The Dark Half(1993)
Orion Pictures Apr 23, 1993 | Wide
A writer's fictional alter ego wants to take over his life...at any price.
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Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Summaries
Plot Summary
- Castle Rock, Maine. 1968. 13-year-old Thad Beaumont is a junior high school student who wants to become a writer and spends many hours in his bedroom writing violent-themed stories. His mother buys him a typewriter to use and soon, Thad starts having violent headaches and hearing strange noises... like hundreds of small birds screeching. One day while waiting for the school bus, he collapses and is taken to the hospital where X-rays show "mass" in his brain that is thought to be a tumor which requires surgery. The exploratory operation reveals that the growth in his brain is actually a fetus complete with an eye, teeth, and fingernails. The doctor summaries that it is Thad's twin embryo which never developed and which Thad's fetus absorbed. The growth is removed, while at the same time, thousands of screeching birds fly around the hospital.23 years later. A grown-up Thad Beaumont is a fairly successful writer who teaches an intermediate writing class at the local university. He is married to Liz and they have two twin children, a 10-month old boy and girl. One day after class, a strange man named Fred Clawson whom is a reporter from New York City approaches him and addresses Thad as "George Stark". In his office, Fred reveals that he knows that Thad has been using a pseudonym to write violent best-selling thriller novels, and demands blackmail money once a month to keep his mouth shut. After Thad confides in Liz about his predicament, he decides to "come clean" about Thad's dual identity to the public to get rid of the blackmailer. Thad and Liz bring together a group of reporters and photographers where he publicly reveals his pseudonym as well as shows them the remote lake house where he writes his novels as George Stark. As a gag, Thad and Liz "bury" George Stark in the local cemetery.A few days later, the local gravedigger Holt, calls the police when he discovers a large hole at the grave site where the fake grave used to be; something has dug itself out. Soon, one by one, all the people who knew about Thad's alias are savagely murdered by an unseen assailant. First when the photographer, Homer Gamache, is attacked by a hitchhiker and beaten to death with his prosthetic leg. When Sheriff Alan Pangborn calls upon Thad the next day, he suspects him to be the killer because of a witness who described the killer being similar looking, and Thad's fingerprints are found at the crime scene.Soon after, Thad's old headaches begin to return. When Thad learns that Fred Clawson has been found dead in his New York apartment and the words "the sparrows are flying again" are painted in the murder victim's blood at the scene of the crime, Thad becomes convinced that George Stark, his so-called "dark half", has somehow become embodied and is taking revenge against all those around Thad for being "killed off."Next, 'George Stark' breaks into the New York apartment of Miriam, Thad's publicist, whom he forces her to call Thad and leave a message on his answering machine before he kills her. Back in Castle Rock, Sheriff Pangborn pays Thad another visit to inform him about the latest murder, but despite strong evidence which included Thad's fingerprints found at the scene, does not arrest him because of Thad's strong alibi.Next, George Stark goes after Mike Donaldson, the alcoholic reporter by ambushing him in the hallway outside his apartment and beats him to death. After each killing, Stark phones Thad to inform him about each killing. Stark then sneaks into Thad's publisher, Rick Cowley's apartment and slashes him to death as well, killing two policemen who were there as guards. Stark calls Thad again and threatens to kill every he knows unless he begins writing novels as George Stark again. However, Stark begins to slowly decompose as his embodiment is fading away. He realizes that he will decompose completely unless Thad begins writing under his name again.Investigating George Stark's origins, Thad goes to see the former doctor who treated his "brain tumor" who confides in him about the undeveloped fetus. Stark arrives and kills the doctor and leaves Thad behind to discover the body... and make it appear that Thad is responsible for the murder. Thad flees from the police where Stark contacts him again and tells him that he has abducted his wife and twin daughter and son and threatens to kill them unless he meets him at the summer lake house and begins writing as George Stark again.Thad confides in a old professor colleague, named Reggie, whom tells him that Stark's embodiment was the result of Thad encouraging his Stark to write and that in order for Thad to defeat Stark without killing himself, he must confront his "dark half". Reggie tells Thad that the appearance of the sparrows are the conduits of the bringers of life and death whom can either help Thad or kill him.Thad drives out to the summer lake house where he finally confronts George Stark face-to-face (whom has now decomposed so badly that he is using bandages and dressing to keep his decomposing face intact). Taking him to his office, Stark forces Thad to start writing a new book so he can become powerful again. Thad tries to stall for time, instead discussing the violent nature of the thriller book. As Thad begins writing, he tells Stark to take over the writing as Thad takes advantage of Stark's weakened state to begin a fistfight with him. While the tied up Liz is outside the office, MILLIONS of sparrows descend upon the house to collect one of the two writers. Just when Stark seems to have the upper hand, Thad reveals that he allowed Stark to take over the writing so the sparrows will collect him instead. The small birds swarm into the house and literally consume Stark who screams in agony as the birds carry his remains away and disappear into the moonlit night, while Thad and Liz and their twins are saved.
Storyline
- When Thad Beaumont was a child, he had an operation to remove a tumor from his brain. During the operation, it was discovered that, far from being a tumor, the growth was a twin brother of Thad's that never developed. Years later, Thad is a successful author, writing his serious books under his own name and his pulp money-makers under the pseudonym "George Stark". When blackmailed by someone who has discovered his secret, Thad publicly "buries" George Stark. From that point on, Thad increasingly becomes the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders. — Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au> In Castle Rock, Maine, the respectable writer and professor Thad Beaumont lives a comfortable life with his wife Liz Beaumont and his two babies. Out of the blue, he is blackmailed by a punk from New York that has discovered a hidden secret about Thad: before writing serious novels, he had written cheap literature using the pseudonym of George Stark and has become a successful writer of the genre and made enough money to raise his family. Thad and Liz discuss the situation and Thad calls his editors telling that he would tell the truth about George Stark to the press. The editors like the idea and prepare a promotional event, with That Beaumont burying George Stark in the cemetery. When the photographer is murdered, Sheriff Alan Pangborn comes to Thad's home and tells that he is the prime suspect of the crime. Thad believes that the blackmailer is the responsible for the death but soon he finds that the man was murdered. Soon there are a crime spree incriminating Thad and he claims that George Stark is the responsible for the bloodshed. How can his violent alter ego be responsible for the homicides? — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Novelist Thad Beaumount has buried his alter ego George Stark, a pseudonym he used when writing fiction of a darker nature than he would write using his real name. He even stages a mock burial of George for the benefit of the press. When a local man is killed, evidence leads Sheriff Alan Pangborn to George's grave, and he begins to suspect Thad. Meanwhile Thad is beginning to have visions of sparrows flying, something that hasn't occurred for twenty-three years since he had brain surgery. As the string of gruesome murders continue, someone claiming to be George Stark starts calling Thad on the phone. Thad fears for his family's safety, and Pangborn can't decide whether or not Thad is the murderer. — Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>
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