The Dark Half (1993)

A writer's fictional alter ego wants to take over his life...at any price.

Director:

George A. Romero

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), George A. Romero (screenplay)

Stars:

Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker

4 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Timothy Hutton	...	Thad Beaumont / George Stark
Amy Madigan	...	Liz Beaumont
Michael Rooker	...	Sheriff Alan Pangborn
Julie Harris	...	Reggie Delesseps
Robert Joy	...	Fred Clawson
Kent Broadhurst	...	Mike Donaldson
Beth Grant	...	Shayla Beaumont
Rutanya Alda	...	Miriam Cowley
Tom Mardirosian	...	Rick Cowley
Larry John Meyers	...	Dr. Pritchard
Patrick Brannan	...	Young Thad Beaumont
Royal Dano	...	Digger Holt
Glenn Colerider	...	Homer Gamache
Sarah Parker	...	Wendy Beaumont / William Beaumont
Elizabeth Parker	...	Wendy Beaumont / William Beaumont

Storyline

When Thad Beaumont was a child, he had an operation to remove a tumour 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 pseudonum "George Stark". When blackmailed by someone who has discovered his secret, Thad publically "buries" George Stark. From that point on, Thad increasingly becomes the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders.

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Plot Keywords:

based on the works of stephen king | three word title | family relationships | husband wife relationship | doppelganger | 

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Taglines:

Iconic terror from the No 1 bestselling writer.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original novel mentions a character, who's never seen, by the name of Wilma, whose catchphrase is "Just call me Billy". This is a reference to the character of Wilma in "The Crate", a short story by Stephen King, that was adapted by King as a segment of Creepshow (1982), also directed by George A. Romero.

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Goofs

The two babies were identical twins even though one was a female and one was a male. Played by identical twin girls.

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Quotes

George Stark: You have my word - the word of a Southern man, which is not given lightly.

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Connections

Referenced in Crimson Tide (1995)

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Soundtracks

Are You Lonesome To-night?
By Roy Turk & Lou Handman
Performed by Elvis Presley
Courtesy of the RCA Records Label of BMG Music

User Reviews

A film that deserves far more than it's given credit for

Somewhere in the dark recesses of over-fluffed and processed Stephen King movie adaptations, there lies this jewel of a film: "The Dark Half."

After having it watched it about three times, I'm still quite at a loss as to why this movie has been, more or less, forgotten or simply passed over by the horror movie community. Not only is it a fairly neat adaptation of a great King novel, but it's also directed and written by a true horror movie icon: the one and only George Romero. Isn't this the kind of "team-up" that fans would, under normal circumstances, go absolutely bananas over? I know that I did.

Anyway ... the movie is about a writer, Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton), whose past - quite literally - comes back to haunt him. As a young man, he wrote pulpy crime novels (that I can only imagine were directly inspired by Richard Stark's hardboiled, master thief, Parker) that sold well ... though his literary yearnings tended to veer toward a much less marketable direction. We learn that when he was writing those pulps, his personality suffered. He drank, yelled at his wife, probably slept around, too. Having successfully exorcised that particular demon, when we meet him, Beaumont has a couple kids and an office at some New England university, teaching - you guessed it - creative writing. But when the bodies of folks close to him (i.e.: his agent, biographer) begin cropping up, the small-town police fun finger is pointed at Beaumont. But ... there's a much more sinister twist in this jet-black yarn. We learn that Beaumont indeed has a "dark half."

The direction is perfect, the writing is perfect, the acting is perfect. What more do you want in a film? I'm not exactly certain what King's response was to this film ... I've heard rumors that if he's not directly involved in the production process, he generally scoffs at the final film product. (For example ... he's all but urinated on all the goodness that was Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of "The Shining," which not only marked a substantial turning point in horror cinema, but it's also one of my personal favorites.) Then again ... from what I understand to be true of King and Romero both ... they're friends. Hell, they made "Creepshow" together ... which is another favorite of mine, though I'm more than just a little bit guilty about it.

"The Dark Half" also does one hell of a job at creating a genuinely creepy atmosphere. And who could listen to "Are You Lonesome Tonight" again the same way ... after hearing its soft melodies during a particularly uncomfortable dream sequence?

All of this, compounded with the fact that Timothy Hutton is a damned fine actor (albeit sinfully unknown by most these days) ... makes "The Dark Half" an explosively well made horror/thriller. The proverbial mind meld of King and Romero made "Creepshow" an instant cult classic. So, I ask again ... why was "The Dark Half" a blink-or-you'll-miss-it flop? Maybe these horror titans just can't share the same marquee, anymore.

I dunno.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 April 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dark Half

Filming Locations:

Corner of Tyler and 1000-1015 Jefferson Ave, Washington, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,250,883, 25 April 1993

Gross USA:

$10,611,160

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,611,160

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures, George A. Romero Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1