Rating: 
Summary: surprising
Review: I was so impressed as a child that this is a favorite still. Disney took a chance and provided a surprising thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: this is a really cool movie.
Review: I would really recommend this video, and I would also recommend the Howling, and the Dentist. And especially Silver Bulled, and Salems lot, "Get the full version," of Salems lot. order it off of Amazon.
Rating:
Summary: not as good as the book!
Review: I'd like to ask Ray Bradbury why he felt it necessary to change so much of the story for this film adaptation of his own book. As an average movie it stands alone, but if you have already read the book, don't expect the same level of suspense, mystery or atmosphere. The film has virtually none of these. I could understand the difference if the screenplay had been written by someone else, but the way Bradbury has cut up his own work is beyond understanding. The main let down is the ending. When I read the book I pictured it as a movie. It would have worked wonderfully without any major changes. This movie just lacks the magic of the original story.
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Summary: More Than it Appears - Worthy of The Twilight Zone
Review: I've read through several reviews and find myself in agreement with fans of this film. It is truly one of the most underrated films in Disney's library. Whether Disney has disowned it is questionable and I suspect there is a connection behind the scenes with Anchor Bay, just as there is (or was?) with Miramax Films.The key to this film is that Bradbury captured the tone and flavor of his book perfectly. While nowhere near as complete as the book and the story told therein, it is, nonetheless, complete in and of itself. There's nothing missing for those who haven't read the book. But, if you liked the movie, go find a copy of his book and read it one dark and stormy night. If you've seen some of the weird science before in other films, most likely it was because Bradbury wrote about it first. He is and was the Stephen King of his generation with such strange tales as The Illustrated Man and The Martian Chronicles (both are actually linked anthologies of his short stories). If you haven't read the description of the film, it is a story about Middle America early in the first half of the Twentieth Century and two boys sharing their childhood. One comes from a respected, if unexciting family and the other from a less than honorable setting. Yet they live beyond their differences and hold on to their own special fantasies and memories in a Norman Rockwell sort of way. Life was simpler then than it is now, and yet it has its dark side, as the boys soon find out. Mr. Dark's Carnival has come to town in as mysterious way as it did in another time, many decades before, affecting all who became involved. The film is deliciously handled with a flare that defies description, probably because Bradbury graced it with his retelling through the screenplay. Coupled with the compelling music that adds flavor and color to the outstanding cinematography, the film draws us into a Twilight Zone of the familiar and macabre. The film is treated as one for children. It decidedly is not one for little ones who are half-awake, and yet the story is more disturbing to those who will think upon the hidden messages that are as old as time itself and what every parent dreads... What is to become of us? What is to become of our children? This is the very heart of the fear that is so omnipresent once the carnival arrives that dreadful night. Don't just watch this story once. See it twice, but not on the same night. Give it some time to develop in your subconscious, and then, one autumn night, when the leaves are turning color, give it another look, ignoring the cliches it has spawned in other, later and lesser stories.
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Terrifying!
Review: If you had the choice to have anything you wanted in life, would you give up your soul to achieve your ultimate dream? Would you choose to be younger, richer or even wish to change the past? Ray Bradbury presents a dark fantasy filled with sinister characters who are out to take your soul in exchange for fulfilling your deepest yearning. The script is at times almost poetic and the autumn scenes in October are almost symbolic of the end of life when you might regret unfulfilled dreams. This vulnerable state of longing is what the "autumn carnival people" prey on. They feed off regret, vanity, delusions, sorrow and pain. On a dark stormy night, this carnival of pure evil blows into town and presents temptations for the inhabitants of Green Town, Illinois. James Nightshade and William Halloway are naturally curious and feel compelled to climb out of their bedroom windows to go see the Dark's Pandemonium Carnival being set up. James and Will are not as aware of the dangers of evil and seem like easy prey. When they realize there is something horrid going on, they try to warn the adults, who seem almost oblivious to the threat. Together, they spy on Mr. Dark and find out exactly what is going on. When they get caught...Mr. Dark comes after them! The library is their refuge and they hide in the bookshelves hoping to avoid certain death. I thought this was appropriate since truth and knowledge are like light, and darkness was about to consume them. The spiral staircase in the library reminded me of the staircase in my church when lived in Illinois as a child. If you think this story is not a metaphor of real life, then you might want to look over your shoulder. Temptation is alive and well.
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Summary: Bradbury's parable of DREAMS turned into NIGHTMARE...
Review: In SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES Ray Bradbury has created aparable that asks WHEN do desires become obsessions and HOW do dreamsbecome nightmares? The story is told from the viewpoint of two young boys, Will and Jim...blood brother "doubles"...whose guileless curiosity allows a "creepy" Halloween adventure to become an allegorical exploration on the nature of TEMPTATION. Jason Robards plays the common man struggling to be a good man and a good father. Jonathan Price plays Mr. Dark, the devil incarnate, who offers illusory gifts of beauty, wealth and fame to prospective "victims" willing to trade life and salvation for meretricious glamour. Mr. Dark's "bread & circuses" PANDEMONIUM (from John Milton's "Paradise Lost")CARNIVAL becomes a restless way-station of despair for souls who must "eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence" to survive. In many aspects the film is as successful as Bradbury's novel of the same title (a rare accomplishment). In one regard the movie may even be more successful. The characters in the film are presented as essentially good, kind people. The dreams they live for are ordinary (No one wants to be Napoleon; Helen of Troy or Bill Gates). Nonetheless, the fine line between a worthy goal and an all-comsuming desire can sometimes be crossed without a person's realization. The Devil realizes, however; and in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, Ray Bradbury demonstrates Evil ready to pounce on an unwary dreamer who forgets that "being good is a fearful occupation." The novel has long been recognized as a classic. The film...scripted by Bradbury...I believe is underrated. There are "scary" scenes, but nothing gross and Bradbury admirably controls what easily might have been. Pam Greer, for example, plays the wonderfully seductive role of THE SPIDER WOMAN (anti-Mother figure). In the novel, this character is called THE DUST WITCH,whose role in the book is both more dramatic and subtle yet lacks the "glamour of evil" that the film adaptation seems to accent with its focus on image and illusion. I believe the film is a minor masterpiece; a frightening fable that tells how evil can easily triumph when "ordinary" goodness is not valued or defended. Bradbury was not engaging in hyperbole when he chose his title from the Three Witches' curse-in-greeting to MACBETH: Something Wicked This Way Comes is about the fundamental battle for good against evil. And BEING GOOD IS A FEARFUL OCCUPATION......(The movie is both!)
