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''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' is a 1983 American
dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and d ...
film directed by Jack Clayton and produced by
Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...
, from a screenplay written by
Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...
, based on his 1962 novel of the same name. It stars
Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...
, Jonathan Pryce,
Diane Ladd Diane Ladd is an American actress. She has appeared in over 120 film and television roles. For the 1974 film ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy A ...
, and Pam Grier. The title was taken from a line in Act IV of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'': "By the pricking of my thumbs / Something wicked this way comes." The film was shot in
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
and at the Walt Disney Studios in
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...
. It had a troubled production – Clayton fell out with Bradbury over an uncredited script rewrite, and after test screenings of the director's cut failed to meet the studio's expectations, Disney sidelined Clayton, fired the original editor, and scrapped the original score, spending some $5 million and many months re-shooting, re-editing and re-scoring the film before its eventual release.


Plot

In Green Town,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
, two young boys, a reserved Will Halloway, and somewhat rebellious Jim Nightshade, leave from an after-school detention for "whispering in class" and hurry off for home. The boys live next door to each other and were born a minute apart on Halloween. Will lives with his grey-haired father Charles and mother while Jim lives with his single mother; it is heavily implied that his father walked out on them. A lightning rod salesman named Tom Fury arrives and sells one to Jim, claiming that it will protect him from an upcoming storm. The boys soon hear of a carnival coming to town led by the ominous Mr. Dark. The carnival arrives and is set up overnight. Will and Jim notice that many of the residents seem oddly entranced by some of the attractions such as the amputee bartender Ed who sees his missing arm and leg return in a mirror and the boys' teacher Miss Foley who wishes to regain her youth. Will and Jim see a carousel that is closed off and are confronted by Mr. Dark who quickly becomes suspicious of them. Later, they witness Mr. Dark using the carousel on his assistant Mr. Cooger who reverts to a little boy. Will and Jim head off to see Foley, but she is with her "nephew" who is actually Cooger and are forced to leave. Foley suddenly becomes younger, but loses her vision and is taken by Cooger to Dark. Will gets into an argument with Jim when the latter reveals that he has always been envious of the former being older and wants to use the carousel. However, they witness Fury being tortured by Mr. Dark who wants the secret of the upcoming storm and uses his other assistant the Dust Witch to seduce him, but to no avail. The boys run when they are found out and try to go to bed. In the middle of the night, the two are attacked by spiders, but the lightning rod that Fury gave Jim earlier saves them. In the morning, Mr. Dark leads his carnival, now consisting of some of the townspeople, in a parade though Will and Jim deduce that it is a search party for them. Charles eventually figures out that the boys are in trouble and when confronted by Mr. Dark manages to deter him. Charles, Will and Jim head to the library where the former reveals that the carnival had come to town before and that his own father had fought them. Mr. Dark arrives searching for Will and Jim and offers Charles his youth back, but he resists. He knocks out Charles and makes off with the boys back to the carnival. Charles regains himself and heads to the carnival just as the storm arrives. He runs into Jim's mother and deters her before she too succumbs to Mr. Dark's powers. Charles heads into the hall of mirrors where Mr. Dark continues to taunt him about his age. However, Will declares his love for his father and repels the Dust Witch, allowing Fury to escape his imprisonment and impale her with a lightning rod. Will and Charles find Mr. Dark attempting to use the carousel with Jim in tow, but they rescue him just as lightning strikes the ride. As Mr. Dark begins to age and decay, Will and Charles express happiness to awaken Jim and the three flee just as the carnival begins to get sucked away into a giant twister. Will, Jim and Charles head back into town and begin to happily dance back home, with the danger now over.


