Directed by:
George A. RomeroScreenplay:
George A. RomeroCinematography:
Tony Pierce-RobertsComposer:
Christopher YoungCast:
Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris, Robert Joy, Rutanya Alda, Beth Grant, Royal Dano, Chelsea Field, Christine Forrest, Erik Jensen (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Horror writer Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) hopes to distance himself from his murder novels and from George Stark, the pseudonymous name he has used to author them. To achieve this, he cooks up a murder of his own: a publicity stunt that should lay Stark to rest forever. But when the people around him are found gruesomely slain - and his own fingerprints dot the crime scenes - Beaumont is dumbfounded until he learns that Stark has taken on a life of his own... and begun a gruesome quest for vengeance! Adapted from the bestselling novel by Stephen King, who wrote the novel as a nod to his own literary pseudonym, Richard Bachman, The Dark Half is an intense and shocking horror film, with a climax that stands up as one of the craziest of both King and Romero's careers. (Eureka Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (3)
Films like The Dark Half best unmask what is special about Stephen King. He is able to make decent reading from a fairly banal horror story, which has the gift of dragging the reader into the plot. But when an average director takes over the same story and tells it in a average way... surprisingly, we have only an average story without magic, that's all. Stephen King needs an exceptional filmmaker to tell his stories (see Kubrick, Darabont), otherwise they will remain nothing but shadows of his work.
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I haven't read the book, but the movie is quite unengaging even by Stephen King adaptation standards, and lacks atmosphere, pace, and suspense. For me, it's worth a weak two stars. This film's rating is probably boosted by the presence of the famous horror specialist Romero in the director's chair. It's a B-movie through and through, and the quality of the special effects is low. Overall impression: 35%.
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I think The Dark Half is one of Romero's underrated horror films because he managed to adapt King's novel very well. It has its own elements, but the basic foundation is the same and the story is simply good. Timothy Hutton deserves praise for how well he portrayed the two main protagonists, both the good guy and the bad guy, and he constantly makes you feel like you don't know where you stand even with Thad.
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