The Dark Half

Name: The Dark Half
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Released: April 23, 1993
Duration: 122 min
Rating: 53
Cast: Timothy Hutton

1993

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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The Dark Half

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Movie Details & Credits

Orion Pictures | Release Date: April 23, 1993 | R

Starring: Timothy Hutton

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

Director: George A. Romero

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 122 min

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Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby

The Dark Half is an exceptionally entertaining film of its kind. Only Stanley Kubrick has ever adapted a King novel (The Shining) in such a way that the ending remains as satisfyingly spooky as the beginning. Read full review

Michael Wilmington

King and Romero are a natural match, and though this isn't the best of the King-derived horror movies--The Shining and The Dead Zone probably are--it's close. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

The writer's desk intriguingly becomes a gladitorial arena for warring manifestations of the same personality in The Dark Half, George A. Romero's adaptation of Stephen King's 1989 bestseller, a classic Jekyll-and-Hyde story.

Staff (Not Credited)

As the movie gets longer, Romero's hand gets heavier and heavier, and by the climax he can barely lift it to hurl another cliche. The movie ends in the usual way, with lots of blood and Satanic special effects. [23 Apr 1993, p.3G]

Peter Travers

For a while, The Dark Half is a compelling study, in chiller guise, of an artist wrestling with his creative demons. But Stark is a real terror only in the shadows. When he emerges, all we see is Hutton — in a showy makeup job — struggling to change his wimp image. Read full review

Jack Yeovil

Romero does his best to streamline the flabby storyline and gets some extraordinarily subtle performances from a great cast, but King's malformed original keeps hobbling the film. Read full review

Jay Scott

One more Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, done badly, even if the novel was written by Stephen-can-do-no-commercial-wrong-King, is not what the world needs. [23 Apr 1993]

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User Reviews

TheQuietGamer

Oct 7, 2017

The late George A. Romero (RIP) and writer Stephen King are horror legends. So seeing the former adapt a work from the latter should have been something for the history books. A movie that would keep you up for days on end. It's not quite clear what prevented that from happening, but atThe late George A. Romero (RIP) and writer Stephen King are horror legends. So seeing the former adapt a work from the latter should have been something for the history books. A movie that would keep you up for days on end. It's not quite clear what prevented that from happening, but at least we weren't left with something bad.

While the pacing is quite slow, Romero showed his creative ability for creating an eerie atmosphere. There are few good jolts and some of that classic Romero gore. The source material's interesting concept keeps things compelling throughout, even when what's happening onscreen isn't all that interesting. The performances here are mostly strong. Timothy Hutton in particular is quite impressive in the leading role. I love the way scenes capture little details such as physical ticks and cues that really express how the characters are feeling. It makes things feel more real. It's just a shame that the actual characters themselves are far from the most interesting bunch out there. In fact they are quite bland.

There is some noticeable camp to be found here as well. Particularly early on with a few intentionally goofy characters being present. It's not too bad, but these moments do serve as a way to lessen the potency of the overall movie. I enjoyed how Romero really took the time to flesh out the plot and let it grow. The movie's running time is around two hours. That may seems like a lot for a horror film, especially given the era, but it was practically a necessity in order to allow the story to breath. Ironically one of the movie's biggest flaws is that it drags it's feet a bit. However, the fact that it takes the time to do that is most likely what saved it as well. The Dark Half stands as a solid entry in both King and Romero's film catalog. It may not stand alongside the best of either's work, but it's got good performances, a neat tale to tell, and a few chills along the way. All in all, that makes for a good horror movie. Whether I wanted more from a pairing ffrom these two or not, I can't deny I found what's here to be worth watching.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JLau

Nov 1, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Writer quits writing under his non de plume but it turns out that this "character" is actually his unborn twin, who doesn't want to quit writing at all and starts cutting up the writer's associates.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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