Reviews (43)

Something 'Worthwhile' has this way come
Excellent film adaptation to Mr. Bradbury's whimsical book by the same title.

The film is cast in the autumn (the autumn of life?) and a small town around turn of the century America (our dream of what America should be?). Two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade are excited to hear of a carnival coming to town (remember our youth when autumn always brought some sort of carnival to your town?). However, this carnival is no ordinary one. It's proprieter, Mr. Dark, offers people what they desire most -- at a fearsome price.

Jim and Will discover the underlying nature of Mr. Dark, his menions and the carnival and end up as quarry for the mysterious, sinister man. Will's father, Charles Halloway - the town librarian - is an unlikely hero who faces his own fears and temptations to protect the two youths from Mr. Dark.

Not really bloody or scary, I'd say the theme of this movie (that of facing the realities of life) creates uneasiness because of the familiar setting and its dealing with normal everyday people and their dreams/wishes.

The movie is well done and entertaining. Certainly worth a look. You might consider before allowing younger children to view it - it would probably give them dreams.

~P~

Love Bradbury! ...not so much love for film adaptation -
Director, Jack Clayton, The Innocents, [an excellent film...] Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) -- Staring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. This screenplay adaptation (1983), by the author, of his own novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, is good only during scenes with Robards and Pryce (these scenes are VERY good) yet, the plot is motivated by the actions of the characters of the two boys, Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade who, were inadequately cast (it's hard to find good child actors). Along with not being shot very well (Director of Photography, Stephen H. Burrum [the writer of this review simply can't tolerate the day-for-night scenes.]), it also seems that, 10 to 18 pages of the original script are missing from the final cut (the whole Tom Fury, B-Story), and much of the special effects scenes are cut in such a way as to reveal they didn't work and had to be cut out &/or around; how sad. The story simply falls apart! Somehow, a BEAUTIFUL script ended up as a film that, "had to be saved." Such, is the way of Hollywood.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, is available in paperback, ISBN: 0380729407 based on the screenplay, Dark Carnival by Ray Bradbury, based on the short story, The Black Ferris (1948), by Ray Bradbury available in ISBN 0-394-51335-5

Genuine Horror from Disney via Anchor Bay Comes
Based on the best-selling 1962 novel by venerable SF and horror writer Ray Bradbury--who also penned this cinematic adaptation--1983's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is the unabashedly nostalgic story of two young boys, Will Halloway (Vidal Peterson) and Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson), who engage in a battle of wills with Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce), the nefarious proprietor of a preternatural carnival that that literally blows into the boys' hometown one brisk October night (circa 1940). When Will and Jim discover that Dark and his troupe of midway miscreants are hiding some evil secret that might endanger the town, the boys take it upon themselves to uncover the truth and protect their friends and neighbors.

Some viewers are surprised to learn that this somber film is a product of the Walt Disney Company. Though there are the lovable small-town characters that one expects from Disney, it is admittedly rare to find a Disney flick with an incorrigibly evil character such as Mr. Dark (obviously the Devil in all but name). It is also unusual for a Disney film to have such a grim atmosphere, at least one that is not regularly punctured with puerile comedic relief, but SOMETHING THIS WAY COMES has a consistently spooky ambiance and an earnestly frightening plot, both of which elevate it to the level of a genuine horror film DESPITE its Disney label.

The performances in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES are top-notch. Jonathan Pryce is deliciously wicked as the enigmatic Mr. Dark--genre fans might recognize Pryce as the actor playing Governor Swann in the 2003 blockbuster PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL--and Jason Robards does a fine turn as the wise librarian father of young Will. Vidal Peterson and Shawn Carson, the two young actors portraying Will and Jim, are relative newcomers whose lack of substantial experience is an asset rather than a liability, as it actually adds to the realism of their characters' youthful innocence. Some of the seasoned actors that fill supporting and background parts also contribute greatly to the quality of the film. The gorgeous Pam Grier, star of several popular "blaxploitation" flicks in the 1970s, plays the carnival's witch-like fortune-teller; Diane Ladd plays Jim Nightshade's mother, a woman who is raising her son alone after both were abandoned by the boy's father; and Ellen Geer, daughter of the late Will Geer of TV's THE WALTONS, portrays the mother of Will Halloway. Horror fans might recognize the late Royal Dano in the role of Tom Fury, the lightning-rod salesman. During his lengthy career, the ubiquitous Dano appeared in such genre favorites as Hitchcock's THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955), 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964), and KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988); and also in episodes of genre TV shows like LOST IN SPACE, NIGHT GALLERY, AMAZING STORIES, and TWIN PEAKS.

Although the script does not have the same scope and attention to detail found in the novel, Bradbury has still done an exceptional job of translating to screenplay the novel's eerie essence and moral subtext. And director Jack Clayton does almost as well in visually interpreting Bradbury's script. He generates the perfect atmosphere for some genuinely creepy moments, and he is also quite adept at evoking Bradbury's primary theme of innocence lost.

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES generates most of its chills and scares the old-fashioned way--through atmosphere, suggestion, good plotting, and great characterization. Unfortunately, the flick was originally released during the peak of the first big wave of slasher films in the early 1980s, and it was therefore unfairly ignored by moviegoers and panned by critics. But thanks to the cool folks at Anchor Bay, this little beauty has a new lease on life via DVD.

Anchor Bay's disc is short on extras, offering only the theatrical trailer and the option of viewing in either pan-and-scan or 1.66:1 Letterbox formats. But the digital transfer looks nearly pristine--even when viewed on a widescreen HDTV-- with only a few minor defects from the source print noticeable. In keeping with the subject matter, the film was shot with dark tones and subtle hues, and these come through wonderfully on the DVD. Serious collectors of horror films on DVD won't want to let this genre gem slip away.

More Than it Appears - Worthy of The Twilight Zone
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.

Disney does horror... really!
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. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Mean Deserts
Although a stop-gap movie for Martin Scorsese, 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore' proved to be the pinnacle of Ellen Burstyn's career. Her academy award winning performance in this film crosses back and forth between careful tenderness and passionate intensity with intelligent ease. In most of his best work Scorsese encourages the actors in his films to play around with the script and improvise extensively. In 'Alice' he allows Burstyn's instincts about her character to come to the fore in the scene in the kitchen with Kris Kristofferson where she talks of her early showbiz career with her brother. Practically all of the dialogue was improvised by Burstyn herself, so much so that Scorsese had to cut the scene down to 3 minutes from 15! In fact there seems to have been a lot of cutting going on in this film. Alice's husband comes across as a totally unsympathetic character until you realize that much of his more tender scenes with Alice were cut in order to make the film move faster.

And move faster it does, for with Scorsese's deep aversion to static shots and his use of a hand-held camera in the small claustrophobic environments in which Alice and her son are confined, all the characters in this film look deeply unsettled in personality as well as in geography.

