Ninth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #3 Something Wicked This Way Comes

I read Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, not too long ago and enjoyed it quite a lot.  And then I watched Disney's 1983 movie version and felt a little let down.  I suppose that I should have known when the Disney logo popped up that this wasn't going to be all I hoped.

In broad strokes, in October a sinister carnival arrives in a small Midwestern town.  It's run by Mr. Dark and his assistants, Mr. Cooger and a fortune-teller.  Through their machinations, some townsfolk are overcome and transformed.  Two boys, Will Holloway (blond/a good boy) and Jim Nightshade (brunette/attracted to the dark side) come up against Mr. Dark and his baddies, and with the help of Will's father, finally send the evil carnival on its way.

The book was wonderfully done, with developed characters and truly spooky sequences.  The movie, however, falls flat on nearly all front.  The characters are thin, the dialogue awkward and the child actors are truly terrible.  The special effects are pretty poor for Disney, even for early 1980s.  Mr. Dark (played by Jonathan Pryce) doesn't get much screen time and he's just not that scary.  I get that there's only so much horror you will get with a Disney flick, I do.  But really, I would re-title this one as "Something Disappointing This Way Comes."  It does have a pretty great poster though: