Dark Half, The (4K UHD Review)

Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
Review Date: Oct 02, 2025
Format: 4K Ultra HD

Director

George A. Romero

Release Date(s)

1993 (July 29, 2025)

Studio(s)

Dark Half Productions/Orion Pictures (Vinegar Syndrome)

Film/Program Grade: B
Video Grade: A
Audio Grade: B+
Extras Grade: B+

vinegarsyndrome.com

Review

“Where do you get your ideas?” is a perennial question for writers of speculative fiction, and when narrowing that category down to horror authors like Stephen King, the question sometimes takes on an adversarial bent. The assumption tends to be that there’s something wrong with anyone who would imagine these kinds of things, or else that they must be suffering from some kind of deep-seated personal trauma that’s being expressed through their writing. The reality is that writers are observers who simply write about what interests them, but it’s still true that some of that can be based on personal experiences. King addressed that question in the forward to his 1978 anthology Night Shift, where he explains that “the sludge that catches in the mesh of my drain is often the stuff of fear. My obsession is with the macabre... I am not a great artist, but I have always felt impelled to write. So each day I sift the sludge anew, going through the cast-off bits and pieces of observation, of memory, of speculation, trying to make something out of the stuff that didn’t go through the filter and down the drain into the subconscious.”

Yet with King, it wasn’t just bits and pieces of observation that ended up being cast off. Early in his career, he wrote a series of novels under the pen name Richard Bachman as a way of figuring out whether his success had been due to talent or luck—he wanted to see if his work would be successful without having to rely on the “Stephen King” brand. That project came to an end in 1985 when Steve Brown, a lowly bookstore clerk, managed to prove the link between King and Bachman (and ironically enough, the Bachman books became vastly more successful after King was outed). So, King ended up casting off the Bachman persona, at least for a time. Yet while this castoff did end up going down the drain into King’s subconscious, Bachman still lurked in the recesses of King’s brain, growing and festering, until he finally escaped in 1989.

The result of all that was King’s novel The Dark Half, which took the author’s observations of the experiences writing as two different personas and made it manifest. Thad Beaumont is the author of acclaimed literary works, but he pays the bills by writing lurid pulp fiction under the pen name George Stark. When Beaumont’s dark persona is outed, he decides to end Stark once and for all, even staging a mock burial at a local cemetery for some free publicity. Yet Stark seems to return from the grave and he goes on a murderous rampage, taking out everyone who was involved with his demise. Is Stark real, or just a figment of Beaumont’s imagination? The ominous truth lies somewhere between those two extremes, because there’s more to both Stark and Beaumont than anyone could possibly suspect—or believe.

The Dark Half was a bestseller in 1989, which meant that a cinematic adaptation was inevitable. Fortunately, the novel landed in the hands of an old friend: the legendary George A. Romero. King had admired Romero before they first collaborated together on Creepshow in 1982, even making a cameo appearance (along with his wife Tabitha) in Romero’s masterpiece Knightriders. But other than being the author of the source material, King wasn’t involved in the making of The Dark Half. Romero wasn’t generally in the business of adapting novels, either, but he had just come off the frustrating experience of adapting Michael Stewart’s novel Monkey Shines for Orion Pictures, where he wasn’t granted his usual independence and the final theatrical cut wasn’t what he originally intended. Yet Romero felt an affinity for King’s novel and decided to take a crack at it, and he even rolled the dice on working with Orion again. The result was a mixed blessing for him: the film ended up doing justice to the book, but thanks to Orion’s downward spiral into bankruptcy, few people were given the chance to see it.

The Dark Half was modestly budgeted at $15 million, but for a resourceful independent filmmaker like Romero, that was more than enough money to bring in a talented group of collaborators like Merchant Ivory cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts and composer Christopher Young. Romero was never satisfied with the visual effects work, especially during the finale, but the ambitious split screen work that was necessary in order to put Thad Beaumont and George Stark together in the same frame holds up surprisingly well—Dead Ringers, it’s not but it still works. The reason for that, of course, is that Timothy Hutton was hired to play both roles. That may seem like counterintuitive casting, but Hutton went full Method and threw himself into playing both characters with reckless abandon (much to the consternation of the cast and crew, especially when he was playing Stark). The rest of the cast is filled out capably by Amy Madigan as Thad’s wife Liz; Michael Rooker as the local sheriff; Julie Harris as Thad’s university colleague Reggie; and the unforgettable Royal Dano in his final role as the local gravedigger.