Ironically, filming had to be stopped on this movie for a couple of days because Ellen Burstyn had to go to the Oscars as she was nominated for her role in 'The Exorcist' that year. She returned unawarded to the work that would eventually reward her.

They Don't Make Movies Like This Anymore!!
This movie is the ultimate single mom movie..she faces abuse, tragedy and a life alone raising her child and she doesn't know how she is going to do it. I thought the acting (especially by Jodie Foster) was awesome and true to life. This movie has everything, it's funny, sad and in depth in what life is all about. This movie is for everyone who is just trying to survive life.

One Of Scorsese's Very Best. Time Will Tell...
Do you notice how little one hears about "Raging Bull"
lately? Well, there's a reason--it's not so hot. There is a
lot of repetition, a lot of improvisation, a lot of falsity in
that movie. And in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"?
There's a lot of truth and humor.

This was Scorsese's first studio picture; it was a hit,
and Ellen Burstyn got the Oscar for Best Actress. (In
England, the movie won Best Picture, Best Actress, Best
Supporting Actress, Best Newcomer, and Best Screenplay,
but--inexplicably--not Best Director). The movie was so
popular in America that CBS made a series out of it, and
the series ran for nine full years--the second longest
hit series ever made from a feature film (next to MASH).

I notice that some of the people who have visited this
site have downed the movie, but I also notice that the
one who downed it most didn't even know how to spell
the director's name correctly. (It's Scorsese).

Anyway, time will tell. This heartfelt, true little movie will
work its way very close to the top of Scorsese's ouevre.
It's hilariously funny and also touching and, at times,
harrowing. A well directed, well acted, well written
movie. What a rarity. Watch it and enjoy it.

She now lives on Nick At Nite.
Martin Scorcese's 2nd major feature, *Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore*, involves a thirty-something widow (Ellen Burstyn, brilliant per usual) and her 12-year-old kid as they find themselves suddenly thrust into the world without a safety net. From the cozy enclave of Monterey, CA, they wind up in Phoenix, AZ, where, after failing to make it as a lounge singer due primarily to her involvement with a maniac (Harvey Keitel), they're forced to push on to Tucson. There, she sensibly gives up her dream to be a singer and ends up as a waitress at a roughneck diner. At the diner, she meets a fading hippie / farmer / cowboy / musician (Kris Kristofferson -- who else?) who's currently divorced and seems to be a better bet than the [people who] surrounds her. Though he's breezy about his divorce ("She up and left, and I held the door open for her"), it's soon revealed why he's alone and hasn't seen his kids in some time: he's got a definite edge, a my-way-or-the-highway approach that extends to Burstyn's kid as well as herself. She must decide if he's worth the effort required to shape him up. Meanwhile, her son is giving her headaches by getting into trouble with his new girlfriend, a butch but cute Jodie Foster (her first film?). I don't know this kid's name, but what a performance: annoying as hell, but in a real-life way (as opposed to the *Home Alone* way). I've taken the trouble to describe all this exposition because it does seem odd, at first glance, that this is a Martin Scorcese film, with its Western setting, feminist subtext, so forth. Some have said that it's an anomaly in the Scorcese oeuvre . . . but the tendency for this movie's characters to go into theatrical screaming fits, often accompanied by near-murderous violence, and the overuse of the shaky, joggling, "cinema verite"-style camera-work, puts us in all-too familiar territory. *Alice* really shouldn't be this flashy. Scorcese's penchant for projecting to the peanut gallery harms the film. But the characterizatons, the abundant humor, and the sense of everything hanging by a fragile thread, somewhat alleviate the director's excesses. [Quick note for those too young to remember: not long after this slice-of-life dramedy's release in 1974, someone in Hollywood thought that this material would be a great idea for a TV sitcom. Hence *Alice*, starring Linda Lavin ("What a falling off was there!" to quote *Hamlet*) that was inexplicably popular throughout the entire decade. America thought "Kiss my grits!", a phrase often used by a brassy waitress on the show, was hilarious.]

Simply brilliant; beautifully acted, written, and realized
I saw this movie when I was very young (at least 16 years ago). To me it was just a comedy film that launched "Alice" (which was one of my favorite shows at the time). I now saw it after all these years and was amazed by all that I saw this time around.

This is one of the best-acted films I've ever seen. Nothing more needs to be said about Ellen Burstyn here other than she still remains in my mind as one of the luminary, top-drawer actresses in American cinema these past 30+ years. She is flawless here; even breathtaking! And the performance by Alfred Lutter as her son Tommy was one of the finest performances I've seen by a teen/pre-teen. And of course there's Diane Ladd as the infamous Flo, who revels (and excels) in a small meaty role that usually wins Best Supporting Actress Oscars (she unfortunately lost). And Jodie Foster (as butch as can be) is a riot. And Kris Kristofferson gets his part just right, as do Harvey Keitel and the late Vic Tayback as the overbearing but lovable Mel.

I don't know if the perfect acting in this film is a tribute to the actors or to Martin Scorsese (or both). But this film shows that Martin Scorsese is truly a monumental talent. High praise also goes to Robert Getchell for a screenplay that is as hilarious as it is moving. The purity and spirit of this film is obvious and very affecting.

I think this is one of the great films of the 1970s. Be sure to put it on your list if you're a student of cinema. I think it is a landmark film in the human comedy/drama genre. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Rage Against the Mediocre: Alan Smithee's Raging Angels
Despite a name cast and a couple of Oscar veterans, this silly film has little going for it.

Sean Patrick Flanery, who is still trying to find that star making role, is a down and out musician with a cute girlfriend. She is hired as a backup singer for Michael Pare, who is pushing a one world order with the backing of...oh, I don't know...could it be...SATAN. Flanery has religious fanatics grandma Shelley Winters and evangelist Diane Ladd on his side, for what that is worth.

The pseudonym Alan Smithee is used by directors who take their name off a project, and I was surprised to not see it used more throughout the credits. Five different writers are credited with a script that features more holes than an Afghani cave complex. Michael Pare finally gets to use the guitar face that made "Eddie and the Cruisers" so successful, but the songs here are all really tepid and uninteresting. Speaking of tepid, the special effects are awful, I have seen better use of computer animation on local television ads.

I cannot imagine the film makers started out with such a cheap idea, but after getting the cast, that is what the film degenerated into. "Raging Angels" is a cool title to an otherwise bland film.

This is rated (R) for physical violence, some gun violence, some profanity, and sexual content.

Not even the eye candy could spice it up.
This movie is more of a comedy than a horror. Beyond the attractive qualities of the young leads, there was not much to enjoy about this flick. Even good actors like Diane Ladd and Sean Patrick Flanery give poor performances. The only thing that made this movie worth viewing (in my opinion) was the vocal stylings of Mr Flanery (yes, I watched the credits and was really him singing).

