Good start, but then it gets ruined

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Stephen King, baby! For many years I re-watched this movie, even owned the DVD at some point and still The Dark Half is a personal classic to me. The fact alone that Timothy Hutton plays both, Thad and George, and displays both of these characters so differently, shows how good he is as an actor. If you haven't seen this one yet, you definetely should check it out, for it is one of the better Stephen King adaptations with a brilliant atmosphere, at times hilarious over the top acting and a storyline that keeps you engaged in what is going on at the screen.

There was more than once while watching the film that I thought Alfred Hitchcock could have used George Romero when he was filming "The Birds". With at least a half dozen scenes of sparrows massing in the sky or threatening the Beaumont home, they appeared a lot more threatening than Hitchcock's birds. But that was an earlier time and George Romero was just getting started in the Sixties and wouldn't have been a name to contend with yet.One thing that bothered me about this story was the premise set for the existence of George Stark, the evil alter-ego identity of Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton). The foreign tissue removed from the young Thad was described as an 'absorbed fetus', formed of a rare tumor manifesting a tooth and other grisly organic remains. Then later, Thad's university friend Reggie proclaims George a conjuration, created by the force of Thad's will. I haven't read the King novel, so it seems to me the film's story line was going in too many different directions with these arguments. Personally, going with just the latter idea would have worked well enough for me.Fred Clawson's blackmail scheme didn't hold much water with me either. Obviously Beaumont's publisher knew he was using a pseudonym, and to my thinking, what was the big deal anyway? Stephen King uses at least a couple I'm aware of - Richard Bachman and Peter Straub - and it never hurt his career. So that was a little muddled in the execution too.But you know what, the evil guise of George Stark was really cool, wasn't it? Looking like a deranged Elvis impersonator, I thought Hutton's transformation into the warped madman was pretty impressive. I had to wonder though about the Mississippi plates on his Toronado, where did that idea come from? Tennessee (Graceland) would have made more sense and I wouldn't even have questioned it. Oh, well.Anyway, old George came to a ghastly finale there at the end of the picture, but even then I had to contain a chuckle among all the gruesome imagery. For the very first time ever I saw it dramatically illustrated what it means to be a pencil necked geek.

I am floored by all the lukewarm and negative reviews of "The Dark Half"! This film and the book are what got me to read Stephen King. I starting it, I was amazed. Inspired, I wrote a drama heavily inspired by King's use of his surroundings to craft horror out of the ordinary lives of New Englanders. When I saw the film, I was hooked, and went on to read other novels such as "Dolores Claiborne" (also an excellent film adaptation). One fascinating theme, besides the split between a writer's "light" and "dark" halves, is that of domestic violence. I realized that this permeates King's work (witness the abusive, drunk husbands in "The Shining" and in "Dolores Claiborne"). It seems that King finds this real form of violence more horrifying than zombies or ghosts. I agree. The main character of "The Dark Half", Thad Beaumont, is "not an alcoholic", says his wife, Liz, but his pseudonym, "George Stark, IS." She insists how "mean" Thad gets, drinking and smoking, when writing as Stark. It's worth asking if he would ever have quit these novels, had not a snarky blackmailer accosted him after his college class and demanded money for silence. Spoiler Alert! Thad's response is chilling. "You know what George would do? He'd cut off your p***** and feed it to you." Of course, this is exactly what happens to the "snitch", after George Stark comes to life and begins killing everyone who tried to kill his character. The murders are far more gruesome, in a very psychotic, human way; than other King stories that involve supernatural deaths. People have complained there is not as much gore as in Romero's other films. That is what makes "The Dark Half" so great. We are still horrified, such as after the photographer who documents George Stark's "burial", is found bludgeoned to death with his own wooden leg. This comes on the heels of the grave-digger's discovery of a hole at the fake grave, "as if somebody was IN there and lifted hisself out!" This supernatural element adds a nice twist to Stark's cold-blooded murders. Though Thad's fingerprints are all over the dead man's truck and the blackmailer's apartment, the nice-guy Sheriff, Alan Pangborn (Michael Rooker, one of my favorite actors) keeps him out of jail as a courtesy. But soon, anyone associated with trying to kill off "George" is a target. This includes the doctor who removed the brain tumor that was Thad's twin (George?) and of course, Liz, who detests George. Thad realizes that he must hunt down his doppelgänger and kill him alone. One of my favorite scenes is when Thad goes to his office and "communes" with George psychically. He picks up Stark's favorite instrument, a "Berol® Black Beauty" pencil and goes into a trance. He is able to enter Stark's thoughts via a psychic, yet physical connection. Though it drives Stark into greater fury, Thad also realizes that the newly formed killer does NOT know about The Sparrows. They are, says his professor friend, Reggie, "psychopomps", who guide the living and the dead between worlds. Thad realizes that, in a duel between himself and George (who wants Thad to teach him to write!), only one of them can emerge alive. SPOILER! This is an excellent foreshadowing of the plot of "The Secret Window", though in that story, the dichotomy takes place inside the writer's disturbed mind. In "The Dark Half", we know Stark is physically real, since he kills Thad's doctor, just as the latter enters his office, pinning another murder on him. Still, Thad thinks he has the upper hand, until he gets a call from George, saying, "Guess where I am"; he hears his kids. Stark says he won't harm them, as long as he meets him at "Endsville, the place where all rail service terminates", his nightmare place that Stark somehow finds. This is the Beaumont's lake house, where George Stark was created. Thad bolts as Reggie shouts after him, "Wear a carnation, so I'll know it's you!" What if Thad does NOT win? At the house, he sees Stark's black Toronado and sparrows everywhere. This is no re-make of "The Birds" (those birds are just angry at humans for ruining the environment; these can grab you and whisk you to "the other side"!). Before Thad enters, we get to hear George Stark's philosophy, as he expounds on writing and maybe "settling down here". He silences Liz's protests, warning, "You are disturbin' the peaceful frame of mind Ah'm in", in his "cracker" accent, again foreshadowing the character of John Shooter. Stark is terrifying to behold. He already told Thad that he is "losing the necessary cohesion" (to stay alive). He is coming apart and has taped his face together; his eyes are glazed, he's losing teeth and bleeding wounds appear on his face. Once Thad and George go to his (window-less!) den, things get really bizarre. At first, Stark can't write and becomes angry. Realizing he must play along, Thad actually gives him writing tips and the ghoulish alter-ego gloats, "Ah'm getting' it!" Thad watches in horror as indeed, Stark beings writing well. Suddenly, a gash opens on THAD's forehead and he realizes they have started to switch places. Now, we can be genuinely worried that Stark, not Thad, will emerge as the new writer. Thad panics and attacks Stark, who tries to shoot his kids. A fistfight ensues, while the Pangborn breaks in and frees Liz. Suddenly, the flock of sparrows bursts through windows and fills the air. The ending is not your usual carnage, though there is plenty of gore, pre-figuring some CGI scenes such as "The Mummy" and "Sleepy Hollow". If you can sit through this, you are treated to one of the most spectacular movie finishes since the Lost Ark blew its cork! I now love Stephen King's writing, yet this will always remain my favorite of his books, as well as all the film adaptations of his work.

