Rainbird is there and Andrew tells her the truth about Rainbird. Andrew tells Hollister to kill Rainbird and Rainbird shoots Hollister in the head. Andrew uses his powers to make Rainbird jump and Rainbird shoots Andrew in the neck. Rainbird shoots at Charlie and she melts the bullet and makes him combust. Before dying, Andrew tells Charlie to kill everyone she has to in order to escape and tells her he loves her. Charlie then goes outside the barn after letting the horses out of their stables. She kills Dr. Pynchot by firing a large fireball at him, sends waves of flame that engulf Knowles, kills Hunt with a fireball, engulfs Steinowitz in a wave of fire, shoots a fireball at Bates that makes his body fly into a tree and kills every other member of The Shop, while also destroying all of the buildings. She hitchhikes back to Irv and Norma's and they take her to the New York Times to tell her story.