Great movie, but it just didn't work for any audience.
It was too obviously Christian for a secular audience, but it was a bit too riske for a Christian audience. Gotta say it was a gutsy move to make a film so blatently Christian in today's world. That alone impresses me. I love the story, though. I'm not one to be picky about special effects (which were pretty bad) just so long as the story is creative and fascinating. And I LOVED the end.

loved it
I love the music in this movie

If anyone ever comes in here and knows where i can get some of this music i would be greatful. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Funny, quirky and totally enjoyable
I got this film out on video some years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It doesn't have the most exciting plot in the world but it is a fun film. Arliss Howard plays a youthful looking cop who goes back to school in order to prove his younger brother innocent of the murder of a teacher. However being a student in the 1980s isn't as easy as Arliss hopes it will be and he soon finds himself in trouble with the Principal and fellow students whilst falling in love with his pretty young English teacher. There are some hilarious moments in the film. One such moment happens when he knocks the Principal unconscious and ends up being paddled as punishment. Robert Stack does a great job as the bumbling Principal and his words to Arliss before he paddles him, "This will hurt me more than you," had me in stitches. Also Arliss has to ward off a pretty fellow student who sees him as her next conquest. The overall plot isn't complicated, and it is a little slow moving in parts but it's such a nice film you don't really mind. All the actors are competent and Arliss Howard is great as a cop with a lot on his plate. This is a nice little film that all the family will enjoy and is well worth seeing if you want something that is a little different and fun.

This is a wacky, cameo-filled comedy you've got to see!
If you've already seen this movie, you probably stumbled onto it on cable, or you've worked your way through the comedy section of your video store and figured, "why not?" Most people probably haven't heard of it, but it has enough recognizable actors and an entertaining plot that you'd be missing out not to see it. Arliss Howard is subtly hilarious as a cop reluctantly going undercover to prove his kid brother's innocence of a murder at his high school. Watch this movie with attention to the details, such as the p.a. announcements at school delivered by Robert Stack ("Unsolved Mysteries" fame). You may think the plot doesn't hurry up & get anywhere fast at some points, but I've seen movies that are much more tedious and less humorous. This movie brought Arliss Howard to my attention, and whenever I see him in a new movie (or a movie that's new to me), I remember him as "the guy from PLAIN CLOTHES." Some of those actors you'll recognize who may not get top billing are: Diane Ladd, George Wendt ("Cheers"), Suzy Amis (recently in TITANIC and now involved with director James Cameron), Abe Vigoda, and of course, Robert Stack.

A pleasant surprise - see it!
You've probably never heard of Plain Clothes and may have passed over it hundreds of times in your video store, but it's actually a surprisingly good movie - quirky characters (played by talented, but underrated actors such as Arliss Howard, Susie Amis, Loren Dean etc), crazy plot and a fantastic recitation of e.e. cummings "She being brand" were enough to make me a fan.

An offbeat, B-movie charmer
When his teenage brother is wrongfully accused of murder, Detective Nick Dunbar (Arliss Howard) dons punk garb and heads back to high school in an effort to find the real killer. The mystery deepens as he encounters a host of possible suspects among the faculty and student body, but the whodunit plot twists aren't the main attraction here. Instead, watch Plain Clothes for its sly humor, eccentric characters, and unexpected flashes of insight. The film belongs to Arliss Howard, who turns in a subtle, sexy performance in a well-deserved starring role. Director Martha Coolidge supplies the same sensitivity and good humor that she brought to earlier films like Valley Girl and Real Genius, and the Scott Frank-Dan Vining screenplay creates a memorable assortment of characters and frees them to be as complex and quirky as real people. It's not a perfect film -- the plot grows convoluted and builds to a ridiculous climax -- but its charms well outweigh its flaws. Plain Clothes didn't win any Oscars or set any box office records, but it'll make you smile. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ray Bradbury adapted his own novel for Something Wicked This Way Comes, Jack Clayton's beautiful rendering of the turn-of-the-century fantasy of a mysterious carnival that literally blows into a small town to taunt and tempt the inhabitants. Jonathan Pryce (Brazil), the handsome but demonic proprietor of Dark's Pandemonium Carnival, preys upon the vanities, the delusions, and the regrets of the townspeople by granting their wishes at the expense of their souls. Jason Robards, as the meek librarian Charles Halloway, becomes his unlikely nemesis when his son Will, with his best friend Jim Nightshade (a deliciously dark name in its own right), discovers the secret of Dark's nightmarish carnival. When they become hunted by Dark's minions (including Pam Grier as the beautiful and mysterious Dust Witch), Halloway must confront his own fears and regrets to save the boys. Clayton captures the idyll of childhood in the fall with rich autumnal colors, his camera gliding along with the energetic boys as they tear through field and forests. The climax, however, gets lost in a cacophony of competing special effects, imaginatively visualized but never very terrifying, as if producer Disney resisted the uneasy undercurrent of the story. It's more dark fantasy than horror, a nightmarish adventure filtered through the memory of a man remembering his childhood in mythic terms. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (43)

Something 'Worthwhile' has this way come
Excellent film adaptation to Mr. Bradbury's whimsical book by the same title.

The film is cast in the autumn (the autumn of life?) and a small town around turn of the century America (our dream of what America should be?). Two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade are excited to hear of a carnival coming to town (remember our youth when autumn always brought some sort of carnival to your town?). However, this carnival is no ordinary one. It's proprieter, Mr. Dark, offers people what they desire most -- at a fearsome price.

Jim and Will discover the underlying nature of Mr. Dark, his menions and the carnival and end up as quarry for the mysterious, sinister man. Will's father, Charles Halloway - the town librarian - is an unlikely hero who faces his own fears and temptations to protect the two youths from Mr. Dark.

Not really bloody or scary, I'd say the theme of this movie (that of facing the realities of life) creates uneasiness because of the familiar setting and its dealing with normal everyday people and their dreams/wishes.

The movie is well done and entertaining. Certainly worth a look. You might consider before allowing younger children to view it - it would probably give them dreams.

~P~

Love Bradbury! ...not so much love for film adaptation -
Director, Jack Clayton, The Innocents, [an excellent film...] Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) -- Staring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. This screenplay adaptation (1983), by the author, of his own novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, is good only during scenes with Robards and Pryce (these scenes are VERY good) yet, the plot is motivated by the actions of the characters of the two boys, Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade who, were inadequately cast (it's hard to find good child actors). Along with not being shot very well (Director of Photography, Stephen H. Burrum [the writer of this review simply can't tolerate the day-for-night scenes.]), it also seems that, 10 to 18 pages of the original script are missing from the final cut (the whole Tom Fury, B-Story), and much of the special effects scenes are cut in such a way as to reveal they didn't work and had to be cut out &/or around; how sad. The story simply falls apart! Somehow, a BEAUTIFUL script ended up as a film that, "had to be saved." Such, is the way of Hollywood.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, is available in paperback, ISBN: 0380729407 based on the screenplay, Dark Carnival by Ray Bradbury, based on the short story, The Black Ferris (1948), by Ray Bradbury available in ISBN 0-394-51335-5

Genuine Horror from Disney via Anchor Bay Comes
Based on the best-selling 1962 novel by venerable SF and horror writer Ray Bradbury--who also penned this cinematic adaptation--1983's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is the unabashedly nostalgic story of two young boys, Will Halloway (Vidal Peterson) and Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson), who engage in a battle of wills with Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce), the nefarious proprietor of a preternatural carnival that that literally blows into the boys' hometown one brisk October night (circa 1940). When Will and Jim discover that Dark and his troupe of midway miscreants are hiding some evil secret that might endanger the town, the boys take it upon themselves to uncover the truth and protect their friends and neighbors.

