Many of us see director George Romero as an indie darling, working on lower budgeted films and marching to the beat of his own drum. While most of beloved works are indie productions, that wasn’t all he made. The fact is, he tried to make studio films but kept getting shut out. He’s one of many great directors that the studios locked out to focus on, frankly, much more “safe” and boring filmmakers whose movies you would have seen but names be hard pressed to remember.
With THE DARK HALF Romero had a Hollywood cast, the most famous writer in the world’s work to adapt, and a production that was well done and showed off his filmmaking instincts. I remember seeing the film in the theater and loved it on first viewing but on re-visiting the Vinegar Syndrome 4K release I was taken by how just good the movie is.
The story is King’s fictional reckoning with his alter-ego Richard Bachman being outed and it follows an author who has his pulp writing persona threatened. A man approaches him wanting to be paid to keep the secret that he knows the author has this alter-ego. Refusing to play the game with the man, the author decides to officially and publicly kill off his other side, his dark half, which brings about a grim price to pay.
It’s terribly tired to say that seeing a film’s remaster is revelatory but in this case, it really is. DARK HALF is a gorgeous film, with bright colors, some wonderful set pieces, and amazing music. Timoth Hutton shines in his dual role and he brings really fun charcter in George Stark, keeping things menacing but never going too far into monstrous or parody to retain his charm. I had forgotten that Michael Rooker was in the film and he’s fantastic as King’s beloved Castle Rock cop Alan Pangborn. I absolutely love the music in the film, which felt so familiar as to make me wonder if it had been in another film before. It is suspenseful without becoming too obvious and adds a haunting beauty to the film.
Romero does a deft job with the film, turning in a Hollywood-style horror filled with fantastic character actors and written really wonderfully. Some of the set-pieces don’t come off as cleanly as I am sure he’d have hoped – a couple scares seeming a little silly this many years gone by – but overall, it’s a fantastic adaptation of King’s work.
The 4K is absolutely gorgeous and gave me a better appreciation of the film. The movie still has the grim realism Romero favored, and shows he could have made some great Hollywood movies had he been given more opportunities.
Fans of Romero and of King will definitely want to pick this on up.
4 out of 5
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