I have never seen The Dark Half. It has a good enough cast. First of all, Stephen King wrote it and George Romero directed it. Do I need to delve into the cast? Timothy Hutton stars in it as Thad Beaumont. We have Amy Madigan as Liz Beaumont and I just loved her performance in The Hunt and Uncle Buck. To round out the big three, we have my man, Michael Rooker as Sheriff Alan Pangborn. Wait…that name sounds familiar. Hey, I’m not crazy. Sheriff Alan Pangborn was played by Ed Harris in Needful Things. Both films came out in 1993? Why didn’t they wait a year and have one of the 2 great actors reprise the role? Presumably, do this film before Needful Things, I am guessing chronologically. I’m guessing different studios. Wait, Ed Harris is married to Amy Madigan? Orion Studios owned this and this was filmed 2 years prior but Orion had financial issues. That explains a lot.
This is the dumbest bit of trivia that I found on IMDB’s trivia section for The Dark Half. “Until the Stephen King-based film “1922” came out in 2017, The Dark Half was the most faithful adaptation of a Stephen King work to ever be filmed. This was possibly because writer-director George Romero and King were good friends.” Really? Wasn’t King heavily involved in remaking The Shining? Just a question. Whatever, let’s watch The Dark Half.
Start Film…..not quite. I just ate a salad and still feel hungry 20 minutes later. At least I am attempting to eat healthy. I guess an apple and cheese could be a good filler. Okay, snacks are prepped.
Start Film
1968
Young Thad is writing but has some head pain. A Castle Rock shirt, nice touch. Hey, there’s Beth Grant, as Thad’s mom, Shayla. Thaddeus is one of my all-time favorite names. Thaddeus has an unborn twin in his skull and it was absorbed in him. Is this Malignant? Wait, was Malignant really copying The Dark Half? The birds outside are fucking crazy and frantic, like a Birdnado. SyFy, no stealing my ideas.
1991
We see grown-up Thad with his wife and 2 children. Thad is a teacher and talks about we are all made up of 2 beings, an outer being and an inner one. Thad goes by the name of Robert Stark. Fred Clawson figures out that Thad is actually George. Fred wants a big check to keep his mouth shut. Fred is gonna be one of the first 2 people to die, right? His publishers, Rick and Miriam, give Than their blessing to stop writing under the name of George. Liz talks about George’s alcoholism, smoking, and mood swings. Yes, another story about Stephen King’s past problems. They are important, but some are better than others.
Mike Donaldson is played by Kent Broadhurst. I approve. I really enjoy the photographer, Homer Gamache, Thad is really into playing the difference between George and Thad. We meet Digger Holt, who reminds me of Judd from Pet Sematary. They want to set up a fake tombstone to set up George’s death. They take a picture of Thad and Liv standing over the grave. It’s silly, but fun.
At night, Homer is driving and sees a hitchhiker that looked like Thad, but dressed differently, ya know, because it’s Thad’s dark half. Digger calls up Sheriff Pangborn. Rooker looks solid. There’s a hole where the gravesite was. Pangborn says to fill the hole and forget. Then he gets a call from Deputy Norris, also from Needful Things. Homer was found dead. Okay, I am having a difficult time with rooker as a clean-cut good guy. Now they are looking for Homer’s hat. An officer finds the truck.
Thad and Liz return home and Pangborn an2 officers are with him. They think Thad killed Homer. Thad is having the head noise issue from when he was a kid. Liz suggests that it could be Fred. Oh, Thad’s fingerprints matches the ones in the truck.
Thad has a dream with things spitting into pieces. Someone even calls him “Old Hoss”. The dream version of Liz was fantastic. They did something similar in Dave Made A Maze. High Five!
