Saturday, March 18, 2017

The Dark Half (1993)

Director: George A. Romero

Starring: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker

Run time: 2:02

Rant: Here we have another Stephen King adaption directed by George Romero. Romero was supposed to direct Pet Semetary and It but ended up not getting around to it. I put this movie between those two movies. Better than Pet Sematary, not as good as It.

Timothy Hutton plays a guy named Thad Beaumont who had a parasitic twin that was removed when he was a boy. When he gets older he becomes a writer and writes books that he considers quality, but also writes under a pseudonym of George Stark. The George Stark books are smutty, sexual and violent books but they sell a lot more than the books he enjoys writing. When an asshole tries to blackmail him and out him as George Stark, Thad decides that he'll come public and tell the world he's the real author and put an end to his George Stark career. But the fictional author doesn't want his career to end. Stark somehow becomes real and starts killing the people around Thad and he won't stop until Thad writes another George Stark novel.

This is a slasher film. It's an intelligent slasher film but a slasher film nonetheless. At first I assumed Thad had a split personality and I got bored with the movie but it turned out that George Stark became a separate person. Much more interesting, I think.

Timothy Hutton does a pretty good job as Thad Beaumont but his portrayal of the Dark Half isn't that good. It's very over the top and corny. That was probably the point but there are a few actors that come to mind (Christopher Walken, Michael Keaton, Nicolas Cage) that I think could have made this movie much, much, much more entertaining. This is a really good role and I'm not saying Timothy Hutton is a bad actor, I just don't like some of his choices. Michael Rooker (of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Waling Dead) does a really good job of the small town sheriff who doesn't think Thad is a bad guy but at the same time has to do his job. All in all, The Dark Half is a mediocre awful horror movie.

Fun Fact: In Germany this movie is called "Stark."

             Horror Film: 6
             Entertainment: 7
             Gore: 6
             Overall: 6.2