Hello horror fans, Slick Dungeon here! It’s getting close to Halloween and that means it’s time to add some scary movies to your watch list. Well, what can be better than a Stephen King movie directed by George A. Romero that dives into deep body horror and psychological terror? This time I am reviewing The Dark Half. There will be spoilers in this review so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, throw it on, take out your Berol Black Beauty pencil, takes some notes, get in touch with your dark side, and come on back here to read the review.

The Dark Half background

The Dark Half is a 1993 film adapting a Stephen King novel of the same name. George A. Romero, director of The Night of the Living Dead, both wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Timothy Hutton pulls double duty here playing both Thad Beaumont and George Stark, a much darker version of Thad. Amy Madigan plays Thad’s wife Liz. And an actor who would later star in another zombie project, The Walking Dead, Michael Rooker, plays sheriff Alan Pangborn in the film.

The film was completed but stuck in distribution limbo for almost two years as Orion pictures was in financial straights at the time. When it did release in 1993, it earned $10 million domestically.

This is one King adaptation that is often overlooked. It’s not perfect but there are some body horror moments that only Romero could create. And it’s a fascinating look at the duality of a person.

Time for a change

Thad Beaumont is a successful author who rakes in money. But he does so under his pen name George Stark. Thad writes high brow, intellectual literary fiction. Stark writes about down and dirty crime.

Most people wouldn’t care one way or the other about Thad having made his money through popular fiction rather than literary works. But, a man named Fred Clawson is convinced Thad’s publishers would care. Clawson attempts to blackmail Thad. He knows Stark and Beaumont are one in the same and he’s planning to expose the writer. Unless Beaumont pays him.

Deciding to get ahead of the blackmailer, Beaumont holds a publicity stunt where he buries George Stark in a symbolic, and literal grave. Stark is not a real person so there’s nothing to bury, but the stunt does the trick and Beaumont has avoided the blackmail.

The DArk Half comes out to play

Soon after this stunt, strange things start happening. Someone digs out of the grave, although there was never anyone in it. People around Beaumont are killed. First Homer Gamache who took the photos of the publicity stunt. Then people like Thad’s agent, editor, and Fred Clawson.

The whole time this is happening, Thad is getting glimpses of what is happening as if he is psychically connected to these events.

At one point in the movie we see a horribly graphic scene of a surgery performed on Thad when he was a boy. He had a brain tumor which turned out to be the remains of a twin. Thad survived the surgery but after, tons of sparrows showed up outside of the hospital. It’s not wholly clear if this is George Stark or not, but it’s still a shockingly gory scene.

No one can be in two places at once

With death coming closer and closer to Thad, it was only a matter of time before the police would start to suspect him. Sheriff Alan Pangborn suspects Thad of some involvement. And Thad’s fingerprints match those at the scene of at least one murder. The problem? At the time the murder happened, Thad was giving a public talk in front of a crowd of people in another state.

At first Thad thinks the killer is Clawson but when Pangborn finds Clawson’s body, he’s ruled out. And even stranger, written in Clawson’s blood are the words, “The sparrows are flying again.”

Soon, Thad gets threatening messages from George Stark. This should obviously be impossible since Thad is George Stark. But somehow it’s happening. Stark describes in vivid detail how he is going to kill Thad’s family.

Thad realizes Stark is somehow his parasitic twin brother. And this man is out for blood.

Talking to yourself

Thad does figure out that somehow Stark is real. And he can be controlled through Thad’s writing. However, Stark will do anything to kill Thad. If he succeeds, Thad will die and Stark will live. When writing books as George Stark, Thad always used the same kind of pencils. A Berol Black Beauty pencil. When Stark finally confronts Thad he makes Thad sit down to write a story that will bring Stark into reality for good.

As Thad writes, Stark gets healthier while Thad begins to fade. But Thad gets the upper hand by stabbing Stark in the throat. Thad’s wife and kids who had been prisoners are free. And Pangborn shows up just in time to see tons of sparrows landing.

The Dark Half in conclusion

There are some problems in this film. It’s not ever entirely clear if Stark is this dead twin come back to life, or someone who walked off the pages of an author’s imagination. But the scares, the body horror, and the intense psychological drama here all make up for that. It’s a disturbing film that will remain with you after watching. And Timothy Hutton pulls off a great performance acting against himself in two roles. Do yourself a favor and give this one a watch if you haven’t seen it (or haven’t seen it in a while). It holds up for the most part and it’s one of the more disturbing King adaptations out there.

Darkly yours,

Slick Dungeon

Want More?

Want to see some of my other King reviews? Take a look here!

Looking for a good King read? Check out this one!