Something Wicked This Way Comes

(1983)
Buena Vista Pictures
rated PG
Screenplay by Ray Bradbury
Directed by Jack Clayton

click here to read my book review of Something Wicked This Way Comes

Out of all of Ray Bradbury's works, this film has done the best job of adapting the book to the screen. It gets many things right which I wouldn't expect it too, but it also missed some things that I wish it had picked up. The good I attribute to Bradbury's script; the bad, to Disney meddling. I really have no kick against director Jack Clayton (The Pumpkin Eater, The Great Gatsby), just that he did his best with what he had, and managed to film some pretty good bits.

I always have trouble critiquing 80's movies. It's like making fun of an old man... you just have to be polite and accept their faults, even if he might be a little boring at times (you always wonder watching old movies... was that stupid-sounding line just 'what they said back then' or was it stupid-sounding when it came out, too?). Fortunately, I have a book to compare this too, so here I go. The biggest problem the film has is just pacing and atmosphere. Clayton was working with a pretty good script, one that retained the best parts of the novel and still kept Bradbury's colorful prose. Unfortunately, the movie didn't seem to be able to keep up with the movie.. a metaphor for Jim and Will if there ever was. I cite the scene in the beginning where Jim stops and turns to Will, "Do your hear that? It almost sounds like... music." It's supposed to foreshadow the coming evil carnival, and it could- should- have been a creepy scene. I would have taken some more atmosphere, like the town crowd suddenly disperses, or a cold wind comes, or the camera angle peers from a little shadow crack as if something wicked was peering out at them. Instead, we just get this static shot of the boys looking around and James Horner doing a subliminal calliope melody. This happens a lot in the film; times when the hairs should be standing on the back of our neck, but they're not. Empty scenes, I guess you could call them. Other times, I feel, the scene isn't focusing in on the dialogue enough, it's not bringing it out, making it sound important. Like when Jim and Will are racing each other, they talk about being born one minute before and one minute after midnight on Halloween. This is a big characterization number, but unless I had read the book, I never would have understood what they were saying. It's like I was yelling at the movie, "Hey! Wake up, pay attention, they're saying something important here!"

The second problem I had was that I wasn't scared enough. I knew the film wasn't going to be able to touch upon the fear and evil you feel unconsciously in the book, so I wanted the film to make up for it somewhere else. A minimal effort could have been to make some scary carnvial scenes, or even some freaky midgets (it's interesting- noble, some would say- that the story which sparked all those evil carny horror books and films never had any scary clowns or anything in its sreen adaptian). It never really amounts to that, though, and as a result, you never really feel any impending doom by the carnvial. I attribute this to Disney, who was too nervous to even release it under the Disney name (it was under Buena Vista, one of their companies, which has also been given the job of producing such non-Disney fare as The Nightmare Before Christmas), let alone putting in some true scares. In short, the movie didn't want to scare you with cheap horror tricks, but if you don't get horror anywhere else, then what are you left with? No horror, that's what.
The rest of the movie is very good, though, and I believe it should be toted as one of the Disney classics. I love the eerie opening titles, as well as the beautiful first shots of the autumn countryside (and a pumpkin patch- joy!). James Horner's music is great as always, and most Horner fans out there (yeah-- they're out there) rank this score right up there with KRULL. Jason Robards is perfect as Charles Halloway, and is really the star of the picture. It reinforces- in my mind- his reputation as a great actor. There are a couple of scenes in the picture I really like. The first is where, during the parade, Charles Halloway reaches down to touch Will's hand between the gutter during the search-parade: that was a pretty touching moment. The second is where, in the library, Jonathan Pryce's Mr. Dark is one-by-one ripping the pages out of a book, screaming out the increasing ages as Mr. Halloway's last chance to be young again ("Thirty-five! Time to start a family, build a fortune! You might even be able to learn how to swim!... Thirty-six! Thirty-seven! Thirty-eight!...") And I also love all the references to the past where Charles was unable to save his son from drowning. I can't, for the life of me, remember if this was in the novel, but it gives us some real meat as to why Mr. Halloway is so filled with regret.

One scene struck me in particular, atmosphere-wise. You ever feel what it's like on a Sunday October afternoon, when there's not a cloud in the sky, the wind's blowing, the leaves dancing on the road? Didn't it just feel like a Sunday October afternoon during the parade scene? Anybody?