Some viewers are surprised to learn that this somber film is a product of the Walt Disney Company. Though there are the lovable small-town characters that one expects from Disney, it is admittedly rare to find a Disney flick with an incorrigibly evil character such as Mr. Dark (obviously the Devil in all but name). It is also unusual for a Disney film to have such a grim atmosphere, at least one that is not regularly punctured with puerile comedic relief, but SOMETHING THIS WAY COMES has a consistently spooky ambiance and an earnestly frightening plot, both of which elevate it to the level of a genuine horror film DESPITE its Disney label.

The performances in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES are top-notch. Jonathan Pryce is deliciously wicked as the enigmatic Mr. Dark--genre fans might recognize Pryce as the actor playing Governor Swann in the 2003 blockbuster PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL--and Jason Robards does a fine turn as the wise librarian father of young Will. Vidal Peterson and Shawn Carson, the two young actors portraying Will and Jim, are relative newcomers whose lack of substantial experience is an asset rather than a liability, as it actually adds to the realism of their characters' youthful innocence. Some of the seasoned actors that fill supporting and background parts also contribute greatly to the quality of the film. The gorgeous Pam Grier, star of several popular "blaxploitation" flicks in the 1970s, plays the carnival's witch-like fortune-teller; Diane Ladd plays Jim Nightshade's mother, a woman who is raising her son alone after both were abandoned by the boy's father; and Ellen Geer, daughter of the late Will Geer of TV's THE WALTONS, portrays the mother of Will Halloway. Horror fans might recognize the late Royal Dano in the role of Tom Fury, the lightning-rod salesman. During his lengthy career, the ubiquitous Dano appeared in such genre favorites as Hitchcock's THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955), 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964), and KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988); and also in episodes of genre TV shows like LOST IN SPACE, NIGHT GALLERY, AMAZING STORIES, and TWIN PEAKS.

Although the script does not have the same scope and attention to detail found in the novel, Bradbury has still done an exceptional job of translating to screenplay the novel's eerie essence and moral subtext. And director Jack Clayton does almost as well in visually interpreting Bradbury's script. He generates the perfect atmosphere for some genuinely creepy moments, and he is also quite adept at evoking Bradbury's primary theme of innocence lost.

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES generates most of its chills and scares the old-fashioned way--through atmosphere, suggestion, good plotting, and great characterization. Unfortunately, the flick was originally released during the peak of the first big wave of slasher films in the early 1980s, and it was therefore unfairly ignored by moviegoers and panned by critics. But thanks to the cool folks at Anchor Bay, this little beauty has a new lease on life via DVD.

Anchor Bay's disc is short on extras, offering only the theatrical trailer and the option of viewing in either pan-and-scan or 1.66:1 Letterbox formats. But the digital transfer looks nearly pristine--even when viewed on a widescreen HDTV-- with only a few minor defects from the source print noticeable. In keeping with the subject matter, the film was shot with dark tones and subtle hues, and these come through wonderfully on the DVD. Serious collectors of horror films on DVD won't want to let this genre gem slip away.

More Than it Appears - Worthy of The Twilight Zone
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.

Disney does horror... really!
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. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

5* Movie With An Ethical Message on HMO's.
Excellent Film! Told the sad truth about corporate greed, exploitation of US Managed Care, HMO system for corporate profit. Unethical deneial of critical medical services to patients. Highly recommend this film. Laura Dern deserves ***** for this movie. Showtime and Pamouunt Network Television deserve ***** for making this film.

5 star movie
Peeno is a physician and a renowned critic of the way US health maintenance organizations boost profits by depriving patients of care. She has provided evidence for American patients suing HMOs; testified to the US congress; and spoken to the Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.

Having had my own personal horror of the HMO system. This movie cuts right to my heart. A doctor inform with a heart transplant he was sure he could have saved my mom's life. Her HMO, refused to approved the claim...6 mths later she died.

And it saddened me for some to call it a chick flick. To look down on Peeno stating it took her long enought to come forward....but,the bottom line is.... she did... how many others have had the courage to do so? I salute you, your voice and your movie Dr.Linda Peeno.

Fighting the good fight
Laura Dern stars as a doctor who married and had kids before she was ever able to practice medicine. Her first efforts to return to the work place lead her to becoming a medical reviewer for a large HMO. There she is told she will help to stop the practice of doctors ordering (and making the insurance companies pay for) unneeded tests and procedures. It becomes clear that in fact she is there to rubber stamp denials and add an aura of legitimacy to a the practice of denying people the services their premiums paid for. Despite her stress and unhappiness her husband has her stay on in order to supplement the family income. Only after she has to make a life or death call does the lead begin to realize that the system itself is flawed and cannot be fixed from the inside.

As she expresses her concerns publicly the family starts to fall apart and the increased stress almost make Dr. Peeno give up the good fight. Her moment of truth comes with the help of two people - a nun and a former nurse now a victim of the system she once worked for.

This is a chick flick based on real events about the most naive person ever to graduate medical school. It was hard to believe that it took so long for the light to dawn on Dern's character about so many things in her life. But when she started to take action she proved to be capable and interesting. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

In defense of Laura Dern!
I must disagree with the reviewer who so strongly criticized Laura Dern's performance. While it is true that 'Rambling Rose' has its weaknesses (the abrupt, rather unexplained ending, for one thing), I found the story line humorous and even charming. Dern's performance made the movie, in my opinion! Diane Ladd overacts a bit, as usual, but this is a minor flaw with the film as a whole. What stuck with me was Dern's 'little girl lost' expression mixed with her coy devil-may-care flirtation, which made for an entirely winning performance. I loved the music too!

Akin to starting a leaf blower near killer bees
Societies regard single, attractive, sexually available women with both idolization and uneasiness. The lust, envy, jealousy and otherwise tumultuous passions surrounding their passage through the populace can be disruptive of societal bonds, e.g. by "homewrecking", even though no fault of their own. One reason why the concept, at least, of marriage is valued so highly is that this cultural arrangement takes the problematic single female out of circulation, so to speak. And, social pressures cause opprobrium to be heaped on "loose women", even by the very men who are drawn to them. Of course, the feminist correctly sees these attitudes as blatantly sexist. However, even western culture's most chauvinistic pig is likely to regard the veiling and segregation of women in fundamentalist Islamic societies, for example, as an unacceptably extreme manifestation of those same attitudes.