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Summary: Disney does horror... really!
Review: No need to repeat the plot you can read about that plenty below. This review is for parents. Something Wicked This Way Comes is very scary. Not only have the censors totally misjudged this film but it is still classed as a children's movie! What rubbish! This is horror through and through, although albeit it can still be watched by kids but most adults will think twice about what they have just shown to them. PARENTS SHOULD WATCH THIS BEFORE SHOWING IT TO THEIR KIDS. This is not your average "darker" childern's flick like the Dark Crystal or the Black Caldron. It is much darker than that. I also remember a very graphic hand crushing scene.
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Summary: I, on the other hand, loved this movie.
Review: Not having read the Bradbury story on which this is based, I didn't compare the movie to the story. And, not being so technical a movie critic (such as the photography and casting), I didn't have any problem with the casting or cinematography. I just liked the movie as it is. OK, so maybe the bad guy is a hubba-hubba in my view, but it is the kids and Jason Robarts who make the movie. If you like this movie, you might try to find a copy of Lady in White, too. That is another little known terrific movie, also set in the past in a small town.
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Summary: You won't REGRET it...
Review: Probably the best work of art on regret. Many reviewers focus on the proprieter of Dark's Carnival tempting people with desire, but notice that almost all of the temptations are offers to "go back" to some 'Golden Days' of a person's past and lose the future you stand upon. The crippled ex-athelete regains his atheleticism, the father the chance to relive a humiliating expereince, the teacher her lost youthful beauty...All of us wrestle with regrets (by comparison Jacob had it easy), which impede our lives. This film illustrates that battle metaphorically. Oh, it also has great dialogue and some spooky performances.
Rating:
Summary: Good Interpretation of the Ray Bradbury Novel
Review: Ray Bradbury is a Midwesterner. Many of his novels and short stories capture the flavor of the Midwest so well that it may be difficult for those who have grown up elsewhere to understand the feel of his stories, if not the meaning of the stories themselves. Such is the case for "Something Wicked this Way Comes." Our story is set in a turn-of-the-century small town in Illinois. The time of year is autumn, a season often poetically exploited by Bradbury. Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Carnival breezes into small-town Illinois one dark and dreary October day, and suddenly the waning day became even more dark than usual. Thirteen year old Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, best friends through thick and thin, are witness to the eerie arrival of a carnival set up but moments after the carnival train arrives. The over-quick setup of the carnival is but one sign of the weirdness to come, as one person after another succumbs to the temptations presented by the carnival. In one case, a woman longs for lost beauty. In another, a man longs for lost love. Another man longs for a lost leg. The list is long, and while useful to establish the nature of the carnival, risks diluting the principal theme of the story. At first only Will and Jim recognize the evil intent behind the carnival. It is not long before Mr. Dark discovers that Will and Jim have recognized the true nature of the carnival, and then actively seeks to capture the boys and neutralize them. Will and Jim are suddenly on the run for their lives. Fortunately Jim's dad Charles Halloway, played by Jason Robards, is convinced of the nature of the carnival by the boys and helps the boys survive and overcome the evil of the carnival. The story was originally released in 1962, significantly predating the much more serious and bloody Stephen King novel "Needful Things," which pursued a similar approach in that the townspeople were tempted by their wants and succumbed, though in the latter novel accepting temptation generated further evil. In "Something Wicked" accepting temptation leads to loss, but generally only personal loss. The story is focused on the two boys, which makes the story better for teenagers, though I am very fond of the book and the movie even now. Also, the story is set in rural Illinois, and autumn in the Midwest and Northeast have a feel very that can be a bit eerie, but difficult to understand unless you grew up in places where the leaves turn color and die in the fall as Halloween approaches, and there is a feeling of mystery in the air. You might observe that this movie was not filmed in Illinois, which should have been obvious given that Illinois is generally flat throughout most of the state. The movie was created in 1983 at a time when special effects technology was advancing quite rapidly. The special effects in the movie are now dated somewhat, which detracts further from the movie. In spite of the flaws in the movie, the feel of the book is still there. When the movie starts with the view of the locomotive coming down the tracks, dark and vaguely foreboding, the tone of the movie is established. Blowing leaves, dark colors and minor musical keys are used to enhance the feeling of the movie, which is more a dark fantasy than a horror story. The movie allows a boy's viewpoint to explore the nature of life and temptation, which allows for more gasps and awe than we would feel as adults. I recommend this movie for those who have enjoyed Bradbury in print, and are looking for a dark fantasy that approaches, but just misses the mark of real horror.
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