The Dark Half Blu-ray Review
“The Dark Half” is an uneven Stephen King adaptation.
On paper, “The Dark Half” is full of promise as it features 2 masters of horror collaborating once again with author Stephen King and filmmaker George A. Romero. Alas, 1993’s “The Dark Half” isn’t one of the more noteworthy King adaptations around.
The film begins in 1968 with a child (Thad) who aspires to be a writer. Thad, however, is suffering from physical pains and is hearing loud bird noises. It is discovered that Thad had remnants of a twin/tumor in his brain which was promptly removed. The story jumps ahead to 1991 where Thad is now a husband, father, literary author and teacher. A random individual approaches Thad to try and frame him as he knows that he also writes under a pseudonym (George Stark) who creates darker, violent, popular fiction. Thad decides to come clean and retire George Stark, but this is when all hell breaks loose. Multiple murders take place that are connected to Thad’s life making Thad the prime suspect in the eyes of Sheriff Pangborn. Thad’s fingerprints are even found at the crime scenes despite him not being around. Is someone framing Thad? Is Thad blacking out and committing the murders? Does Thad actually have a twin in the world? Is something more supernatural taking place? All is revealed in the end.
Writer/director George A. Romero seems to be the perfect person to adapt Stephen King’s “The Dark Half,” but the material itself is far from King’s best work. There are a lot of great ideas present here about the duality of man and the concept of an author having another identity is very meta and personal given that Stephen King wrote under Richard Bachman. The problem here is that the story is simply too vague and tedious. The George Stark storyline feels underdeveloped, the middle act is basically a string of murders mixed with the most inept police investigation and security details known to man, and the sparrow angle is very bizarre (although a quality example of early CGI).
Visually speaking, Romero does what Romero does best here. The aforementioned sparrow swarms are unsettling, the weird dream sequence is freaky, and the deteriorating face of the villain (no spoilers here) is effective. He really does the best he can with the material.
The cast elevates the movie to be sure. Timothy Hutton is in peak form here in dual roles. He plays against type and shows off his range with a more ghoulish and sinister role. The now Oscar nominated Amy Madigan shines as Thad’s wife Liz and Michael Rooker turns in solid work as Sheriff Pangborn (aside from the character being a dolt).
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? The hi-def picture quality is a bit all over the places. Some scenes look fresh while others are riddled with scratches and defects.
Audio Track: 2.0 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? Clean, but a bit muted.
Extras include a theatrical trailer and a behind-the-scenes gallery.
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