Something Wicked This Way Comes

"It was the October of my 12th year when the seller of lightning rods came along the road toward Green Town, Illinois, sneaking glances over his shoulder. Somewhere not far back was a terrible storm. Even now, on those special autumn days, when the air smells like smoke, and the twilights are orange and ash gray, my mind goes back to Green Town, the place where I grew up. In my memory, I'm back on Main Street again, among the neighbors who gave me my first glimpses into the fearful needs of the human heart."

Like Nick Nolte's opening narration in "The Prince of Tides", Arthur Hill's opening narration is perfection.

These are the first moments of the underrated fantasy horror thriller, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, 1983's Disney collaboration with writer Ray Bradbury. This is a hidden gem, just released for streaming on Disney+.

It struggled at the box office at the time of its release, likely too scary for young kids and a bit too adult for the pre-teens, but has found a great deal of appreciation over the past four decades.

Lyrical might be the best word for the film's screenplay, with legendary author Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) penning his own screenplay adaption. From those opening scenes as two young boys run through the changing leaves of a picturesque town, the tone is set and danger feels right around the corner.

Those boys are Will Halloway (Vidal Peterson) and Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson) two best friends who serve as the center of our story. Will's Father, Charles (the legendary for good reason Jason Robards) is the town librarian. He has adventures of every sort on the pages of his books but seems to live with an under current of fear and regret.

Jim's Father is not around. Jim speaks of him traveling the globe, but it's clear the man has been gone for awhile. His mother, Mrs. Nightshade, seems to court gentlemen visitors and live half her life in her own little world. Diane Ladd (Chinatown, Wild At Heart) is great at playing mysteriously sad/odd.

All the citizens of Green Town are excited to read flyers about a Carnival coming to their little town, led by the very mysterious Mr. Dark, played to perfection by Jonathan Pryce (Evita, Brazil) in his first big screen role. Pryce is fantastic.

If most carnivals and traveling emporiums bring joy and wonder, Dark's Pandemonium seems to offer up a very different selection of treats, most of them promising to grant your biggest wish, or restore something you've lost

But nothing is free.

When Jim and Will sneak into the carnival and see some things they shouldn't, Mr. Dark begins pursuing them, while preying on the innocence of the town folk.

Ray Bradbury's original 1962 novel is one of his best fantasy/horror works, conjuring up a very specific tone of Americana, regret and scares.

The film does an amazing job of recreating that tone, throwing you into the story along with boys as they uncover some truly wicked goings on.

This was a troubled production, with Bradbury falling out with the director Jack Clayton (The Innocents, 1974's "The Great Gatsby") over their differences around the approach to the material. The film shows signs of rewrites and over $1 million in reshoots. The ending feels so abrupt that it feels like the projectionist forgot a reel.

But what remains on screen is still, for the most part, an unappreciated literary adaption.

James Horner's music is stellar throughout. He composed this score within a year of his work on "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", "Krull" and "Brainstorm", one of my all-time favorite Horner works. The man was prolific. It's a great score and damn scary at the right moments.

Pam Grier (Jackie Brown, Foxy Brown) is haunting as Mr. Dark's right hand priestess of the dark arts.

Pryce is nothing short of brilliant, especially in the library set showdown with the boys and Robards (All the President's Men, Magnolia). Pryce's delivery as he tears pages out of time is as good as it gets. A film career was born.

The special effects are pre-CGI and dated, but still charming in their own way.

There's a superb alchemy at work here, even with its flaws. Bradbury, Horner and cast combine to recreate the sense of small town wonder and amazement that lived in the pages of Bradbury's novel, bringing some nice chills as the depth of Mr. Dark's intentions are revealed.

An underrated gem in the Disney vaults, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is an October treat with more than a few tricks up its sleeve.

It gets an A-.