I have always wondered why George A Romero's film based on Stephen King's novel never took off with horror fans. I think it has a knock out premise concerning an evil alter ego that takes vengeance out on those who "rubbed him out" by sadistically attacking those behind his "demise". The idea that this dark place, where an author finds the material forwarded to popular novels, manifests itself in human form, ticked off at the one he gave substantial good fortune, should be a story that appeals to the horror fans at large. I think it's a cerebral, twistedly inventive idea obviously pulled from King's own experience when he adopted his own alter ego, writing under a pseudonym.The plot focuses on a professor, Thad Beaumont, who writes novels under the alias of George Stark and as himself. Stark is the dark side of Thad Beaumont's personality, which creates a popular series of horror novels detailed in disturbing fashion. When a crook finds out about the connection, he attempts to squeeze Thad through blackmail, which leads to Thad's decision to, once and for all, bury Stark and the baggage that comes with him. George, however, doesn't like this, and he "rises from the grave" to pick off all of those who were involved in his "execution and burial". Meanwhile, sparrows are starting to gather, prepared to take either Thad or George to "the other side", as they are a type of tool used to carry away the soul who doesn't belong. That's essentially what it is, a fight for survival. George wants to assume Thad's position, so that he can live, not die. Thad understands the kind of beast he is, because, in essence, he "gave birth" to him.We later discover that a tumor, which his parents told him caused his severe headaches, was in actuality remains of a twin brother he didn't quite absorb during the fetal stage of development. The remains were removed and buried, so when Thad and a crew, hired for a specific magazine piece marking George's death, shoot a publicity shot of a fake tombstone with Stark's name on it, this will set forth the shocking events which leads to a series of razor slashings against everyone who had threatened to cast him away forever.One of Romero's more sophisticated mainstream films, didn't hit a chord with his fans, and, actually, many didn't particularly like it. It could've been the premise, considering a killer who basically formed from nothingness, and wishes to take over his master's role..that and how the sparrows become involved in the grand scheme of things.Good cast included Amy Madigan as his concerned, but headstrong wife, and Michael Rooker Castle Rock, Maine's sheriff. Julie Harris has an amusing supporting role as a professor of the occult who lends Thad a hand when he's searching for the truth regarding his murderous alter ego. I thought Timothy Hutton was quite effective in dual roles, even more so as the psychopath who enjoys cracking wise, dressed in black shirt, jeans, his hair slicked back, carrying a southern accent. The finale, with all the sparrows, I actually thought was effectively carried out, particularly how they tear apart a character. The story, which many might find really hard to swallow, works for me because it paints poor Thad in a corner due to how George relates to him in so many ways to the point that even when it's impossible for him to have committed murders, he's a suspect.