The disturbing nature of the story (and gruesome violence) meant that The Dark Half was never going to be a summer blockbuster, but the pieces were in place for a sleeper hit—all the pieces but one, anyway. The Dark Half was completed in 1991, but thanks to Orion’s ongoing financial woes, it sat on the shelf for two years before finally being unceremoniously dumped into theatres in 1993, where it failed to find an audience. Reviews were mixed, and even Romero’s faithful fans have always had mixed feelings about it. Yet it is indeed a faithful adaptation of King’s book, and that’s something that can’t be said about most other Stephen King adaptations. There are minor changes here and there, but Romero intuitively grasped King’s intentions for the book, and it shows in the final product.

The problem may have been that The Dark Half answers questions that the moviegoing public simply doesn’t want answered. They don’t want to know where artists get their ideas, and they definitely don’t want to see the wizard behind the curtain (real or imagined). They just want to be entertained and/or thrilled, not expected to contemplate the dark side of the creative process, wherever that may lead. It’s a lot easier to experience the visceral roller coaster thrills of Pennywise than it is to wonder how much of Thad Beaumont is George Stark, and how much of Stephen King is Richard Bachman. As a result, The Dark Half has always been a castoff of its own, never holding a particularly high position on lists of favorite Stephen King films, or on lists of favorite George A. Romero films, either. But it has always deserved better.

Cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts shot The Dark Half on 35mm film using Panavision cameras with spherical lenses, framed at 1.85:1 for its theatrical release. This version is based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, cleaned up and graded for High Dynamic Range in both Dolby Vision and HDR10, with the final results approved by Pierce-Roberts. The opening credits sequence and any other optical work were derived from dupe elements, so they look relatively soft (and some of the opticals in The Dark Half weren’t that good to begin with), but everything else is beautifully resolved, just as sharp and detailed as it possibly can be. While it’s still not necessarily a dramatic upgrade compared to Blu-ray, it still feels as if a veil has been lifted. The costuming in particular looks spectacular, with all the fine textures of the sweaters and jackets showing improvements in detail—denim, suede, herringbone knits, it all looks great. Environmental textures like the dirt and grass in the graveyard are equally sharp and clear. The colors and contrast all look accurate, with nothing being exaggerated or over-emphasized in the HDR pass—the blood looks vividly red, but that’s entirely in keeping with Romero’s aesthetic. There’s nothing to criticize here.

Audio is offered in English 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, with optional English SDH subtitles. The Dark Half was released theatrically in Dolby Stereo, and this does appear to be the original matrix-encoded mix. The 5.1 version sounds like a relatively straightforward discrete encoding of those matrix-encoded four channels, with no split surround activity. Yet it does seem like the surrounds are dialed down a bit in 5.1. The two tracks aren’t level matched, but even accounting for that fact, the surrounds are much more prominent in the original 2.0 version, especially where the birds are concerned. Christopher Young’s ominous score sounds fine either way, but while your own mileage may vary, I still recommend the 2.0.

The Vinegar Syndrome 4K Ultra HD release of The Dark Half is a two-disc set that includes a Blu-ray with a 1080p copy of the film. The insert is reversible, featuring new artwork by Black Coffiend on one side and the familiar theatrical poster artwork on the other. Vinegar Syndrome is also offering a Limited Edition version featuring a hard slipcase and slipcover combo designed by Black Coffiend, as well as a 40-page booklet with essays by Daniel Kraus, Scout Tafoya, and Lawrence DeVincentz. That version is available directly from their webstore and at a few select retailers, limited to 10,000 units (there are still over 2000 left as of this writing). The following extras are included:

DISC ONE: UHD

Commentary by George A. Romero

DISC TWO: BD

Commentary by George A. Romero
My Roots with Romero (HD – 11:31)
A Merchant Ivory Cameraman in Pittsburgh (HD – 10:09)
Shadows of the Past: Locating The Dark Half (HD – 5:14)
George Romero and the City of the Living Dead (Upscaled SD – 10:02)
The Sparrows Are Flying Again (HD – 36:29)
EPK Making-Of Featurette (Upscaled SD – 6:48)
EPK Interviews (Upscaled SD – 7:05)
Behind-the-Scenes Footage (Upscaled SD – 24:24)
Deleted Scenes (Upscaled SD – 7:42)
Storyboards (HD – 1:13)
Image Gallery (HD – 2:25)
TV Spot (Upscaled SD – :40)
Trailer (HD – 1:42)

