Celebrity Nooz: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Movie Title: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Year Released: 1983

Rated: PG

Runtime: 1h 35min

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Director: Jack Clayton

Writer: Ray Bradbury, John Mortimer

Starring: Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd, Pam Grier, Royal Dano, Vidal Peterson, Shawn Carson, Mary Grace Canfield, Richard Davalos, Jack Dodson, Bruce M. Fischer, Jack Dengel, Ellen Geer

Review: A mysterious carnival pops up in the middle of the night in the small town of Green Town, Illinois. The villainous carnival owner, Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce), preys upon unsuspecting Midwestern townsfolk by granting wishes, but for a price. Young boys Will Halloway (Vidal Peterson) and Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson), start to investigate the creepy happenings at the carnival, but need an unlikely ally in Will's father (Jason Robards) to save the souls of their friends and family from being seized to damnation.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a part of Disney's foray into creepy, horror children's films along with other titles such as The Watcher in the Woods (1980), Return to Oz (1985), Hocus Pocus (1993), and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). For the most part, I was pretty indifferent on this film as there were things that I really enjoyed, and other things that I did not. On the positive note, I really enjoyed the setting and the literary aspect of this story. The setting of Green Town, Illinois perfectly depicted my vision of what fall looks like. Having grown up in the midwest myself, I really enjoyed all of the colors of the leaves and the way that the town and the creepy carnival screamed rural autumn. I also thought that Ray Bradbury's story was very interesting and captivating. Being that this film was adapted from a novel of the same name, I really like the direction this film took in terms of these two young boys investigating this mysterious and eerie carnival that randomly showed up to their town in the middle of the night. Jonathan Pryce is great as Mr. Dark, really portraying the character in a terrifyingly creepy, yet somewhat charming kind of way. Finally, I also enjoyed the scenes between Will Halloway and his father; they came across as heartfelt and really illustrated the importance of the father/son dynamic despite the obvious age difference that is a primary theme in this film.

What I found unappealing here was how slow-moving this film is despite it's short runtime. After everything gets established, I expected this film to hit the ground running, but I found it to be quite boring for the first 75 percent of the film. The last act is highly entertaining, but it wasn't much of a payoff for having sat through a movie that established a solid premise, but didn't ultimately deliver. I give this movie props for it's premise, due in large part to Bradbury's novel, but I think this movie lacks a bit in execution and excitement. It's difficult because this movie is pretty dark for the children's demographic that it was intended for, but it doesn't really hold up as a movie for adults, either. That said, it definitely fits the autumn/October/creepy movie trope. If you're a fan of the story or these types of films in general, then it is worth your time despite not having much re-watch value.

Stars (out of 4):

Fun Fact: "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes" is from "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare. Spoken by the second witch in Scene IV, Act I.

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