Wonderful character development!

Instant Favorite.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I've always been a big fan of Steven King's novels. Almost all his books have been successes. Unfortunately a good book is never a guarantee that the film adaptation will be reach the quality of the book. And out of the many King adaptations only a few have succeeded in bringing the same quality as the book. Its enough to remember the horrible Tommyknockers and the even more pathetic Langoliers. But there have been awesome adaptations The Green Mile, Misery. Though it can't be mentioned with the best ones but Romero's and King's dual work Creepshow is up there with the okay ones and then we also have Dark Half from these two. Stephen Kings three books (Dark Half, Shinning and Secret Window) are connected on a few levels, all feature a writer the protagonist, which is popular with King… and they feature the fear of something, an unknown person (which symbolizes the dark half of our psyche) or higher power. The question is are the directors faithful to the books like Romero and Kubrick, and what twist and film techniques do they use to bring the adaptation to the silver or small screen. When Thad Beaumont was a child, he had an operation to remove a tumor from his brain. during the operation, it was discovered that far from being a tumor, the growth was a twin brother of Thad's that never developed. Years later, Thad is a successful author, writing his serious books under his own name, and his pulp money-makers under the pseudonym "George Stark". When blackmailed by someone who has discovered his secret, Thad publicly "buries" George Stark. From that point on, Thad increasingly becomes the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders. Despite the films being filled with clichés from the 90s, they are consistent with the books. Romero really captured the depiction of reality and non-reality. The camera work is idea filled and tight, the film is done with rhythmic cuts making it a true Romero film. All this would not have worked without Christopher Younge (the composer of film scores like Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm street), whose score drives your adrenaline to the max. with a unique many layers soundtrack. The story in itself is a typical SK story, that doesn't clear up until the last twist whether the protagonists twin really has come to life by certain higher powers or not. Timothy Hutton's duel performance is absolutely convincing. He plays the balanced father well and is merciless as George Stark, who after spiking his hair up, goes around killing people, with a cigarette hanging from his lips and a bottle of whiskey close by. The large group of sparrows give the film an air of strangeness right from the start. The sparrows are there as a medium: they connect the earth and the other side and they are instrumental to the ending, which is, without being overly dramatic, THE WORLDS MOST DISGUSTING SCENE, it's a must see. Though it can be said of the film that there is more blood than the typical King adaptation this is not detrimental to it. Dark Half SK adaptation is to Shinning as Carlito's Way is to Scarface. Though Dark Half and Shinning work with similar material, they speck to difference audiences, their devices and budget was different so Dark Half remains a cult film amongst a certain section of horror fans. Romero tried to do his job perfectly, but unfortunately this only worked partially. Romero fans, who are more prone to like films that have a more serious mood with like it, King fans… well I'm not so sure… To me it's a 6/10. https://www.youtube.com/user/Videodromeblog

Thad Beaumont (Hutton) is a successful write living in Maine with his wife Liz (Madigan) and two infant twins. Thad is critically acclaimed but far from a best seller. Writing under the pseudonym George Stark, Thad writes trashy violent novels that just happen to sell better than his own. A Blackmailer threatens to expose his other identity so Thad goes Public with the information in hopes of burying his alter ego. Instead, Thad's dark half which is George Stark takes on a life of his own and is bent on destroying Thad's world and everyone connected to him. Stark is soon stalking Thad's agents' friends and slashing them to ribbons with a razor. Horror Veteran George A. Romero adapts Stephen king's novel and directs here. Romero wisely keeps the audience wondering if it is Thad blacking out and committing these crimes, or has his mind actually released this killer into the real world. Timothy Hutton is wonderful in the dual role and has the talent to make a menacing glance be actually scary. There are multiple scare scenes that work very well. Such as when Thad's agent Miriam (Rutanya Alda) comes home puts her key in the door and it slowly opens. The audience is on the edge of their seat and they know they're going to get it, but Romero's timing is so good he gets the Jump scare anyway. There is an excellent dream sequence that is scary as well. The effects are top notch and Romero makes the attacks very violent and gory. There is a delicious sequence in a hallway that is just dripping with mood and atmosphere. All though the end result of the story is a bit much to swallow, 'The Dark Half' works as a first rate horror film.

Writer Thad Beaumont takes part in a publicity scheme where he buries his pseudonym, George Stark, in a fake funeral after someone tries to blackmail him over the subterfuge. Then murders start, apparently in the name of George Stark. Has Thad gone mad? The story behind the Stephen King novel on which this film is based is an interesting one. The film itself is a straightforward adaptation of the book (one character is sex-changed), and works well on both the page and the screen. Timothy Hutton is convincing as both the decent Thad and his murderous alter-ego, and the supporting cast are all fine (I preferred Ed Harris as Alan Pangborn in Needful Things, but Michael Rooker does well enough). The story builds well, and the conclusion (which one might think, from the book, would be unconvincing) is actually pretty good.George Romero's work on Stephen King's stories has been successful - I would have liked to have seen him do more, rather concentrate (for almost his entire career) on Living Dead.

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.