RAMBLING ROSE takes a compassionate look at the phenomenon of social turbulence caused by an "unattached" woman. Rose, flamboyantly played by Laura Dern, is the blithe, single, 19-year old girl invited to live with a very proper Southern family in the mid-1930s. The family, offering Rose help at this difficult time in her life, includes Daddy (Robert Duvall), Mother (Diane Ladd, Dern's real-life mother), and 13-year old Buddy (Lukas Haas). Rose, already possessing a checkered history acquired with unspecified men, is a sexual "free spirit", who proceeds to cause hormonal havoc in the town's male population. Even Daddy is bewitched. To Buddy, Rose is, unsurprisingly, the godsend of a new awareness. Of the adults, only Mother, recognizing Rose as essentially guileless, staunchly defends her as the repercussions of the Siren's residence start to add up.

A better film on much the same theme is Y2K's MALENA - a superb Italian production. Nonetheless, RAMBLING ROSE is delightful. Dern is positively captivating. Duvall is at his best, which is pretty darn good by any measure. Ladd portrays Mother as a slightly eccentric individual whose generosity towards and understanding of Rose is a clear counterpoint to the hardening attitudes of the other adults. The Buddy character should remind all males in the viewing audience of that time when they were 13 and discovering girls as beings with something more to offer than simply opportunities for boorish teasing. I like this film immensely.

GREAT MOVIE! NOT AT ALL, A BORE!
I THINK THIS IS A GREAT MOVIE!
ROSE WAS A BIT FREAKY THOUGH!
YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE MOVIE!
IT SHOULDN'T BORE YOU!
5 STARS*****

boring
boring, boring and 1000 times boring. Why do you wanna expend your money in such a boring film?

Pleasant diversion
Contrary to another viewer, I though Laura Dern's acting was very good in this film, unlike in "Jurassic Park" where she really did seem gawky and unnatural. The film has some nostalgia, some laughs, and some pathos. Not a classic, but an enjoyable diversion about a free-spirited young woman who creates havoc around her. ... Read more

Reviews (43)

Something 'Worthwhile' has this way come
Excellent film adaptation to Mr. Bradbury's whimsical book by the same title.

The film is cast in the autumn (the autumn of life?) and a small town around turn of the century America (our dream of what America should be?). Two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade are excited to hear of a carnival coming to town (remember our youth when autumn always brought some sort of carnival to your town?). However, this carnival is no ordinary one. It's proprieter, Mr. Dark, offers people what they desire most -- at a fearsome price.

Jim and Will discover the underlying nature of Mr. Dark, his menions and the carnival and end up as quarry for the mysterious, sinister man. Will's father, Charles Halloway - the town librarian - is an unlikely hero who faces his own fears and temptations to protect the two youths from Mr. Dark.

Not really bloody or scary, I'd say the theme of this movie (that of facing the realities of life) creates uneasiness because of the familiar setting and its dealing with normal everyday people and their dreams/wishes.

The movie is well done and entertaining. Certainly worth a look. You might consider before allowing younger children to view it - it would probably give them dreams.

~P~

Love Bradbury! ...not so much love for film adaptation -
Director, Jack Clayton, The Innocents, [an excellent film...] Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) -- Staring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. This screenplay adaptation (1983), by the author, of his own novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, is good only during scenes with Robards and Pryce (these scenes are VERY good) yet, the plot is motivated by the actions of the characters of the two boys, Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade who, were inadequately cast (it's hard to find good child actors). Along with not being shot very well (Director of Photography, Stephen H. Burrum [the writer of this review simply can't tolerate the day-for-night scenes.]), it also seems that, 10 to 18 pages of the original script are missing from the final cut (the whole Tom Fury, B-Story), and much of the special effects scenes are cut in such a way as to reveal they didn't work and had to be cut out &/or around; how sad. The story simply falls apart! Somehow, a BEAUTIFUL script ended up as a film that, "had to be saved." Such, is the way of Hollywood.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, is available in paperback, ISBN: 0380729407 based on the screenplay, Dark Carnival by Ray Bradbury, based on the short story, The Black Ferris (1948), by Ray Bradbury available in ISBN 0-394-51335-5

Genuine Horror from Disney via Anchor Bay Comes
Based on the best-selling 1962 novel by venerable SF and horror writer Ray Bradbury--who also penned this cinematic adaptation--1983's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is the unabashedly nostalgic story of two young boys, Will Halloway (Vidal Peterson) and Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson), who engage in a battle of wills with Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce), the nefarious proprietor of a preternatural carnival that that literally blows into the boys' hometown one brisk October night (circa 1940). When Will and Jim discover that Dark and his troupe of midway miscreants are hiding some evil secret that might endanger the town, the boys take it upon themselves to uncover the truth and protect their friends and neighbors.

Some viewers are surprised to learn that this somber film is a product of the Walt Disney Company. Though there are the lovable small-town characters that one expects from Disney, it is admittedly rare to find a Disney flick with an incorrigibly evil character such as Mr. Dark (obviously the Devil in all but name). It is also unusual for a Disney film to have such a grim atmosphere, at least one that is not regularly punctured with puerile comedic relief, but SOMETHING THIS WAY COMES has a consistently spooky ambiance and an earnestly frightening plot, both of which elevate it to the level of a genuine horror film DESPITE its Disney label.

The performances in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES are top-notch. Jonathan Pryce is deliciously wicked as the enigmatic Mr. Dark--genre fans might recognize Pryce as the actor playing Governor Swann in the 2003 blockbuster PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL--and Jason Robards does a fine turn as the wise librarian father of young Will. Vidal Peterson and Shawn Carson, the two young actors portraying Will and Jim, are relative newcomers whose lack of substantial experience is an asset rather than a liability, as it actually adds to the realism of their characters' youthful innocence. Some of the seasoned actors that fill supporting and background parts also contribute greatly to the quality of the film. The gorgeous Pam Grier, star of several popular "blaxploitation" flicks in the 1970s, plays the carnival's witch-like fortune-teller; Diane Ladd plays Jim Nightshade's mother, a woman who is raising her son alone after both were abandoned by the boy's father; and Ellen Geer, daughter of the late Will Geer of TV's THE WALTONS, portrays the mother of Will Halloway. Horror fans might recognize the late Royal Dano in the role of Tom Fury, the lightning-rod salesman. During his lengthy career, the ubiquitous Dano appeared in such genre favorites as Hitchcock's THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955), 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964), and KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE (1988); and also in episodes of genre TV shows like LOST IN SPACE, NIGHT GALLERY, AMAZING STORIES, and TWIN PEAKS.

Although the script does not have the same scope and attention to detail found in the novel, Bradbury has still done an exceptional job of translating to screenplay the novel's eerie essence and moral subtext. And director Jack Clayton does almost as well in visually interpreting Bradbury's script. He generates the perfect atmosphere for some genuinely creepy moments, and he is also quite adept at evoking Bradbury's primary theme of innocence lost.

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES generates most of its chills and scares the old-fashioned way--through atmosphere, suggestion, good plotting, and great characterization. Unfortunately, the flick was originally released during the peak of the first big wave of slasher films in the early 1980s, and it was therefore unfairly ignored by moviegoers and panned by critics. But thanks to the cool folks at Anchor Bay, this little beauty has a new lease on life via DVD.

Anchor Bay's disc is short on extras, offering only the theatrical trailer and the option of viewing in either pan-and-scan or 1.66:1 Letterbox formats. But the digital transfer looks nearly pristine--even when viewed on a widescreen HDTV-- with only a few minor defects from the source print noticeable. In keeping with the subject matter, the film was shot with dark tones and subtle hues, and these come through wonderfully on the DVD. Serious collectors of horror films on DVD won't want to let this genre gem slip away.

More Than it Appears - Worthy of The Twilight Zone
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.

Disney does horror... really!
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. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Too flawed to be satisfying
I was persuaded to watch MACHO CALLAHAN because of the movie's decent cast (David Janssen, Jean Seberg, Lee J. Cobb, David Carradine), and it's plot (the frequently-used but still reliable scenario of a wronged man seeking revenge). Unfortunately, the film is lacking in several ways. Janssen plays a Civil War P.O.W. whose situation can be blamed on the underhanded Cobb. He busts out of a Confederate military prison (in one of the film's few good scenes), intent on tracking down his quarry. But that storyline - which is the selling point of the movie - ends (rather abruptly) midway through the picture. The rest of the film deals with the consequences of Janssen gunning down a newlywed (Carradine), and his wife's (Seberg) desire to see Janssen dead. Credibility is strained to the breaking point when Seberg begins to fall in love with Janssen almost immediately after he's brutally raped her! Some really bad dialogue doesn't help, either. In a scene that's supposed to be tender, Janssen tries expressing his feelings to Seberg by saying: "Never learned no readin'. So I got no idea what you're supposed to say when you're like this. I know you're supposed to say somethin'. Some damn thing like 'you got pretty eyes', or somethin'. I know that." Yikes! The apparent intent was to show how a good woman can change a bad man...but it's handled in such a fashion as to make it seem unlikely at best, and utterly implausible at worst. A few scenes indicate that the film might not have had the biggest of budgets. When Seberg is confronted by a bear protecting her cub, it's obvious that Momma Bear is a guy in a bear suit! Fast editing tries to disguise the fact, but it's still noticeable. (Quick note: Janssen, in a rare act of compassion, plans to take the cub where it can be cared for, after declaring that the young animal can't make it on it's own. But when a posse starts to close in, the cub is promptly abandoned). All in all, MACHO CALLAHAN is somewhat like a jigsaw puzzle that hasn't been pieced together properly. Several scenes start and end too abruptly, without the benefit of appropriate transitions. You get the feeling that the filmmakers have left out a few things that would have made the movie flow better. Despite this, the film isn't a total bomb. The opening scenes convincingly depict the deplorable conditions of a Civil War prison, and the break-out is rousing. MACHO CALLAHAN is watchable, but it has too many elements going against it to be recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Intense , suspenseful & a surprise ending..Very good movie
What else could one want??? It's worth having in your collection, it's unfortunate it's not on DVD... also buy the book.

Only if you MUST see every Ira Levin film...
Read Ira Levin's book: five stars. Gripping, creepy, memorable. He puts you inside the mind of a sociopath. He writes women in grave danger (as in his later books also) and it will chill you. You turn the pages, helpless against the inevitable suspense.

Watch the 1956 movie that has Robert Wagner, Joanne Woodward, Virginia Leith, and Jeffery Hunter: four stars, an above-average thriller. It follows the book pretty well, and Wagner is menacing. The director does a masterful job with the unspoken elements of character and plot. Good musical score and sets, too.

This one with Matt Dillon and Sean Young? It is "dumbed-down" modern Hollywood tripe, below average. The acting and directing aren't very convincing, either. But mainly this is bad for the same reason the film version of "Sliver" is bad: Levin's brilliant writing is diluted into nonsense. Skip this unless you're a completist.

"A Kiss Before Dying" was already done well in 1956. So, why did they bother with this turkey remake? They could have made a fine film out of another Levin classic thriller, "This Perfect Day," instead!

Potential Suspense Dissipated by Weak Female Lead
The source material of this adaptation is rich enough to provides reels and reels worth of suspense: Ira Levin's novel of the same title which was first turned into a film in 1956 or so. The story of a charming but homicidal social climber preying on the daughters of a business tycoon is compact and sleek in its delivery of thrills and chills, much like Levin's other novel about imperiled women: SLIVER. However, just like the botched adaptation of that other novel, the second adaptation of A KISS BEFORE DYING also leaves a lot to be desired. While the weak film that SLIVER became can be blamed on faulty adaptation of the novel and not the performance of its lead actress (Contrary to a few but unfortunately potent reviews of the film, Sharon Stone delivers a performace that is appropriately low-key and vastly underrated), the equally ineffective film that A KISS BEFORE DYING becomes is primarilty the result of a lifeless performance by its female lead: Sean Young.

Sean Young is one of the most beautiful women in films today, and she has been quite memorable and effective in other films (BLADE RUNNER, THE BOOST, and most notably, NO WAY OUT). However, she is simply ineffective as the heroine of A KISS BEFORE DYING; the role calls for her to be driven and obsessed about finding out who murdered her twin sister. Unfortunately, the only "thing" she projects convincingly is disinterest. The success of this film turns on the degree of sympathy and concern we feel for her character. After all, her sister's murderer is really her husband (Matt Dillon, who is indeed effective), and the closer she gets to this revelation, the more danger she's in. But if she can't be bothered to appear interested, why should we? Our emotions are so disengaged that if a giant anvil were to drop out of the sky and land on Sean Young's character, we would simply sit there stone-faced, just like her.

A good suspence story.
I don't really see, what some people have against this movie. So what, that they deviated a bit from Ira Levin. It makes the movie nicely compact. Longer and the suspence would go away. Now it's just the right length. Kiss before Dying has a good plot with a nice build-up of the tension and it is well played by the cast. Particularly Matt Dillon as the muderer. I cann't remember a movie where I was more relieved when the villain finally got his come-upance.