Cast

*
Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...
as Charles Halloway * Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark *
Diane Ladd Diane Ladd is an American actress. She has appeared in over 120 film and television roles. For the 1974 film ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Academy A ...
as Mrs. Nightshade *
Royal Dano Royal Edward Dano Sr. (November 16, 1922 - May 15, 1994) was an American actor. In a career spanning 46 years, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboys, villains, and Abraham Lincoln. Dano also provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronic L ...
as Tom Fury * Vidal Peterson as Will Halloway ** Arthur Hill as Adult Will (Narrator) * Shawn Carson as Jim Nightshade * Mary Grace Canfield as Miss Foley ** Sharan Lea as Young Miss Foley * Richard Davalos as Mr. Crosetti * Jack Dodson as Dr. Douglas *
Bruce M. Fischer Bruce M. "Bear" Fischer (March 20, 1936 - April 11, 2018) was an American actor, best known for playing the prisoner and rapist ''Wolf Grace'', in the 1979 film, '' Escape from Alcatraz''. Fischer also played a rapist in Clint Eastwood's '' The O ...
as Mr. Cooger * Pam Grier as the Dust Witch * Jack Dengel as Mr. Tetley * Ellen Geer as Mrs. Halloway *
James Stacy Maurice William Elias (December 23, 1936September 9, 2016), known professionally as James Stacy, was an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for starring in the late 1960s TV western ''Lancer''. In 1973, Stacy was hit by ...
as Ed, the Bartender ** Tony Christopher as Young Ed *
Angelo Rossitto Angelo Salvatore Rossitto (February 18, 1908 – September 21, 1991) was an American actor and voice artist. He had dwarfism and was 2'11" (89 cm) tall, and was often billed as Little Angie or Moe. Angelo first appeared in silent films oppo ...
as Little Person #1


