Cast: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris
Director: George Romero
Producer: Declan Baldwin
Screenplay: George Romero based on the story by Stephen King
Cinematography: Tony Pierce-Roberts
Music: Christopher Young
U.S. Distributor: Orion Pictures
As a young boy, Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) developed a brain tumor. When his skull was opened in the operating room, the tumor turned out to be the undeveloped remains of a twin that Thad had incorporated into himself while still in the womb. More than twenty years later, Thad is a successful writer with a wife named Liz (Amy Madigan) and two infant children. The books he writes under his own name are "literate", but to maintain his income, he writes violent, formula fiction under the pseudonym of George Stark. When a blackmailer threatens to reveal his double identity and endanger the profitable secret, Beaumont goes public himself, "burying" Stark. That's when the murders start. As the body count mounts, Beaumont becomes the prime suspect -- his fingerprints have been found in the victims' blood -- but Thad has no idea what's going on. The question that needs to be answered is whether Thad has a split personality or whether some sort of evil entity is loose in the world.
Where horror movies are concerned, the name Stephen King is usually synonymous with low quality. In some cases, King has denied any association with the productions (Pet Sematary Two, The Lawnmower Man), but he had an active part in one of 1992's worst films, Sleepwalkers. Now, King's name is back on the marquee with The Dark Half and, while this isn't a masterpiece of the genre, it's a moderately entertaining and occasionally intelligent motion picture.
George Romero (the Living Dead movies), an accomplished horror film director, is at the helm, and it's undoubtedly his skill that prevents The Dark Half from sinking into the realm of the unwatchable. It's easy to see how this could have happened, but Romero is able to keep the characters real and the situations (mostly) believable.
Key to the success of The Dark Half, as for almost every horror film, is the audience's ability to suspend disbelief. Unfortunately, the movie is not proficient in promoting this quality. The setup, as well as most of the every-day character interaction, is so normal and "real" that when the consideration of a supernatural explanation arises, it's difficult for the audience to swallow. Had Romero fashioned a skewed vision of America (akin to David Lynch's towns in Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks), the transition might have been easier to accept.
Nevertheless, many aspects of The Dark Half rise above above the gutter where horror films traditionally reside. While the resolution is pure formula, many of the events leading up to it are not. For roughly the first hour of the feature, we're treated to a slick psychological thriller and a whodunnit all rolled into one. The characters are well-written and well-developed, the cinematography is effective, and the special effects are a cut above the norm.
Timothy Hutton, who's recent role in The Temp was an unmitigated disaster, shows excellent range here. Amy Madigan brings some personality to the thankless role of "the wife". If there's a sub-par performance, it belongs to Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) as the local sheriff.
While there's little doubt that most Stephen King fans will enjoy this film, it's unclear whether there's enough in The Dark Half to attract a wider audience. An effort has been made to keep the picture from collapsing into a grade-B slasher flick, but there are still copious quantities of blood and gore. While this isn't a complete comeback for screen adaptations of King's work, it's a worthwhile step.
© 1993 James Berardinelli