A great thriller.
This movie is a great thriller, in the style of Fatal Atracttion and Single, White, Female. But, it could be a little more like Ira Levin's novel. But Sean Young's death ( In the beggining ) is one of the bests in the genre. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Based on Catherine Marshall's beloved novel Christy, this PAX Television adaptation features Lauren Lee Smith as the 19-year-old schoolteacher who flounders and perseveres in an isolated mountain community in the early 1900s. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Great Smokey Mountains, this 89-minute film begins with an elderly Christy returning to the long-abandoned mission where she once taught. Her memories center around a time when change was coming to Cutter Gap--some for the better, some not, and all of it resisted by the locals. The reverend is building a new road, poachers are afoot, and a fetching aviator makes an emergency landing outside of town. Meanwhile, Christy is pushing a young student to study for medical school against the wishes of his father. Mission funds are cut, townsfolk revolt against her, and she suffers the loss of support from her mentor and mission director (Diane Ladd), and Christy must do some soul-searching. Excellent family viewing for ages 6 and up, the film does have some gunplay, a violent injury, and talk of lynching--all revolving around the poaching subplot. --Kimberly Heinrichs ... Read more

Reviews (14)

The Return to Cutter Gap - Wonderful Comeback
The Return to Cutter Gap is a wonderful return from the old series. Where the original Christy series left us dieing to know what Christy's choice for husband would be, this new movie is a beginning of the end where we will finally see this Christian heroine choose the love of her heart. Shot in the beautiful mountains outside of Vancuver, B.C., the scenery is once again breathing taking. Some people will of course be dissapointed that Kellie Martin is not returning to her role of Christy, but Lauren Lee Smith (Dark Angel) does a fine job in the role. Stewart Finnley McLennan returns to play Neil McNeil, one of the love interests in Christy's life and James Waterston potrays the Boston preacher who also has his eyes on Christy. Award Nominee Diane Lad stars as Miss Alice and there are several of the actors from the orginal series that return to play their old parts. The story begins with an aged Christy returning to her old haunts in Cutter Gap bringing her daughter Catherine with her. The story is told to Catherine through the eyes of her mother who had a great deal of exciting, romantic, adventurous, and sad stories to relate. The first story revolves around several different occurences - the crash of a gorgeous female aviator in Cutter Gap, the building of a new road to El Pano, the dissaperance of many of the cove people's belongings, and Christy's encouragement of one of her pupils' desire to go to colledge. How do all of these different situations end up? Find out by watching Christy: The Return to Cutter Gap

The Return to Cutter Gap - Wonderful Comeback
The Return to Cutter Gap is a wonderful return from the old series. Where the original Christy series left us dieing to know what Christy's choice for husband would be, this new movie is a beginning of the end where we will finally see this Christian heroine choose the love of her heart. Shot in the beautiful mountains outside of Vancuver, B.C., the scenery is once again breathing taking. Some people will of course be dissapointed that Kellie Martin is not returning to her role of Christy, but Lauren Lee Smith (Dark Angel) does a fine job in the role. Stewart Finnley McLennan returns to play Neil McNeil, one of the love interests in Christy's life and James Waterston potrays the Boston preacher who also has his eyes on Christy. Award Nominee Diane Lad stars as Miss Alice and there are several of the actors from the orginal series that return to play their old parts. The story begins with an aged Christy returning to her old haunts in Cutter Gap bringing her daughter Catherine with her. The story is told to Catherine through the eyes of her mother who had a great deal of exciting, romantic, adventurous, and sad stories to relate. The first story revolves around several different occurences - the crash of a gorgeous female aviator in Cutter Gap, the building of a new road to El Pano, the dissaperance of many of the cove people's belongings, and Christy's encouragement of one of her pupils' desire to go to colledge. How do all of these different situations end up? Find out by watching Christy: The Return to Cutter Gap

A new "Christy" story
You're either a Christy fan or not, so I'm not going to bother summarizing the plot. If you're a Christy fan, you'll like it. However, I don't think I'd start a new Christy viewer out on these movies. They start after the series' end, with first "Return to Cutter Gap" and then "A Change of Seasons" and "A New Beginning." Start a Christy newbie with the first few series episodes. However, for returning Christy fans, this is another enjoyable movie with no objectionable language or behavior, and a pleasing addition to the Christy canon.

What is new to these movies from the series (besides cast changes) is the envelope, discussions between the aged Christy and her daughter "Catherine" as Catherine brings her mother to revisit Cutter Gap. (Those who have read Catherine Marshall's book _Christy_, on which the series and now the movie are loosely based, know that the Christy character is somewhat based on Catherine Marshall's mother.) And the whole Margaret McNeill sub-plot is ignored as if it had never happened (which, in the book, it didn't -- Margaret died before Christy ever came to Cutter Gap and didn't keep popping up to torment Neil and Miss Alice.) But the envelope and occasional voice-overs by the "older" Christy are okay and the story is involving, with poachers and an early aviatrix descending on Cutter Gap. Interestingly, the aviatrix Harriet Quimby was a real person and this episode left me wondering whether she and Catherine Marshall's real-life mother ever met.

The cast changes are neutral to slightly disappointing. Lauren Lee Smith's portrayal of Christy is as perky and naive as Kellie Martin's was. James Waterston doesn't have the presence of Randall Batinkoff's original David Grantland, and Diane Ladd seemed rather wishy-washy after Tyne Daly's characterization (and her "thee"s sounded totally artificial). But these are minor flaws. A flaw that bothered me more was the new Fairlight Spencer's emotional distance from Christy. Both in the book and in the series, their friendship was very important to both women, and I don't think Fairlight would have brushed Christy off no matter the provocation.

Finally, a word of warning about confusing titles. "Return to Cutter Gap" was shown on Pax-TV recently as "Christy: The Movie." Two other Amazon "Christy" titles, "Christy: A Change of Seasons" and "Christy: A New Beginning" were just shown on Pax as "Christy: Choices of the Heart" parts 1 and 2 respectively. Why rename them? Other than to confuse the viewers, I mean?

Disappointed...
The 1 star is for Stewart Finlay-McClennan returning as Dr. MacNeill. As one reviewer mentioned, Kellie Martin played Christy effortlessly. While Lauren Lee Smith tries her best, the performance is a bit...bland. Some lines seemed a bit forced & having seen the CBS series, it was difficult not to be dissappointed--knowing what 'could have been.' But it is worth the watch just for the story's sake.

Shocked and disappointed!
I can't believe how much the quality of this series has gone downhill. Seeing someone other than Tyne Daly playing Miss Alice is almost enough to drive me to tears. No one can play Christy as effortlessly as Kellie Martin did. Thankfully Dr. McNeil is still played by the same actor, and he has become the only good reason to keep watching. The producers should have done anything, everything, whatever it took to re-assemble the original cast. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

In defense of Laura Dern!
I must disagree with the reviewer who so strongly criticized Laura Dern's performance. While it is true that 'Rambling Rose' has its weaknesses (the abrupt, rather unexplained ending, for one thing), I found the story line humorous and even charming. Dern's performance made the movie, in my opinion! Diane Ladd overacts a bit, as usual, but this is a minor flaw with the film as a whole. What stuck with me was Dern's 'little girl lost' expression mixed with her coy devil-may-care flirtation, which made for an entirely winning performance. I loved the music too!

