La Part des ténèbres

Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) had a brain tumor as a child that was an undeveloped twin. Now, as an adult, the twin returns, fully formed and violent. The source is a bit supernatural, but real enough to kill.

The story goes over ground that should be familiar to Stephen King fans. The idea of a child growing up to confront something from his childhood. The theme of a writer, explored numerous times ("Misery", "The Shining") but most closely to this in "Secret Window". Howard Maxford calls it a cross between "Misery" and "The Birds", which I do not fully accept but see his point.

Interestingly, Stephen King is not known for good movie adaptations, and George Romero has had his slew of below average films (though, if you stray from his zombie films, you will find an assortment of goodies). But together, they seem to have made a decent movie here. I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed "Creepshow" -- maybe these guys bring out the best in each other? Michael Rooker is here (with hair) playing the role played by Ed Harris in "Needful Things". I would have liked to see some consistency in casting, but how do you choose between Rooker and Harris? Both top notch. Another Harris, Julie Harris, does appear, though... And the music is from Christopher Young, perhaps best known for his "Hellraiser" score.

Some of the factual information I found to be a bit questionable. Does a military service record really go into an FBI fingerprint database? I suppose it might, but the idea struck me as odd. And the idea that one in ten people start off as twins seemed too exaggerated (and then they said that was at the very least). I would like to know the truth on that.

Overall, though, a really decent film. It is not Oscar or Golden Globe material by any means, but a horror fan should enjoy the mix of gore and dark humor. Rue Morgue has called it "a middling Romero film based on a middling King novel", which really sells it short.

Unfortunately, the film did not get the proper respect in 1993, because its distributor (Orion) was fighting a bankruptcy battle and promoted it poorly. But now (2015), it has a second chance thanks to the fine folks at Scream Factory who have loaded up the Blu-ray with everything possible, including the kitchen sink.

Somewhere in the dark recesses of over-fluffed and processed Stephen King movie adaptations, there lies this jewel of a film: "The Dark Half."

After having it watched it about three times, I'm still quite at a loss as to why this movie has been, more or less, forgotten or simply passed over by the horror movie community. Not only is it a fairly neat adaptation of a great King novel, but it's also directed and written by a true horror movie icon: the one and only George Romero. Isn't this the kind of "team-up" that fans would, under normal circumstances, go absolutely bananas over? I know that I did.

Anyway ... the movie is about a writer, Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton), whose past - quite literally - comes back to haunt him. As a young man, he wrote pulpy crime novels (that I can only imagine were directly inspired by Richard Stark's hardboiled, master thief, Parker) that sold well ... though his literary yearnings tended to veer toward a much less marketable direction. We learn that when he was writing those pulps, his personality suffered. He drank, yelled at his wife, probably slept around, too. Having successfully exorcised that particular demon, when we meet him, Beaumont has a couple kids and an office at some New England university, teaching - you guessed it - creative writing. But when the bodies of folks close to him (i.e.: his agent, biographer) begin cropping up, the small-town police fun finger is pointed at Beaumont. But ... there's a much more sinister twist in this jet-black yarn. We learn that Beaumont indeed has a "dark half."

The direction is perfect, the writing is perfect, the acting is perfect. What more do you want in a film? I'm not exactly certain what King's response was to this film ... I've heard rumors that if he's not directly involved in the production process, he generally scoffs at the final film product. (For example ... he's all but urinated on all the goodness that was Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of "The Shining," which not only marked a substantial turning point in horror cinema, but it's also one of my personal favorites.) Then again ... from what I understand to be true of King and Romero both ... they're friends. Hell, they made "Creepshow" together ... which is another favorite of mine, though I'm more than just a little bit guilty about it.

"The Dark Half" also does one hell of a job at creating a genuinely creepy atmosphere. And who could listen to "Are You Lonesome Tonight" again the same way ... after hearing its soft melodies during a particularly uncomfortable dream sequence?

All of this, compounded with the fact that Timothy Hutton is a damned fine actor (albeit sinfully unknown by most these days) ... makes "The Dark Half" an explosively well made horror/thriller. The proverbial mind meld of King and Romero made "Creepshow" an instant cult classic. So, I ask again ... why was "The Dark Half" a blink-or-you'll-miss-it flop? Maybe these horror titans just can't share the same marquee, anymore.

I dunno.

Sadly a rather bland version of King's sadly rather bland novel. Romero had apparently been slated to direct Pet Semetary before commitments (Monkey Shines) pulled him off - now that would have been worth watching. This on the other hand is a rather tepid slasher flick punctuated with a few inspired moments (the dream sequences and the whole sparrow things in particular). It's hard to know who is a fault here - certainly Dark Half - despite its intriguing premise - is one of King's weaker novels - but Romero's screenplay is little more than a rather one dimensional collection of deaths. There is some suspense and some good effects but overall a rather dull affair.

This is one strange, surreal literate piece of psychological horror pulp in the tradition of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by film-maker George Romero who adapted it from novelist Stephen King. Thad Beaumont is a successful novelist who decides to literally bury his alter ego George Stark, who he used as a pseudonym for his overly violent pulp novels. This occurs because someone tries to blackmail him. But after putting an end to this alter ego, people are starting to be killed off and these are people who are somehow tied in to seeing George Stark finish up. However the evidence at every murder scene points to Thad and something is happening to him that he hasn't experience for almost twenty years. The sparrows are calling. Underrated work from Romero, which can be atmospheric in its vivid visuals, computer effects are ably done, the jolts are nastily macabre (the graphic climax of when sparrows attack) and the steadfast narrative gradually builds up its dread-filled suspense and stinging matter with precise control. Timothy Hutton plays the dual roles with outstanding ticker. Then there is solid support by Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker and a tiny part for Robert Joy.

"We shouldn't be writing trash."

The diabolical alliance of George A. Romero and Stephen King quietly delivered expectations but it's not certainly a great horror film.

"The Dark Half" is pretty interesting and well directed but it's something you've seen before. There's a decent amount of gore, suspense is well crafted, an effective score and regular acting. Maybe the fact that I grew with the 80's Slasher movies made me think every minute about "Basket Case" and compare it with "The Dark Half".

A decent horror movie with a thrilling ending. Deserves a watch.

6/10.