Something Wicked This Way Comes Movie Review: This is No Ordinary Carnival!

Mr. Dark and his carnival stalk into town and make camp for their latest show. Young Will Halloway and his friend, Jim Nightshade, look on, with great excitement, at the arrival of a carnival.

But this is no ordinary carnival of sideshows! Since its arrival, people have started disappearing. The wishes for the town's citizens come true, but with horrifying results. Will Halloway knows something is amuck but no one but him, Nightshade and his father, Charles Halloway, suspect. Dark knows about Will and tries to hunt him down with the assistance of his troupe of freaks and the dust witch.

I watched "Something Wicked This Way Comes" on DVD - for the first time in 12 years. While the plot is for a less mature crowd, I enjoyed it and I loved the town set with it's cigar shop, library, corner bar (love those old time buildings with an entrance facing the corner of the street), and the gazebo in the middle of town.

The story is simple yet creepy, sort of like Phantasm in that the evil carnival feeds on each town it travels through. The characters are fairly colorful and likeable. Jason Robards is great as the librarian and father of Will Halloway. Jonathan Pryce is truly perfect as Mr. Dark, the villain. The kids are great too. The set is full of Halloween atmosphere with turn of the century architecture, blowing leaves, Indian cigar statue, and the townspeople. I wish I lived in a town like this! It's like a Norman Rockwell painting come to life. The SFX are minimal, just enough to tell the story. There's no gore but none is needed. Sure it's for kids but older kids as some might frighten those under 10. But it's good for any age. It has more plot than Friday the 13th and that's most important. You don't need gore for a creepy movie.

It's great for October! I like this Ray Bradbury movie for Halloween. The Halloween Tree would make a great Halloween movie too...there is an animated version or two.