Ray Bradbury was one of the all-time Godfathers of science fiction literacy. While the American author wasn’t known for his gritty world-building like Philip K. Dick, or his high-tech robot sagas like Isaac Asimov, his ability to blend broader social messaging into emotional realism was on a higher level than those authors.
Bradbury’s talents also focused on weaving fantastical storylines in with very possible futuristic outcomes. For example, not only did his novel Fahrenheit 451 display the fascism around banning and burning “offensive” books that is unfortunately still incredibly relevant in today’s society (and coincidentally, is on several banned book lists), but it also brought forth technological ideas in 1953 that would come into reality more than 50 years later, like wireless headphones.
Perhaps the author is most famous for putting a magnifying glass on the Butterfly Effect, a concept coined by meteorologist Edward Lorenz, which is an idea that small changes in the past can have a major impact on the future. Bradbury majorly focused on this idea in his short story, The Sound of Thunder, which has been endlessly re-told and parodied since its release.
What many don’t know about Bradbury was that he was quite a horror fan. He loved and gained inspiration from old Universal horror films like The Phantom of the Opera, as well as the dark aspect of fantasy novels, including The Wizard of Oz and the John Carter stories.
Because of his extremely unique writing style and fantastical ideas, hardly any of Bradbury’s work has been adapted into quality movies or TV shows.
Outside of the dated 1966 adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 (and a less-than-stellar 2018 remake starring Michael B. Jordan), only one adaptation truly captures Bradbury’s whimsical literary style, while bringing forth a quality film. That adaptation is Disney’s 1983 adaptation of Something Wicked This Way Comes.
The film came in the midst of Disney’s “darker era” in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, surrounded by films like The Black Hole (1979), Tron (1982), and The Black Cauldron (1985). Jack Clayton, who had directed an extremely underrated ghost movie in 1961 called The Innocents, decided to try his hand at horror again, and chose to produce and direct the Bradbury adaptation.
Related: ‘The Day of the Triffids’ 60 Years Later: A Sci-Fi/Eco-Horror Classic
The story followed two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, who were two best friends, yet virtually the opposite of one another. When the boys attend a mysterious carnival that suddenly appears in their small town, they witness horrific magic at the hands of the carnival’s owner, Mr. Dark.
Mr. Dark sees the boys witness the magic and sends a witch after them in hopes of dispatching Halloway, while making Nightshade his apprentice.
On the surface, that description sounds like a typical dark fantasy, but the dialogue was written in a very literary style, mostly due to the fact that Bradbury also wrote the screenplay for the film, but also due to the brilliant acting from classical stage actor Jonathan Pryce, and Jason Robards, one of the few actors to win back-to-back Oscars (All the President’s Men in 1977 and Julia in 1978).
Jonathan Pryce is a supremely underrated actor, and his portrayal of Mr. Dark in the film is truly one of the best villain performances of the 1980s. There’s a certain level of chilling, pointed wit that he exhibits, particularly in the back-and-forth scenes with Robards, who plays Will Halloway’s father.
Mr. Dark’s threats are cold and serious, dissecting each individual fear of whoever he interacts with.
Mr. Halloway’s character is constantly worried about his old age and inevitable death before feeling fulfilled in life. In the film, he talks to Will about the devils that lived in his house as he grew up, and how they’ve essentially caused him a life of trauma and blaming everyone else, and Mr. Dark points out that he’s been living his life through everyone else’s while being the town librarian.
While it’s important for him to instill the change in his son (“We gotta stop blaming sometime.”), his traumas are easy pickings for someone as devious and cunning as Mr. Dark. Mr. Dark feeds off Mr. Halloway’s past, repeating that Will can never love his father, just as Mr. Halloway can’t love his own. It’s only through the outward love that the father and son show one another that they survive.
The film touches on coming-of-age themes, abuse themes, and age anxiety; something you wouldn’t expect from a children’s fantasy.
Outside of the brilliant acting, there are some truly nightmarish scenes, especially for the audience this film was made for. Mr. Dark’s Dust Witch, played excellently by Pam Grier, who, in an arachnophobe’s worst reality, casts a spell to make the children dream that their rooms are being flooded with giant, hairy, venomous tarantulas.
The scene in which Mr. Dark is spinning on the age-altering carousel is one of those ‘80s burned-into-your-brain gore moments, and weirdly akin to the death of The Black Cauldron’s Horned King, just two years later. The special effects and makeup were surprisingly good, though not surprising, as they were worked on by Stan Winston, who would go on to be the effects guru in films like Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Aliens.
If you’re wondering why the film wasn’t bigger, you’re not the only one. The movie performed horribly with test audiences, so Disney pulled it from its release schedule, and went back to do a year’s worth of re-edits, effects changes, and set design, butchering the original release.
In fact, the original score by Georges Delerue (Platoon) was deemed too dark, so they replaced it with a lighter, more adventurous (but still fantastic) score by James Horner. Something Wicked This Way Comes was dissected and put back together, to say the least.
Related: The History of Politics in Horror Movies
So, if you haven’t seen this dark fantasy film, I recommend giving it a watch in celebration of its 40th anniversary. Bradbury’s important messages are becoming lost in times and being covered up with the deliberate pivot away from anything anti-fascism and progressive.
Bradbury’s ideas and literary themes are just as relevant and important today as they ever were, and we can’t let them turn to dust.
