Review of Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) by Josh K — 19 Aug 2008

There's a lot of movies and television shows I loved as a child that fail to suit my SLIGHTLY more mature, adult tastes. This is one of the very rare movies that has vastly improved as I've gotten older.

First of all, I have never read the book, so I can only judge this film as a film and not an adaption. The dialogue is fantastic. I mean, it's poetic and eloquent. I'm sure this is Bradbury's doing, but the actors do it superb justice. Children in film can often grate the nerves, but the two child protagonists are likable and real - they aren't overly precocious or bratty.

After seeing so many horror films from this era lately that are over the top cheesefests, it was more than refreshing to watch such a well crafted film from the 80's without a HINT of camp. The story, especially for a Disney film, is unbelievably dark and fascinating. The characters (once again, thanks to the brilliant acting and crisp dialogue) are interesting and believable. Hell, even the special effects are almost universally great, and are in no way cheap or distracting.

The only thing I could say against it is that once I got to the finale, I got the impression a bit of the story was lost in the transition to film. This is a very small nitpicking gripe that should be ignored.

If you remember watching this in your underroos on a scratchy VHS tape when you were a kid, go pick this movie up again. I think you'll have grown to appreciate it even more.