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      Something Wicked This Way Comes

      PG 1983 1 hr. 34 min. Horror List
      61% 33 Reviews Tomatometer 64% 5,000+ Ratings Audience Score Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce) brings his traveling carnival to a small Midwestern town and grants wishes, for a price. Read More Read Less
      Something Wicked This Way Comes

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      Critics Consensus

      True terror and typical Disney wholesomeness clash uncomfortably in Something Wicked This Way Comes.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Alec B Many images remain burned in my brain and while it certainly isn't as good as I remember from my childhood viewing (clearly Disney diminished Clayton's original cut) it does have a memorable staying power. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/28/24 Full Review Robert C Killer mid American small town setting. Not sure if that type of place exists anymore but I grew up there. Super Bradbury! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/28/23 Full Review Musuko S This is a really fun period piece, well acted, especially Shawn Carson Stands re watching every year in October ....Where is Shawn now Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/07/23 Full Review John R Clearly missing a large amount of material from the book (which I've not yet read), which would fill it out in ways that it really needs. A good amount of what's going on feels forced and thin because there's little to no build up or character building. None of the payoffs feel earned. It's just an hour and a half of stuff happening and then it ends. Jonathan Pryce was super spooky though. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/21/23 Full Review Taylor L Spooky, macabre carnivals are a whole aesthetic that I really dig. Ray Bradbury's adaptation of his own dark fantasy novel of the same name seems like it should have been primed to be a timeless classic, with its malevolent, immaculately clad carnival master Mr. Dark offering people their wildest dreams with unforeseen consequences; the design is great, a force that can flip a life upside down and peers into your innermost thoughts, but who is revealed only to have as much power as you are willing to give him. In effect, he has the same power that you give to your own fears - if you allow them to define you, you risk being swallowed up by them. Bradbury's script presents this idea in many different forms - classic vices like greed, lost youth, and vanity, but also the regret of an insecure father and the anger of an immature boy that wants the respect of an adult. Something Wicked This Way Comes was part of Disney's attempt at maturity, a swerve into darker territory that ultimately alienated many fans before the ship righted itself with '90s animation. But the direction and script of this particular entry aren't bad at all, perhaps just slightly poorly realized thanks to a jagged vision (potentially due to some reshoots; only the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies apparently has the director's original cut) and a limited effects budget that makes the finale seem a bit lackluster. But when you have a then-unknown Jonathan Pryce tearing the pages out of a book, counting the years off a man's life, the ideas of the film come together brilliantly as a dark manifestation of inner regrets and discontent. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review andy h It's your standard 80s tween horror adaptation, and many people will love that regardless of their knowledge of the source material. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Something Wicked This Way Comes

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      Critics Reviews

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      Variety Staff Variety Possibilities for a dark, child's view fantasy set in rural America of yore are visible throughout the $20 million production but various elements have not entirely congealed into a unified achievement. Mar 10, 2009 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader The plot concerns a mysterious carnival outside a small town in the early 1900s that grants the wishes of the town's citizens, with dark consequences. Mar 10, 2009 Full Review John Preston Time Out Ultimately, though, it's an uneasy blend of horror and whimsy, with the allegory being hammered a little too hard for comfort. It's also marred by some dreadfully tacky special effects and set designs. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Peter Sobczynski The Spool [D]espite the hiccups and poor reputation, Something Wicked This Way Comes remains a surprisingly potent work of dark fantasy. Jun 14, 2023 Full Review Richard Holliss Starburst Something Wicked never really amounts to anything... its not until its viewed for a second time that it begins to make any kind of impact. Aug 1, 2022 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...offering up horror tropes but grounded in small-town Americana, this is about the most wholesome horror film ever made... Rated: 4/5 Mar 22, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce) brings his traveling carnival to a small Midwestern town and grants wishes, for a price.
      Director
      Jack Clayton
      Screenwriter
      Ray Bradbury
      Production Co
      Walt Disney Productions, Bryna Productions
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Horror
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Aug 3, 2004
      Sound Mix
      Stereo, Surround