Author Stephen King has had his writing adapted for film and television several times in the past 50 years. Since so many interpretations of his work have been made, some films and TV shows were bound to have fallen under the radar. One King adaptation that audiences have sorely overlooked is 1993’s The Dark Half.
Based on King’s 1989 novel of the same name, this horror film follows bestselling novelist Thad Beaumont as he decides to retire his pen name, “George Stark,” and holds a mock burial for him, only for Stark to become an actual person hellbent on terrorizing Beaumont and everyone close to him as revenge for his “death” years before.
The Dark Half failed to recoup its $15 million budget, making around $10.6 million at the box office. Like the most recent version of Salem’s Lot, this movie was lucky to have been released at all, as it had finished filming for two years by the time Orion Pictures decided to distribute it. The Dark Half may be a bit too dramatic for modern tastes, but the film has earned considerable praise and deserves greater recognition from audiences. Now that Halloween is almost here, it’s time to dig deep into the annals of spooky cinema and explore why The Dark Half is such an underrated film.
The Dark Half has a clever story
One can easily find parallels between this film and James Wan’s wacky 2021 slasher film, Malignant. However, you can see how King got inspiration from his own life to create possibly one of his most personal stories. Similar to Beaumont, King used the pen name “Richard Bachman” to write a handful of stories in his early years, including Rage, The Long Walk, and The Running Man. Eventually, King’s identity as Bachman was exposed, so the author later declared his alter-ego had died.
Audiences have seen many films that show a character with a sinister clone or alter ego. But King’s real-life inspiration makes The Dark Half a distinctive story with a unique take on the “evil counterpart” trope — one that invokes a creative person’s fear of expressing themselves to the world. The reason for Stark’s existence may not be fully explained in the film, but that only makes his villainous character more terrifying.
The movie was directed by a Hollywood legend
The film version of The Dark Half was written and directed by horror legend George A. Romero, who revolutionized the genre in the ’60s with his low-budget classic Night of the Living Dead. Having been a frequent collaborator of King’s, Romero does an outstanding job bringing the author’s story to the big screen. He was even nominated for Best Director at the Saturn Awards for his work on the movie.
The acclaimed director crafts a unique and chilling dark fantasy with The Dark Half, which presents a terrific blend of Gothic atmosphere, procedural crime drama, dreamlike visuals, and gory body horror. For the most part, Romero doesn’t take the gore to its limit, but he instead crafts great tension that builds up to the film’s gripping conclusion, which features a character’s gruesome death by birds that arguably puts Alfred Hitchcock to shame.
The fear factor that Romero puts into his film is only elevated by a glorious, eerie score from composer Christopher Young (Sinister). The Dark Half certainly isn’t the director’s best work, but it is a fresh, noteworthy part of Romero’s filmography that both invokes and departs from his typical brand of zombie movies.
The film’s stacked cast has an Oscar winner and a Guardian of the Galaxy
Led by Oscar winner Timothy Hutton (The Haunting of Hill House), the cast of The Dark Half includes notable actors like Amy Madigan (Twice in a Lifetime), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), Robert Joy (The Hills Have Eyes), Royal Dano (Twin Peaks), and Julie Harris (The Haunting). It is worth noting that the latter was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in this film.
Though Hutton didn’t receive any accolades, the actor shines in The Dark Half with his fantastic dual performance as the mild-mannered hero Beaumont and the evil, switchblade-wielding Stark. Since Hutton starred in this film when he was considered a nice guy in Hollywood, the Ordinary People star stood out as he displayed his versatility as an actor. His Stark persona may be a cliché villain, but Hutton does a great job transforming into the sinister killer, especially when he turns into a decaying agent of death.
All in all, The Dark Half‘s unique narrative, talented cast, and accomplished director make the film an entertaining fright-fest that audiences should view with just as much praise as King’s or Romero’s more beloved stories. This movie should also be considered by horror fans looking for a good scare this Halloween.
The Dark Half is streaming on Tubi.