Customer Reviews

The Dark Half

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

THE DARK HALF is about a famous writer, Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton), who has been writing very successful thrillers under a different name, George Stark. When a little weasle from out of town threatens to blackmail Beaumont and blow his cover, he decides to let the world know that there is no George Stark and that he has been writing the best-selling books all along. But, what if there really is a George Stark? And what if George Stark wasn't totally real, but a part of Thad that was cut away a long time ago? And what if that George Stark came to life and starting killing people like the characters in his books do? That pretty much sums up the plot of THE DARK HALF. The movie ends in a climatic battle of the wills between Thad and George.

The film contains some pretty decent acting, especially by Timothy Hutton who plays both Beumont and Stark. The directing is done by horror master George Romero and is almost faultless. Nevertheless, more so because of a lackluster script than anything else, the movie never reaches it's full potential. The movie has a great premise, an interesting plot, and begins as an enthralling thriller. However, about a third of the way through, things start to loosen up and fall apart. The mood changes and instead of an enthralling thriller, the movie feels more like a semi-suspenseful dark comedy. In the last act, the movie picks up steam again, but not enough to overcome the shortcomings of the second act. It's not a film I would recommend to buy, but it's a great movie to rent.

The Dark Half is my favorite Stephen King book and so naturally I wanted the movie to be just as good. Unfortunately I can't say that it is, although the film is somewhat true to the book. However, what comes across as eerie, creepy, or cool in the book comes across as silly and corny for much of the movie. The surgery scene, for example, where "George" is incised from Thad's head is hilarious if you haven't read the book, what with the eyeball staring out, almost as if it's saying "Feed Me"! In the book it was pretty darn scary. Performance wise, Timothy Hutton is right on, either as Thad Beaumont or George Stark. and the story is, like I said, pretty true to the book. But even the presence of the sparrows is laughable, again, if you haven't read the book. Now when I saw this I did have flashbacks to the actual reading of the book, and there were some genuine chills. But the book slays the movie any old day. Bottom line, if you're a serious Stephen King fan and you have to have everything with his name on it, go ahead and buy this movie. Or if you loved the book and want the film adaptation buy it as well. But if you're an occasional Stephen King fan or if you haven't read the book first, stay the hell away from this movie. I have to give George Romero credit for sticking with key elements of the book in his script, and some pretty good direction. But what scares in a book, in the mind's eye, doesn't necessarily translate to the silver screen!

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 who shines above the rest in one of the best performances of his entire career. All in all, The Dark Half is not only an underrated King adaptation, but it's one of Romero's most underrated films as well, and regardless of you being a fan of either or both horror maestros, The Dark Half is definitely worth a look.

This film had a pretty good idea behind it, but should've been better planned. Basically, you can't anylize this movie or you'll end up frustrated.

Tim Hutton does a great job, and he's pretty darn cute, so he makes up for the poor plot.

well done movie. i liked the lines alot (like george stark by the fireplace saying "you're disturbing my peaceful frame of mind" and when thad is talking to davidson the reporter "yes i'll forgive you. but i dont think george will. as a matter of fact...". the acting for the dual role was also done well. the twin babies were really good with the appropriate expressions showing up at times. I only didnt like the ending. theres no explanation why the birds took george, as he appeared to be winning. it was just an unlikely way to end, and disappointing, as if god had just stepped in and said "OK enough of george-outta the pool" the hero didnt win the battle

Always it was Stephen King¡¯s novels were dealing with weird materials. This film is also one of his works; it makes me confused until it finishes. I could realize who was the killer at the end. At first, I thought, same person with a dual personality made a case, which was a killing, but later it was discovered one of twin brother did it. Timothy Hutton, who makes me confused, played twin brother good. He has a career, which won an Academy Award before, so his acting was recognized as much as his career. Like this, stable performance as well as direction of George A. Romero, these were well in harmony with together. George made generally intellectual and social problem concerning films. In this film, he expressed a slice of human life through twin brother who was born with a dark side. I think he state about a both-sided mind of human being from this film. Finally, good side wins, but human has always two sides and fight to find a right way. Maybe, it is a main theme of this film.

Although this movie was not near as good as the book was, it did have its moments. The acting could have been so much better, especially the actress who starred as Thad's wife. She was just so unemotional. Her acting was so fake. Timothy Hutton's wasn't, though. He did an excellent job portraying both the clumsy hero, Thad Beaumont, and the terrifying George Stark. There were many times I wished they had put more into the movie. There were many parts in the book that would have looked so good on the silver screen, but they weren't used. I have to say, though, the conclusion was excellent. I thought they weren't going to pull it off, but they did, sparrows and all.

If you are a fan of Stephen King and George Romero, you had to have high expectations for "The Dark Half". When the two horror icons collaborated previously we got the now classic "Creepshow". And where "Creepshow" was a fun horror film focusing on laughs as well as chills, "The Dark Half" is a much more intense tale one perfectly suited for Romero's talents.

Written in reaction to being outed as Richard Bachman, Stephen King created one bad dude in George Stark. Stark is the antagonist in "The Dark Half" and writer of gritty, bloody best selling crime novels. He is the alter ego to family man Thad Beaumont, author and scholarly english professor. When Beaumont is outed as the writer of the Stark novels featuring a ruthless killer known as "The Machine", Beaumont decides the best way to handle a potential blackmailer is to beat him to the punch by revealing himself to the press as the author George Stark, effectively killing Stark off. Soon the blood begins to flow, and the sparrows begin to fly as Stark doesn't like being "killed" off.

Timothy Hutton does a great job playing both Beaumont and Stark. It's hard to believe that it's the same actor in both roles! Michael Rooker is still the best film version of Castle Rock's sheriff Alan Pangborn as well. And while there are some chills here and there, for some reason "The Dark Half" doesn't live up to its horror pedigree. At times I found the film dragged, the pacing seemed off, and scenes that were supposed to provide suspense seemed tedious instead.

Still, this is a decent King adaptation, much better than quite a few filmed versions of his work, but it's not one of the best either. Worth a rental, but not a purchase.

This was a great movie. It got you thinking about what is really passable in this world. It also teaches you to watch out for the many things that you would never tink possable. This was a great movie and it keeps your heart pumping. Great Movie.

Contrary to what other reviewers have written, this film is actually great. It's not corny or mindless like many other films of King books (or some of King's books for that matter), it's VERY suspenseful and the ending is really psychedelic. In actual fact, this is one of the handful of S. King films that doesn't pander to the masses. Romero is a serious director and this film shows the substance of both Romero and the story. Imagine if The Stand hadn't been made into a stupid made-for-TV movie and had been done as seriously as this. Highly recommended!