Welcome to Cultoween! We’ve taken a few Halloween years off but we felt it was high time we got back into the spirit of the holiday. Since there are a finite number of Halloween-themed movies, it’s always hard to come up with a specific topic or series of films to cover. For this year’s festivities, we are using this Random Movie Generator to suggest movies to watch for our Halloween season, and then we’re going to let you know if they’re worth watching, how Halloweenie they are, and anything else we think you should know. Effectively we are putting in no values except the movie must be horror, and if we’ve already covered it we’re throwing it back. We hope you enjoy the coverage and stick with us throughout the season!
By 1993, George A. Romero had already worked on a number of widespread releases and even collaborated with Stephen King himself on 1982’s Creepshow. With The Dark Half, Romero adapted another King story, this time with Timothy Hutton in a starring role as Thad Beaumont, a writer with a literal dark side – something akin to taking a cross between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and King’s own Jack Torrance from The Shining. Here, Romero works through the deeply personal elements of the writer and the way unhindered creativity can sometimes rear its ugly head.
The Dark Half has an interesting premise thanks to King’s overall story, and Romero adapts it pretty reverently here. There’s not too much to differ from the novel here, as most of the overall plot elements are conveyed in workmanlike way throughout. The Dark Half is partially autobiographical in nature for King, so it’s interesting to ponder how King felt about Romero bringing this topic to life in movie format.
But what we get is rather good. Hutton is excellent in his role as the struggling writer Thad and alter-ego badass George Stark, forcing him to pull from two different personalities for realism in the moment. The film features a good amount of gore, too, including the final sequence’s horrific death by bird attack, showing a complete physical deformation right down to the skeleton.
Romero does pad this one out a bit too long, though; at the two hour mark, it’s really stretching the conceit to breaking point as The Dark Half begins to feel a bit too repetitive in its second act. A good edit and some brevity instead of trying to adapt off the page would have gone a long way toward making The Dark Half one of the better King adaptations; as it stands, this one’s just okay due to its overstuffed nature and malingering. Special consideration to Michael Rooker as Alan Pangborn, though, as he does give the cop character some much-needed personality.
The Dark Half has quite a few jaunts to New England during the fall/winter season, and it gets the atmosphere right with its cool moods, foliage, and other seasonal trappings. I give this one a Yes even if the plot elements don’t really evoke a Halloween feel.
Watch it this Halloween!
King, Romero, and a New England fall can’t go wrong for your Halloween viewing experience, and you can find it on Blu-ray thanks to Eureka Entertainment, albeit on Region 2. Scream Factory also released this back in 2014 but you’d be hard-pressed to find a copy for a reasonable price now.