The police visit Fred’s place and find him murdered. “The sparrows are flying again” is written on the wall in blood. While Thad is home editing a story, the same saying is written in pencil. Pangborn is back and tells them that Fred is dead now. They have fingerprints that match Thad’s. Liz suggested that Fred killed himself, but no chance. Fred had his tongue cut out, castrated, and had his cock shoved in his mouth, just like Thad said he wanted to do. Thad, you probably shouldn’t have admitted that. Pangborn brings up the sparrows quote.
Liz is mad that Thad is keeping secrets. He shows her the paper that he wrote the quote on. He doesn’t remember even writing that. He says that he used to hear birds as a precursor to his tumor as a child. He wonders if there are other things that he has done that he doesn’t remember.
Reggie is a funny lady. She was asked by the police if Thad had good character and she lied and said that he did. That’s a funny line, right?
Thad is at the school in his office and hears the sparrows and has a bad time. He starts to write with a pencil. I don’t know what he is writing other than flying sparrows, razor, sis, and endsville. This is Miriam that we see and she gets knocked out by our antagonist. Oh, she’s awake now and being dragged. Yup, he has a razor. He made her call Thad. Then cuts her face and then slits her throat after the phone call.
Pangborn gets a call from Thad about Miriam in New York, and she needs help fast. Once Miriam is dead, Thad says that he is worried about Rick and Mike and that he may know who the killer is but doesn’t want to say it over the phone. Pangborn is losing patience, so Thad describes George Stark.
We see Mike exit and elevator and the lighting is very odd, and the ceiling light is out, but there is blue and red alternating light. Mike is freaked out and runs to his apartment. He’s not fast enough. George cuts Mike’s forehead, palm, and ponytail. Mike slips and falls and gets punted headfirst into a radiator. The police show up and they watch George go down in the elevator and just say to forget about it.
Rick gets a call from George. Rick is in a panic. Pangborn visits with Thad and his family again. Thad is struggling to explain this idea.
Rick is accompanied by 2 officers when entering his home. Really, they didn’t check the apartment first? Do they just let him in knowing that 2 officers were supposed to be there? Well, guess what? Rick finds the 2 officers dead in his apartment with notes. And then George slices Rick’s throat and says that it’s a cutthroat business. Nice line. Thad suggests that George doesn’t want to be dead anymore. 2 guys install a security or recording system in Thad’s house. It’s George and he admits to another murder and says that he’s finished. Thad says that he doesn’t believe him and that he will hear the birds and be prepared.
Pangborn says that Thad’s calling card was used for the payphone to make the George call. Haha, that’s kinda funny to me. Thad gets all pissy and almost threatening to Pangborn. Old school bags of Doritos!!! I miss them. Thad is in a little grocery store or gas station. George calls Thad there and tells him to start writing another George book or Thad is gonna die.
Pangborn is walking home, he lives really close to the police station. That’s convenient. Pangborn has a message on his answering machine from Thad or George. Their voices are surprisingly similar. It’s almost like they are played by the same actor. Liz is getting very irritable with the babies.
Thad goes to his office at the school. Thad is trying to think of a good George story and then the birds start congregating. Thad realizes that the sparrows are real. And he starts to write. Thad goes into a trance and starts to write. George says that he is falling apart. Thad stabs himself in the hand with a pencil, and we see that George did too, and says Hoss again. I love George. He’s a man’s man. What type of liquid is coming out of his wound? Thad wants to go to Bangor, which is where he had surgery as a child. Reggie gives him a disguise and her car keys. She’s awesome. Now she trying to think of a book about sparrows.
Should Thad be trying to get away from the police? I think that is a foolhardy endeavor. George is also leaving, and he is only 15 miles away from Bangor.
Thad is with the doctor. The doctor suggests that more than one in every ten babies start out as twins, but the stronger one absorbs the weaker one. That’s some Highlander shit right there. “Here we are, born to be kings. We’re the princes of the universe!” You’re welcome for getting that song stuck in your head. Thad’s parents treated the leftover of his sibling as human remains and buried them in the family plot.