Production

Ray Bradbury first wrote the original novel as a screenplay adapted from his 1948 short story "Black Ferris" in 1958, intended as a directorial vehicle for
Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...
. Financing for the project never came, and Bradbury converted the screenplay into a novel, published in 1962. In 1971, Bradbury agreed to write a new screenplay based on the novel for Jack Clayton, who Bradbury previously worked with on '' Moby Dick''. In January 1973,
Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institut ...
was announced as director for the film, with a script written by Bradbury. By June 1976, Clayton had returned as director and the property was being developed by The Bryna Company, a film production company formed by
Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. D ...
. Douglas became interested in the property after meeting Bradbury at a bookstore in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, and initially intended to star in the film. Douglas' son Peter Douglas was the producer of the film alongside
Robert Chartoff Robert Irwin Chartoff (August 26, 1933 – June 10, 2015) was an American film producer and philanthropist. Early life and education Chartoff was born on August 26, 1933 in New York City, the son of Bessie and William Chartoff. His family was J ...
and Irwin Winkler. They secured a deal with Paramount Pictures to finance the $6,000,000 production, which was to be filmed on location in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. However, production never began and the film was eventually put into turnaround by Paramount CEO Barry Diller over the objections of feature division president
David V. Picker David Victor Picker (May 14, 1931 – April 20, 2019) was an American motion picture executive and producer, working in the film industry for more than forty years. He served as president and chief executive officer for United Artists, Paramount, ...
. At various times,
Mark Rydell Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973) ...
and
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
expressed interest in making the film. At this time
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...
was concentrating on films with more mature themes in an attempt to break free from their stereotype as an animation and family film studio. In 1981, Disney acquired the film rights to ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' and announced that it would go into production with a $16 million budget. The studio sought Bradbury's input on selecting a cast and director, and he suggested Clayton feeling they had worked well together at Paramount. Peter Douglas returned as the film's producer, but Kirk Douglas was unable to appear in the film despite playing a major role in its pre-production. In a 1981 issue of '' Cinefantastique'', Bradbury stated that his top choices to play Mr. Dark were
Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old V ...
and
Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...
. However, Disney decided to go with a relatively unknown actor instead in order to keep the budget down, and Jonathan Pryce was eventually cast. Principal photography on the film began on September 28, 1981, and progressed for 77 days. The production was mostly filmed on Disney's Golden Oak Ranch in Newhall, California, as shooting it on location would have been too costly. Some exterior scenes were shot in
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
. As the film progressed, two differing visions emerged for the film, with Bradbury and Clayton wishing to stay as faithful to the novel as possible, while Disney wanted to make a more accessible and family friendly film. Bradbury and Clayton fell out during production after Bradbury discovered that Clayton had hired writer
John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London ...
to do an uncredited revision of Bradbury's screenplay at the studio's insistence. At a Q&A session following a 2012 screening of the film, actor Shawn Carson explained that he originally read some 10 times for the part of Will, but after a request from Bradbury, he read for and was cast in the part of Jim Nightshade instead. Although he had blond hair at the time, and co-star Vidal Petersen had dark hair, Carson's hair was dyed jet black and Petersen's was bleached blond to fit the new casting. For the original score, Clayton picked Georges Delerue who had scored his films '' The Pumpkin Eater'' and '' Our Mother's House'', but his score (considered "too dark" by Disney) was later removed and replaced at short notice with a score by James Horner. A soundtrack album of Delerue's unused score was released by Intrada Records in 2015. Horner's replacement score was previously released by the same label in 1998. Editor Barry Gordon was hired as assistant to the film's original editor, Argyle Nelson Jr. He recalled in 2012 that after Clayton submitted his original cut, Disney expressed concerns about the film's length, pacing and commercial appeal; the studio then took the project out of Clayton's hands and undertook an expensive six-month reshoot and re-edit. Nelson was let go for budgetary reasons, and although Gordon was originally prepared to follow Nelson and leave the production, Nelson encouraged him to stay, and Gordon edited the final cut (resulting in the film's dual editor credits). Disney spent an additional $5 million on re-filming, re-editing, and re-scoring the picture, and Gordon was required to make a number of changes to Clayton and Nelson's original cut, removing several major special-effects scenes, and incorporating the new material directed by visual effects artist Lee Dyer, including a new spoken prologue narrated by Arthur Hill. Among the casualties was a groundbreaking animation scene, which would have been one of the first major uses of
computer-generated imaging Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images ma ...
in a Hollywood film; combining the then new technology of CGI with traditional animation, it depicted Dark's circus train rolling into town, and the carnival magically materialising – the smoke from the locomotive becomes the ropes and tents, tree limbs grow together to form a ferris wheel, and a spider web morphs into a wheel of fortune. The deleted scene was previewed in detail in the May–June 1983 issue of ''
Twilight Zone Magazine ''Twilight Zone'' literature is an umbrella term for the many books and comic books which concern or adapt ''The Twilight Zone'' television series. Comics Gold Key Comics published a long-running ''Twilight Zone'' comic that featured the likene ...
'', but in the event, the re-edit retained only a few seconds of the sequence. Another cut sequence depicted Mr. Dark using his sinister powers to send a huge disembodied hand to reach into the house to grab the boys – this mechanical effect was deemed not realistic enough by Disney executives, and was replaced by a new scene in which the room is invaded by hundreds of spiders. This was shot using real spiders, and years later Shawn Carson recalled the considerable discomfort he and Vidal Petersen experienced as a result being exposed to the irritating urticating hairs of the 200 tarantulas used in the sequence. The original themes of Bradbury's novel, the suggestion of menace, the autumn atmosphere of an American Midwest township and the human relationships between characters that attracted Clayton escaped preview audiences completely, with Clayton heavily criticized. New special effects sequences were shot and a hastily composed new score by composer James Horner replaced Delerue's original music. Initial test screenings did not fare well with audiences, and Disney re-commissioned Bradbury to write an opening narration sequence and new ending. Bradbury referred to the film's final cut as "not a great film, no, but a decently nice one." The railroad scenes were filmed on the Sierra Railroad in
Tuolumne County, California Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises ...
.


Lost / rejected original version

The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies in Indianapolis have a copy of the original cut on VHS which may be the only surviving copy of Jack Clayton's original cut.


Reception


Box office

The film grossed $8.4 million at the domestic box office against its $20 million budget.


