Stephen King’s 1991 TV movie adaptation of Sometimes They Come Back is one of those weird, sticky pieces of 90s nostalgia. It wasn't a blockbuster. It didn't have the budget of IT or the prestige of The Shawshank Redemption. But man, if you caught it on a Friday night on CBS, those undead greasers in their 1955 Chevy probably haunted your dreams for a week. The cast of Sometimes They Come Back was a perfect storm of veteran character actors and young talent who were just about to blow up—or disappear into cult cinema history.
Usually, when people talk about this movie, they’re thinking about Tim Matheson. He plays Jim Norman, the guy who moves back to his hometown only to realize that the bullies who killed his brother haven't aged a day because, well, they're dead. But looking back today, the supporting cast is actually the more interesting part of the story. You've got future Oscar nominees and faces that became staples of every procedural drama on television for the next thirty years.
The Leading Man: Tim Matheson’s Reluctant Hero
Tim Matheson was already a legend by 1991. You knew him as Eric "Otter" Stratton from Animal House. He had that smooth, effortless charm that made you trust him, which is exactly why he worked as Jim Norman. Matheson had to sell the idea of a man slowly losing his grip on reality while his dead brother’s spirit started messing with his classroom. It’s a grounded performance in a movie that gets pretty campy toward the end.
Matheson didn't stop there. He went on to have a massive career behind the camera as a director, and he eventually landed the role of Vice President John Hoynes on The West Wing. If you watch him in Sometimes They Come Back now, you can see that same authoritative but slightly panicked energy he brought to the White House. He’s currently a mainstay on Virgin River, showing that some actors just know how to age into the "reliable patriarch" role perfectly.
The Villains: Robert Rusler and the Undead Bullies
Honestly? The movie is nothing without the greasers. Robert Rusler played Richard Lawson, the leader of the pack. Rusler was already a "that guy" of the 80s. He was in Weird Science. He was the best friend in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge.
Rusler has this specific, sneering charisma. In Sometimes They Come Back, he’s terrifying because he’s so still. He doesn't need to scream. He just stands there in that leather jacket and you know things are going south. Rusler is still very active in the horror convention circuit and continues to act, recently appearing in things like Day of the Dead (the series). He’s embraced his status as a scream queen—or scream king, I guess.
Then you have the other bullies.
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- Bentley Mitchum: Playing David North, Bentley comes from the famous Mitchum acting dynasty (grandson of Robert Mitchum). He brought a twitchy, unpredictable energy to the group.
- William Sanderson: While not one of the "teen" bullies, Sanderson played the older version of Carl Lawson. If you don't recognize Sanderson, you haven't watched enough TV. He was Larry in Newhart ("This is my brother Darryl..."), and later, he was the incredible E.B. Farnum in Deadwood. He’s a master of playing characters who are slightly pathetic but deeply dangerous.
A Young Brooke Adams
Brooke Adams played Sally Norman, Jim’s wife. She had a tough job because, in these King adaptations, the wife character is often just there to look worried and tell the protagonist he’s working too hard. But Adams, who was amazing in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Dead Zone, gives Sally some actual backbone. She makes the stakes feel real.
The Breakout: Tasia Valenza and the Supporting Players
Tasia Valenza played Kate. While her role wasn't huge, Valenza is a fascinating example of how the cast of Sometimes They Come Back branched out. She transitioned into becoming one of the most prolific voice actors in the industry. If you’ve played a video game in the last twenty years—from Batman: Arkham Knight (as Poison Ivy) to Star Wars: The Clone Wars (as Shaak Ti)—you’ve heard her voice.
There’s also a very young William Lucking as the police officer. Lucking eventually became a fan favorite as Piney Winston on Sons of Anarchy. It’s wild to see him here, decades before the denim vest and the oxygen tank, playing a standard small-town cop.
Why the Casting Worked for Stephen King’s Vibe
Stephen King stories usually fail when the actors are too "Hollywood." You need people who look like they actually live in a town with a failing mill and a haunted bridge. Director Tom McLoughlin, who also did Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI, understood this. He cast people with interesting faces.
The chemistry between the three undead bullies is what makes the movie's second act work. They feel like a unit. When they sit in that classroom, older than the other students but frozen in their 1950s aesthetic, it creates a visual dissonance that still works. Most of these actors were actually in their late 20s or early 30s playing teenagers, which usually looks ridiculous. Here? It adds to the supernatural "uncanny valley" feeling. They shouldn't be there, and they look like they don't belong in the 90s.
The Legacy and the Sequels
It’s worth mentioning that the success of the original TV movie led to two sequels: Sometimes They Come Back... Again (1996) and Sometimes They Come Back... for More (1998).
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The casting for the sequels was... let's say "interesting."
The 1996 sequel featured a young Hilary Swank! Yes, before she was winning Oscars for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby, she was fighting off more resurrected greasers. It also starred Michael Papajohn, who most people recognize as the carjacker who killed Uncle Ben in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.
The third movie moved the setting to the Antarctic (for some reason) and starred Matt Salinger—son of J.D. Salinger and the star of the 1990 Captain America. These sequels didn't have the soul of the original, but they show how the "brand" of the first film’s cast carried enough weight to spawn a mini-franchise.
Fact-Checking the Production
A lot of people think this was filmed in Maine because it’s a Stephen King story. Actually, it was filmed in Kansas City, Missouri, and Liberty, Missouri. The bridge that plays such a huge role in the film is a real location, and that "midwestern gloom" is a huge part of why the cinematography feels so heavy.
The budget was tight. You can see it in the special effects during the final "portal" scene. But the performances by Matheson and Rusler carry the weight that the CGI couldn't.
Lessons from the Cast's Longevity
If you’re looking at the cast of Sometimes They Come Back as a blueprint for an acting career, the takeaway is clear: versatility is everything.
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- Embrace Genre: Robert Rusler didn't run away from horror; he leaned into it and built a lifelong fan base.
- Pivot to Voice Work: Tasia Valenza’s transition to voice acting is a masterclass in staying relevant when the "on-camera" roles for women in Hollywood get unfairly slim.
- Directing as a Safety Net: Tim Matheson’s move into directing television episodes of Psych, Burn Notice, and Suits kept him as one of the busiest men in the business.
When you rewatch the movie today, ignore the dated 90s fashion and the synth-heavy score. Focus on the eyes of the actors. Matheson’s desperation and Rusler’s cold, dead stare are what make the movie a cult classic. It’s a snapshot of a specific time in television history when a "Movie of the Week" could actually be pretty decent if you put the right people in the room.
To get the most out of a rewatch, try to find the uncut version. Some TV edits chop out the tension in the classroom scenes, which is where the acting actually shines. If you're a fan of the "greaser horror" subgenre, pair this with The Outsiders for a weird double feature. You'll see how 90s TV tried to subvert the 50s nostalgia that was so popular just a few years prior.
Check out the filmography of Robert Rusler if you want to see a character actor who really understood the assignment in every B-movie he ever touched. He’s the heart of why this movie still gets talked about on Reddit and horror forums thirty-five years later.
Actionable Next Steps
If you're looking to dive deeper into this specific era of Stephen King adaptations, your next step is to track down the 1991 TV broadcast version of the film. While the DVD and streaming versions are higher quality, the original broadcast captures that specific 4:3 "liminal space" feeling that made these TV movies so effective. After that, look up the short story in King's Night Shift collection. You'll find that the cast of Sometimes They Come Back actually had to do a lot of heavy lifting to expand a very short, lean story into a full-length feature, and comparing the two is a great lesson in screenwriting adaptation.