Overall, the movie was very loyal to the book, and the faults lie in that, I believe, it wasn't the cinematic time to make the book yet. If it had been made now, I think it could have conveyed the emotions a little better, and the special effects would have been scarier (although there were some pretty good ones in this movie- check out the Illustrated Man's arm). Bradbury's emotions are always overdone, and they seem to fly out at you in your face. This definitely didn't happen in the film, and it's one of the first cinematic times when they should have been OVER-acting (remember "The Fifth Element", where everything was loud and gawdy and overdone? This film should have been like that, sans techno). Of course, nobody's making this book again anytime soon. Although, if I ever get into filmmaking, I'll definitely make this movie my way.

*** out of ****

Full CAST AND CREW

Directed by
Jack Clayton

Writing credits
Ray Bradbury (novel, screenplay) Cast
Jason Robards .... Charles Halloway
Jonathan Pryce .... Mr. Dark
Diane Ladd .... Mrs. Nightshade
Royal Dano .... Tom Fury
Vidal Peterson .... Will Halloway
Shawn Carson .... Jim Nightshade
Mary Grace Canfield .... Miss Foley
Richard Davalos .... Mr. Crosetti
Jake Dengel .... Mr. Tetley
Jack Dodson (I) .... Dr. Douglas
Bruce M. Fischer .... Mr. Cooger
Ellen Geer .... Mrs. Halloway
Pam Grier .... Dust Witch
Brendan Klinger .... Cooger as a Child
James Stacy (I) .... Ed, The Bartender
Angelo Rossitto .... Little Person #1
Peter Risch .... Little Person #2 (as Peter D. Risch)
Tim T. Clark .... Teenage Boy
Jill Carroll .... Teenage Girl
Tony Christopher .... Young Ed
Sharan Lea .... Young Miss Foley
Scott De Roy .... Cooger as a Young Man
Sharon Ashe .... Townswoman
Arthur Hill (I) .... Narrator
rest of cast listed alphabetically
Jerry Maren (uncredited)

Produced by
Peter Douglas (II)
Dan Kolsrud (associate)

Original music by
James Horner

Cinematography by
Stephen H. Burum

Film Editing by
Barry Mark Gordon
Art J. Nelson

Casting
Pam Polifroni

Production Design by
Richard MacDonald (I)

Art Direction
Richard Lawrence (I) (as Richard James Lawrence)
John B. Mansbridge

Set Decoration
Rick Simpson (I)

Costume Design by
Ruth Myers

Makeup Department
Robert J. Schiffer .... makeup artist

Production Management
Richard Learman .... unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dan Kolsrud .... first assistant director
Lisa Marmon .... second assistant director

Sound Department
Wayne Allwine .... sound editor
Nick Alphin .... sound re-recording mixer
George Fredrick .... sound editor
Robert Hathaway .... sound supervisor
David Horton (I) .... sound editor
Al Maguire .... adr editor
Shawn Murphy .... score mixer
Richard Portman .... sound re-recording mixer
George Probert (I) .... sound editor
Frank Regula .... sound re-recording mixer
Roger Sword .... sound editor

Special Effects
Lynda Lemon .... visual effects assistant scene coordinator
Jesse Silver .... visual effects matte department supervisor

Stunts
Gary Combs .... stunts
Bobby Porter .... stunts
George Robotham .... stunts
Pat Romano (I) .... stunts
Charles A. Tamburro .... stunts
Jeff Viola .... stunts

Other crew
Wm. Allen Blythe .... animator
Ed Coffey .... animator
Clint Colver .... composite supervisor
Elliot Davis .... camera operator
Tony Faso .... costumer: men
Gail Fox .... animator
Allen Gonzales .... animator
Axel Hubert .... assistant editor
Joseph Hurley .... production illustrator
Michael Lloyd (II) .... matte artist
Greig McRitchie .... orchestrator
John Norton .... animator
Jennifer L. Parsons .... costumer: women
Darrell Rooney .... animator
Jack Sandeen .... costume supervisor
Scott Santoro .... animator
Jesse Silver .... matte artist
production illustrator
Jeanie Sims .... creative consultant
Ron Stangl .... animation production coordinator
Michael Wolf (I) .... effects animation supervisor