Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Jack Clayton

Starring: Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd (RIP), Royal Dano, Vidal Peterson, Shawn Carson

From: Disney

A belated RIP to Diane Ladd. In the upcoming month or two, there’s more than one person who’s passed away this year that I need to tip my cap to. As I’m subscribed to Disney+ for December, I’ve only seen some of Ladd’s movies-this was a small yet important role-and until its addition to the platform two months ago, this movie was infamously hard to track down.

I’m fascinated by this era of Disney where they weren’t quite sure what they were doing in the world of cinema and they didn’t have subsidiary companies like Touchstone or Hollywood Pictures to release pictures not meant for a family audience, that’s how we had oddball films (like this, Return to Oz and The Watcher in the Woods, which I hope Disney+ adds one day) that tried to be of a darker tone from the Disney label.

In this tale where a Mr. Dark brings an ominous carnival to a bucolic small Illinois town during an October at least 100 years ago, the talent involved was impressive. An adaptation of a Ray Bradbury novel, the stars included Ladd, Jason Robards (as a really old father; the movie stresses that point), Royal Dano, Pam Grier in a supporting role, and Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark. This was in gestation for years-Bryna Productions was the production company, meaning Kirk Douglas was involved. James Horner provided a proper whimsical score-it wasn’t the original soundtrack, but more on that later-and the rural setting was pleasant.

Regrettably, I only liked rather than loved the film-perhaps if there had been childhood viewings, a different tune would be whistled. Like with Watcher, this had production issues, reshoots, an unhappy Disney, and other drama which undoubtedly did harm to the potential this had. The idea that this carnival grants the told & untold desires of the town’s residents (only of course it’s of the Faustian bargain variety) is a swell one, and I’m sure the book is better. The presumption is that the overblown special effects finale were part of the reshoots. Be that as it may, it was still a movie I liked. The town’s setting is pleasant, as was the carnival-aside from the whole evil aspect thing.

The cinematography was quality; that was due to future De Palma chief cinematographer Stephen H. Burum. Pryce did a nice job; somewhere in the multiverse are versions where either Peter O’Toole or Christopher Lee would have been Mr. Dark. Disney wanted to save money, you see, so they cast a talented actor, but one who was almost always in the world of theater at the time. The film’s from the perspective of two young boys; the actors and the characters were both fine, not intolerable to follow.

A shame that there were those issues, those reshoots, the replacing of the original Georges Delerue score (from a short listen on YouTube, it is more ominous) and other problems. There are still nice practical effects and a few effective scares as well. Plenty do love the movie more than moi-for their sakes, I’m glad the film is on Disney+. The Blu release was a limited exclusive deal back in ’21 as part of a now-defunct program—the prices on eBay are as expensive as you would expect. There are rumors of an upcoming remake; now this is the sort of movie that does need one… if they don’t screw it up with various tropes and movements I’m not a fan of in modern cinema.