Description: Masters of horror Stephen King (The Shining) and George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead) have created a 'gripping, creepy, frightening' (L.A. Reader) film that 'thrills, shocks and works us over' (Los Angeles Times)! Featuring an 'intelligent screenplay and first-rate cast' (The New York Times), including OscarÂ(r) winner* Timothy Hutton, The DarkHalf will keep you captivated to the chilling end. Horror writer Thad Beaumont (Hutton) hopes to distance himself from his murder novels and from George Stark, the name he has used to anonymously 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 slainand his own fingerprints dot the crime scenesBeaumont is dumbfounded until he learns that Stark has taken on a life of his own and begun a gruesome quest for vengeance! *1980: Supporting Actor, Ordinary People
Amazon.com: Although it lacks the creepy subtleties of Stephen King's celebrated novel, George Romero's underrated adaptation of The Dark Half ranks among the best films based on King's fiction, with Romero taking care to honor King's central theme while serving up some gruesome gore in the film's much-criticized finale. Inspired by King's own admission that he wrote several novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Dark Half explores the duality of a writer's impulse, ranging from literary respectability to the viscerally cathartic thrills of exploitative pulp fiction.
Author and teacher Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) finds himself torn between those extremes when he 'kills' his profitable, pseudonymous alter ego George Stark (the bestselling 'dark half' to Thad's light), who then assumes an evil, autonomous form (again played by Hutton) to lethally defend his role in Thad's creative endeavors. Forced to wrestle with this evil manifestation of his own unformed twin, Thad must fight to protect his wife (Amy Madigan), their twin babies, and his own survival as an artist. Romero skillfully develops the twin/duality theme to explore the writer's dilemma, and Hutton is outstanding in his dual roles, playing Stark (in subtly fiendish makeup) as a redneck rebel with a knack for slashing throats. Julie Harris adds class in a supporting role, and horror fans will relish Romero's climactic showdown, in which swarms of sparrows seal Stark's fate. It favors a pulp sensibility with clunky exposition to explain Stark's existence, but The Dark Half is a laudable effort from everyone involved. --Jeff Shannon
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Rating: - A movie based on a book by Steven King... there's something new.
This movie really only has one main cast member. He is Timothy Hutton. He has been in many films. A couple you may remember are Taps 1981 and French Kiss 1995. He is also in several films coming up 2008-09. Two are completed and five are still being produced. He actually plays two roles in the film. But I don't want to get ahead of myself, nor do I want to give away to much. Below I will tell you a little about the movie without ruining it for everyone.
This movie has a real mid - late 80's/ early 90s feel to it. It is set in Main. This only adds to the small town spooky feel. The movie is about a man who as a young boy likes to write. One day he is heading out to the bus when he passes out and is having seizures on the ground. Turns out he has something wrong in his brain. The doctors say it is something that must be removed. While doing this they find something that shocks them all. ... Read More
Rating: - MAINELY OUTSTANDING
Ever wonder what Alfred Hitchcock would have done with material written by Stephen King? "Dark Half" may be the closest we'll ever come to finding out. But,whereas in Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963) we see nature on the rampage with Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time,in "Dark Half " nature is employed as a useful vehicle, gorging Timothy Hutton's hidden half and finallly returning it to Satan,from whence the original body tissue came. Director Romero does an excellent job of reproducing Hutton's hidden "twin" who sprang to life as an alias,protecting a young college professor's true identity. But,devilry often seems to feed upon itself, especially here when Hutton goes on writing binges which satiate his dark side on paper, but also fuel the flames of his "twin". The repellent violence does become a bit much at times, and this is certainly no film for youngsters.But,"Dark ... Read More
Rating: - timothy hutton should be ashamed of himself
why are most stephen king novels that are mildly brilliant all turn out to be absolute decrepid gutter ca-ca? (tommyknockers, storm of century, Needful Things) I mean Stand by Me, classic, Shawshank classic, this is just so awful, and its amazing the fan base George A. Romero has, he has got to be the biggest joke in the industry, save for some really visually impressive scenes in Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead was just an absolute B Movie joke.
To think this movie has a fan base, reminds me totally why I live alone, and choose my friends wisely. The film has no depth, no character interpersonal qualms, lacks emotion and undearing understanding of consequence, and utterly sinks beneath the spectrum of talent, and Hutton should cringe whenever he is flipping through the channels, and happens to see this on TBS.
A 1.5 for some sophmoric cinematic magic.
Rating: - Underrated adaptation from Romero
Stephen King's The Dark Half is one of the few big screen adaptations of his work to actually be pretty good. Zombie meister George Romero adapted King's tale, which features Timothy Hutton as a writer attempting to put an end to his popular, horror writing, pen name alter ego, but gets a big surprise instead. Soon enough, he's literally struggling with himself while trying to protect his family, all concluding in one of the most memorable endings you'll ever see in a big screen King adaptation. While it may be longer than it had to have been, Romero successfully weaves a film that does King's work justice while also putting a bit of his own spin on it at the same time. The gore and makeup effects are very well done as well, and the cast, which also includes Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris, and Robert Joy (who would be in Romero's Land of the Dead a little over a decade later) also take memorable turns, but it's Hutton ... Read More
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- A movie based on a book by Steven King... there's something new.
- MAINELY OUTSTANDING
- timothy hutton should be ashamed of himself
- Underrated adaptation from Romero
