Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

FlashCallahan Thad Beaumount has buried his alter ego George Stark, a pseudonym he used when writing fiction of a dark nature than he would using his real name. When a local man is killed, evidence leads Sheriff Pangborn to George's grave, and he begins to suspect Thad. Thad is beginning to have visions of sparrows flying, something that hasn't occurred for twenty-three years since he had brain surgery. As the string of gruesome murders continue, someone claiming to be George Stark starts calling Thad on the phone. Thad fears for his family's safety, and Pangborn can't decide whether or not Thad is the murderer.....Another year in the nineties, and another generic Stephen King adaptation hits the screen. For every Shawshank, Misery, and Dolores Claiborne, you get a Lawnmower Man, Sleepwalkers, Langoliers, and this.Hutton is great as Thad and his Doppelgänger, but as expected, the bad guy is more enjoyable, has lots of funny one liners and is hardly in it. The rest of the film has Michael Rooker not shaking hands with Hutton one mi ute and then getting him beer the next.And while all this is happening, there are lots and lots of sparrows flying around the place.Romero starts the film off very promising, but as soon as Stark is introduced, the film, despite Stark being the highlight of the film, goes down the toilet.If you are a King enthusiast, go ahead, ruin your day.

LolitaHayes 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.

LeaBlacks_Balls There are only a small handful of films based on works by Stephen King that can without a doubt be classified as 'great movies.' They are 'Carrie,' 'The Shining,' 'Misery,' 'Dolores Claiborne,' 'The Dead Zone,' 'Stand By Me' and 'Cujo.' All the others range from 'flawed' to 'awful.' Despite it's decent cast, and respected horror director Romero at the helm, 'The Dark Half' lies more towards the awful end of the spectrum. The filmmakers gave it their best shot but things just didn't work out. It fails as a horror film in terms of suspense, plausibility, and narrative.When Thad Beaumont (Hutton) 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 trashy 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.Of all the King adaptations I've seen, this is one of the dullest. The main character is unsympathetic, his alter ego is two dimensional and totally hammy, you don't care about any of the victims (much less even know who they are at some points,) and there is hardly any horror and next to no tension.However, there is some good production design and cinematography on display here, as well as some striking images. Huge flocks of sparrows gathering as an omen of doom is a haunting sight. But that alone can't save this film, which is just another King adaptation from a period where almost everything he'd write would end up being made into a movie.

Scarecrow-88 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.