Review of The Dark Half (1993) by Jill H — 14 Jun 2012
During the 70s and 80s Stephen King wrote several novels under a pseudonym, Richard Bachman. It was sort of a social experiment testing whether it was his celerity or talent which sold books. He was eventually ousted by a bookworm and used the opportunity to fess up and then publicly kill Bachman.
"Cancer of the pseudonym" was the cause of death.... in response to all of this King wrote his novel, The Dark Half. The film adaptation is directed by horror maestro George Romero and stars Timothy Hutton.
Its the story of an author, Thad Beaumont, who is forced to kill his alter ego when a reader discovers his secret and tries to blackmail him. Straight after this publicity stunt a series of murders occur.
Thad's inner dark half is George Stark and he threatens to keep killing until more novels are written under his name. Stephen King's work can get deeply psychological and this is a great example.
In terms of King's horror adaptations, this rates up with The Shining and Carrie. Its a well crafted mind-fuck full of potent imagery and graphic violence. Romero brings the story to life with a nightmarish vision that blurs reality with psychosis.
Timothy Hutton is fantastic and relishes the due roles. High praise for this movie!
This review of The Dark Half (1993) was written by Jill H on 14 Jun 2012.
The Dark Half has generally received mixed reviews.
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