Akin to starting a leaf blower near killer bees
Societies regard single, attractive, sexually available women with both idolization and uneasiness. The lust, envy, jealousy and otherwise tumultuous passions surrounding their passage through the populace can be disruptive of societal bonds, e.g. by "homewrecking", even though no fault of their own. One reason why the concept, at least, of marriage is valued so highly is that this cultural arrangement takes the problematic single female out of circulation, so to speak. And, social pressures cause opprobrium to be heaped on "loose women", even by the very men who are drawn to them. Of course, the feminist correctly sees these attitudes as blatantly sexist. However, even western culture's most chauvinistic pig is likely to regard the veiling and segregation of women in fundamentalist Islamic societies, for example, as an unacceptably extreme manifestation of those same attitudes.

RAMBLING ROSE takes a compassionate look at the phenomenon of social turbulence caused by an "unattached" woman. Rose, flamboyantly played by Laura Dern, is the blithe, single, 19-year old girl invited to live with a very proper Southern family in the mid-1930s. The family, offering Rose help at this difficult time in her life, includes Daddy (Robert Duvall), Mother (Diane Ladd, Dern's real-life mother), and 13-year old Buddy (Lukas Haas). Rose, already possessing a checkered history acquired with unspecified men, is a sexual "free spirit", who proceeds to cause hormonal havoc in the town's male population. Even Daddy is bewitched. To Buddy, Rose is, unsurprisingly, the godsend of a new awareness. Of the adults, only Mother, recognizing Rose as essentially guileless, staunchly defends her as the repercussions of the Siren's residence start to add up.

A better film on much the same theme is Y2K's MALENA - a superb Italian production. Nonetheless, RAMBLING ROSE is delightful. Dern is positively captivating. Duvall is at his best, which is pretty darn good by any measure. Ladd portrays Mother as a slightly eccentric individual whose generosity towards and understanding of Rose is a clear counterpoint to the hardening attitudes of the other adults. The Buddy character should remind all males in the viewing audience of that time when they were 13 and discovering girls as beings with something more to offer than simply opportunities for boorish teasing. I like this film immensely.

GREAT MOVIE! NOT AT ALL, A BORE!
I THINK THIS IS A GREAT MOVIE!
ROSE WAS A BIT FREAKY THOUGH!
YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE MOVIE!
IT SHOULDN'T BORE YOU!
5 STARS*****

boring
boring, boring and 1000 times boring. Why do you wanna expend your money in such a boring film?

Pleasant diversion
Contrary to another viewer, I though Laura Dern's acting was very good in this film, unlike in "Jurassic Park" where she really did seem gawky and unnatural. The film has some nostalgia, some laughs, and some pathos. Not a classic, but an enjoyable diversion about a free-spirited young woman who creates havoc around her. ... Read more

Reviews (38)

cashing in on jurassic park
when this movie was released in the summer of 1993, same summer as 'the other dinosaur movie', I was very curious to see it. but I never acted up on it and instead saw Jurassic Park six times.

so when it was released on video, I decided to check it out. and I'm sure glad I avoided it at the theaters.

I have never read the novel it was based off, but I'm interested to see what changes were made.. the acting is credible, characters somewhat developed... but the effects; if you can call them that, are unconvincing at best.

that is the main reason I watch a dinosaur movie. the special effects. and this movie did not deliver in that field.

the dinosaurs were hand puppets, rod controlled puppets, and a close to full size tyrannosaur animatronic robot. and yes, I could tell when which technique was used and when another was not. the tyrannosaur robot provided the best performance but it was severly underused.

for those who are interested in seeing a gory version of jurassic park, check this one out. just don't expect the same feeling of awe and wonder of spielberg's epic.

Now here's a Dinosaur movie!
This is a favorite movie of mine simply because (A) it's entertaining and (B) there is nothing else like it. Take a vicious pack of phony-but-awesome dinosaurs, morbid black humor, loads and loads of gory violence, creepiness in every shape and form, and a completely outrageous and very original plot, and you would get Carnosaur. I absolutely love this movie. The acting is excellent, the directing is excellent, everything is excellent with the exception of the special effects, which are still very entertaining if not entirely convincing. In the end, the only complaint I had about this movie was that it had almost nothing to do with the original novel by Harry Adam Knight (which I also read and loved). In fact, the only things this movie has to do with the book is that the movie took the basic premise of a mad scientist trying to give the world back to the dinosaurs by mixing fossil dino DNA with chicken DNA to create the beasts and then sick them on humanity. It also borrowed a few of the kill scenes from the novel. That's it. Everything else is changed. This doesn't detract from the enjoyment and thrill factor though, and this movie still is well worth seeing for those who aren't stupid enough to expect Jurrasic Park-like special effects in every dino flick they see, which was, last time I checked, about 90% of the United States population. If you liked this, you might also enjoy the two sequels which are just as much fun, but not as good, original, or dark.

Who knew chickens would bring down mankind?!?!
This is the story about how a crazy female scientist uses chickens in an attempt to destroy mankind. After years of research, she creates a chicken egg that hatches...a dinosaur! This is all nice and quiet and out of the government's reach, but sadly when a truck driver escapes with an egg inside a crate full of chickens. He then proceeds to escape and eat the residents of a southwestern town. The tables have turned! Now it's the chickens' turn to dip humans in sweet-and-sour sauce!

Unfortunately, a drunk and down-and-out construction worker (who is battling local hippies who don't like people moving dirt because, after all, the dirt was here first) discovers bodies and encounters the carnosaur, then goes to meet the scientist who created the thing. He discovers that she has created a plot to destroy mankind. Sadly, all this is after forty-five minutes into the film. The next half hour is the scientist (played by Diane Ladd) blabbering on and on about how humans stink and the planet belongs to the dinosaurs (hey it's not our fault they can't survive one stinkin' meteor!). This made the film absolutely BORING! For the love of god, lady, SHUT UP! I was yelling at our hero to just shoot her so the scene would end! Diane Ladd is no Marlon Brando, and Dr. Tiptree is no Colonel Dax. I think the writer knew he had a cool idea for a sci-fi plot, then just overindulged himself.

The film in general is just bad. Bad affects, horrible filmmaking (Roger, encourage your directors to PLAN their shots), and a script that is creative in it's content but fails to deliver. Yeah the idea was cool and the twist ending surprised me but...it's just a bad script. Maybe it was all the stupid side-jokes like, "Dinosaurs ruling the planet...that would make a great theme park." BOO!!

There is one reason to see this movie: the part where the hippie says to the dinosaur, "Peace, green brother!" Ah, such fine last words...

BITING FUN
Coming on the overwhelming reception for JURASSIC PARK, hence came CARNOSAUR. Long-time b-horror maven Bert I. Gordon got a bigger budget and has delivered a bloody but diverting monster movie.
Brilliant geneticist Diane Ladd has created a virus which she is putting in chickens, so that when they hatch their eggs, they are being sold and unwary citizens are eating the eggs and getting sick, and even worse...won't spoil the plot. Ladd's performance is so coldy calculating that sh