The doctor brings up the sparrows and how after the surgery, an enormous flock of them showed up. The doctor suggests that it was like they took the sound out of his head and it came to life. The Doctor is killed by George. George’s eye wounds id getting worse and worse. And now, Thad is in the same location where the doctor got murdered. This is why you don’t sneak around. Thad calls Liz to tell her to leave and contact Reggie, but not to tell him. Well, that call was recorded. The police won’t let Liz leave. Pangborn should have just arrested Thad and held him in a cell to test the theory.
Reggie suggests that George is a conjuration. So, what she is saying is that George is The Conjuring? Ohhhhhhh, Thad just mentioned his dark half. THAT’S THE NAME OF THE MOVIE!!! SHiiiiiiit. Oh, so it’s the sparrow’s fault. That makes sense. George calls Thad, and tells him to guess where he’s calling from. At least George was nice enough to cut the tracer. Thad goes to leave and there’s a huge flock of sparrows. Reggie wishes that she could give him a talisman, wooden stake, or silver bullet to help him. That was clever. She tells Thad to wear a red carnation next week at work so she knows that it’s him.
All this talk about Bangor has “King of the Road” by Roger Miller stuck in my head. Why wasn’t that song in any of the Joy Ride films? George’s face is in bad shape. George suggests that if he gets better, then Thad may end up in George’s poor condition.
Thad shows up at his place and finds Liz. George has both the kids, but gives one to Thad. Lots of chit-chat, let’s get to writing. Does Liz have to stay tied up? I think she should. Yup, she is still tied up. Liz is trying to free herself, but is that the best idea? Maybe she has to piss. Time for Thad to take up drinking and smoking again. Liz is hearing sparrows. Now George is writing a lot. He seems pretty pleased. Thad hears the sparrows. Thad’s head is starting to drip. George is getting healthier.
Thad goes for the gun, but George knows what Thad is thinking. Twin fight!!!! Thad has knocked the razor away. George is in better shape though. Thad stabs George with a pencil repeatedly. George is down and Thad’s face is healed. One of the babies goes for the razor. Thad quickly shoves it to the side. George is up. The house is shaking. The sparrows are creating time holes in the wall. George goes to shoot a child and he is stopped. The sparrows break into the room. It’s pure chaos. Pangborn shows up and lets the birds in and rescues Liz.
The sparrows are treating away at George’s flesh. George’s struggle is real. He’s lost most flesh, now mostly skeleton, and he flies away. The birds fly toward some opening in the sky that is glowing. It isn’t the sun since we can see the moon. The sparrows fly into it and disappear.
End Film
I bet that this film was fantastic when it came out. I am guessing this isn’t the first try at an unborn twin still residing within a person to cause evil. My first introduction to this concept was Takashi Miike’s Imprint. Most recently, I saw Malignant. Both films took the basic premise into interesting ways.
I like that in The Dark Half, both personalities existed in the real world and were separate entities. I liked that. I’m not sure if I truly love the casting, in hindsight. I love Michael Rooker, but as a good cop who is conflicted, it was very strange. Timothy Hutton was okay, Steven Weber or Jason Bateman would have been better, for example. I can probably think of 10 actors in that age range that probably would do that role better. It’s not that he was bad, but you just know it could have been better. Add to that, supposedly Hutton was difficult to work with and quit the film for a few days. That tells me that he wasn’t worth it.
I do want to say that I thought Amy Madigan did really well and I am becoming a fan of her work. Something I am split about was the frequency of using a razor for murders. It wasn’t bad, and it was practical. I personally prefer something a bit more, but I assume King wrote it that way, so I’m not gonna complain about that.
Final Rating – 5.9 – I don’t think I liked it enough to get to 6. Maybe I did, but after having a bit of time to think it over, The Drak Half doesn’t feel like a 6 to me. Part of the problem is having seen more recent films that used this gimmick in a more effective fashion, in my opinion. Not necessarily the film’s fault, but if I want to see the twin idea, I’ll go to Malignant first.
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