Critical response

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''Chicago Sun Times'' gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, and wrote: "It's one of the few literary adaptations I've seen in which the film not only captures the mood and tone of the novel, but also the novel's style. Bradbury's prose is a strange hybrid of craftsmanship and lyricism. He builds his stories and novels in a straightforward way, with strong plotting, but his sentences owe more to
Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist of the early 20th century. Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels as well as many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly origi ...
than to the pulp tradition, and the lyricism isn't missed in this movie. In its descriptions of autumn days, in its heartfelt conversations between a father and a son, in the unabashed romanticism of its evil carnival and even in the perfect rhythm of its title, this is a horror movie with elegance."
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''The New York Times'' wrote the film "begins on such an overworked
Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country's culture. Rockwell is most famous for the ...
note that there seems little chance that anything exciting or unexpected will happen. So it's a happy surprise when the film...turns into a lively, entertaining tale combining boyishness and grown-up horror in equal measure;" according to Maslin, "The gee-whiz quality to this adventure is far more excessive in Mr. Bradbury's novel than it is here, as directed by Jack Clayton. Mr. Clayton, who directed a widely admired version of '' The Turn of the Screw'' some years ago, gives the film a tension that transcends even its purplest prose." Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' praised the film as "one of Walt Disney's best efforts in recent years—a film that actually has something to offer adults and adolescents alike." ''Variety'' wrote that the film "must be chalked up as something of a disappointment. Possibilities for a dark, child's view fantasy set in rural America of yore are visible throughout, but various elements have not entirely congealed into a unified achievement...Clayton has done a fine job visualizing the screenplay by Bradbury himself, but has missed really connecting with the heart of the material and bringing it satisfyingly alive." Gene Siskel of the ''Chicago Tribune'' gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and wrote that it "opens promisingly" but has a script which "tries to cram too much material into one story" and a climax that "couldn't be more disappointing," with "neon special effects that overwhelm the last half hour of the movie. The result is an oddball combination of a '' Twilight Zone'' episode with the climactic, zapping-the-Nazis scene from ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ro ...
.''" Richard Harrington of ''The Washington Post'' criticized the "lethargic" pace, "stolid acting," and special effects that "are shockingly poor for 1983 (a time-machine carousel is the only effective sequence on that front)." Tom Milne of '' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' lamented that "the novel's texture has been thinned out so ruthlessly that little is left, but the bare bones; and all they add up to, shorn of the slightly self-conscious Faulknerian poetics of Bradbury's style, is a dismayingly schoolmarmish moral tale about fathers and sons, the vanity of illusions, and homespun recipes for dealing with demons ('Happiness makes them run')." Christopher John reviewed ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' in ''Ares Magazine'' #15 and commented that "If the chance ever comes your way to take this one in, grab it. Rarely does such a quiet, yet strong picture get made in this country." Colin Greenland reviewed ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' for ''Imagine'' magazine, and stated that "This is one for the SFX connoisseur, a visual feast." As of August 2022, the film holds a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 32 reviews. The consensus reads, "True terror and typical Disney wholesomeness clash uncomfortably in Something Wicked This Way Comes."


Accolades

It won the 1984
Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film The Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film is an award presented to the best film in the fantasy genre by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is an American non-profit organ ...
and
Saturn Award for Best Writing The Saturn Awards for Best Writing is a Saturn Award presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Unlike most awards rewarding writing in films, it recognizes only the writer(s) of the screenplay, and not those of the stor ...
; it was nominated for five others, including best music for James Horner and best supporting actor for Jonathan Pryce. The film was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and Grand Jury Prize at the
Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival The Avoriaz International Fantastic Film Festival (french: Festival international du film fantastique d'Avoriaz) was a film festival held in the French resort of Avoriaz between 1973 and 1993. It was the precursor to the current Gérardmer Intern ...
.


Remake

In 2014, Disney announced a remake of ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' with Seth Grahame-Smith writing the script, making his directorial debut, and producing with David Katzenberg from their producing banner KatzSmith Productions. Reportedly, Grahame-Smith wants to focus mostly on Ray Bradbury's source material from the book.


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Something Wicked This Way Comes (Film) 1983 fantasy films 1983 films 1983 horror films American dark fantasy films American supernatural horror films American supernatural thriller films Bryna Productions films Circus films Films about witchcraft Films based on American horror novels Films based on American novels Films based on fantasy novels Films based on works by Ray Bradbury Films directed by Jack Clayton Films scored by James Horner Films set in the 1920s Films with screenplays by Ray Bradbury Walt Disney Pictures films 1980s English-language films Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Films shot in Vermont Films set in Illinois 1980s American films