The commentary with Romero is moderated by Stuart F. Andrews, host of the Cinephobia Radio podcast. It was originally recorded for the 2014 Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory. It’s more of a conversation between the two of them than a scene-specific commentary, although they do react to what’s happening onscreen at times. They start with the origins of the project, with Romero going back to Orion after the debacle of being more or less a director for hire on Monkey Shines. This time, The Dark Half was a project that he initiated after reading King’s novel. They explore some stories about the production, like the way that Romero struggled with Timothy Hutton’s Method acting; the unsatisfactory visual effects, especially during the ending; and dealing with the real birds on set. They also discuss the mixed reviews and the initial lack of enthusiasm from fans, but Romero felt that his films usually have a shelf life even when they’re not accepted right away, and fans were finally starting to approach him with memorabilia from The Dark Half.

Vinegar Syndrome has added two new interviews and a location featurette for this release. My Roots with Romero is an interview with first assistant director Nick Mastandrea, who says that working with Romero was always a fun experience. He worked at The Latent Image for years before graduating to assistant director on Monkey Shines, and performed the same role on The Dark Half before he moved to Los Angeles. A Merchant Ivory Cameraman in Pittsburgh is an interview with Tony Pierce-Roberts, who was happy to work with Romero as a way of breaking out of feeling typecast as a period cinematographer. He describes some of the technical challenges that he faced, especially the ones involving the birds. Finally, Shadows of the Past: Locating The Dark Half is a comparison of the locations in the film to how they look today.

While George Romero and the City of the Living Dead isn’t necessarily new, this is still the first time that it’s been included as an extra for The Dark Half. It’s an excerpt from a 1991 broadcast on Pittsburgh PBS affiliate WQED that was a part of their series on local history. It includes footage from the set of The Dark Half and interviews with Romero’s friends, family, and other members of the Pittsburgh film industry.

The rest of the extras are ported over from the Shout! Factory Blu-ray. The Sparrows Are Flying Again is a making-of documentary produced by Michael Felsher’s Red Shirt Pictures, featuring interviews with Romero; producer Declan Baldwin; editor Pasquale Buba; makeup effects supervisors Everett Burrell and John Vulich; visual effects supervisor Kevin Kutchaver; actors John Amplas, Robert Joy, Michael Rooker, and Rutanya Alda; 2nd unit director Tom Dubensky; and Christopher Young. Romero explains some of the challenges in adapting the novel, casting the various roles, and dealing with the visual effects. He says that it was a stressful production for a number of reasons, not least among them being Timothy Hutton’s penchant for the Method—it even affected the way that the George Stark makeup was applied. (On the other hand, the reason why the film went so far over schedule wasn’t Hutton, but rather those damned birds.)

The EPK Making-Of Featurette and EPK Interviews are both vintage promotional materials. They’re as lightweight as you would expect from EPK materials, but they’re still worthwhile because they do offer interviews with Timothy Hutton and Amy Madigan, who didn’t participate in the retrospective extras. (Plus, more George Romero is always welcome.)

The Behind-the-Scenes Footage is an extended reel of everyone at work on the set of The Dark Half. Not only does it show Romero’s process (and a bit of Hutton’s as well), but it also includes raw footage showing Hutton’s double for the scenes that featured both Beaumont and Stark. Effects fans will appreciate that it offers some footage of the animatronics and other practical effects work. Finally, the Deleted Scenes include both full scenes and scene extensions as well as a very different version of the ending, while the Storyboards demonstrate how that alternate ending was planned.

That’s all of the previously available extras from North American releases of The Dark Half, although there are a couple of other minor ones missing from overseas releases. The 2018 Region B Blu-ray from Koch Media in Germany offered a German-language commentary with Marcus Stiglegger and Kai Naumann, while the 2019 Region B disc from Eureka! in the U.K. offered an episode of The Incredibly Strange Film Show about Romero. Vinegar Syndrome still has the edge in terms of extras, however.

Romero was right about one thing: his films age like fine wine. I saw The Dark Half theatrically back in 1993 and wanted to like it more than I actually did, but time has been kind to the film as a whole (even if it hasn’t been kind to some of the visual effects work). And thanks to Vinegar Syndrome’s lovely new 4K presentation of the film, it’s never looked better. If you saw The Dark Half years ago and weren’t particularly impressed, there’s no better way to revisit it than this. Highly recommended.

-Stephen Bjork

(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd).