Family friendly Disney does it again with another movie that has the suspense and creepiness factor, just like "The Watcher In The Woods." Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" is about two boys, Will and Jim, whose town is visited by a traveling carnival. Curious, they explore the carnival and discovers that it has a diabolical presence and a sinister plan for the people of their town.It's an unique supernatural tale with some built-up suspense surrounding the creepy carnival people and a touch of drama involving Will's father, who feels he has missed out on doing stuff with his son. The spellbindingly beautiful but menacing Dust Witch (Pam Grier) is entertaining to watch and the menacing Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce) is rather frightening, as he unleashes his evil powers over the townspeople and tries to capture Will and Jim.A good handful of the dialog sounds very theatrical, especially those spoken by Mr. Dark (I've seen a theatrical version of this story that was put together by my community college theater).The special effects were pretty good for its time, music was catchy and plot wasn't very fast-paced - overall steady. It's a pretty good supernatural fantasy with a good does of horror elements.Grade B

Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes is a classic, and possibly his best work. This film should have been a great success, with a good cast, and especially with Bradbury himself writing the script from his own novel, but alas, it was not. Several reviewers have suggested that it should be remade with modern special effects. This may be a good idea, but the effects were generally pretty good for the early '80's, and in my opinion the major problem lies elsewhere.Ultimately, this is a suspense film with very little suspense. This is particularly obvious in the climactic scenes in the library, which should have dripped with suspense, but actually felt flat. Which presumably points to the director and perhaps the editors. This is surprising, as Jack Clayton had a fairly high reputation and made some very good movies, but perhaps he was just no good in the suspense genre. Whatever the reason, this was a reasonably good movie which should have been much better.

In a small American town, a diabolical circus and its demonic proprietor (Jonathan Pryce) prey on the townsfolk.For some reason, I recall as a kid turning on the TV and this was on... and thinking it was pretty scary. Now, twenty years later, I am watching it and thinking I was a silly kid. I love horror movies and this would hardly even qualify. It has music very much like "Harry Potter", and is no scarier than anything from the series.Not to say it is a bad film. It is actually rather decent, and there is never a bad time to adapt a Ray Bradbury story. How faithful it is, I have no idea. I have not read nearly enough of his work. But it is interesting some of the parallels here with the work of Stephen King, primarily "It" or "Needful Things".

The Disney corporation deserve some credit for their attempts in the late 1970s and early 1980s to expand their repertoire a bit and dabble in genre offerings - "The Black Hole" and "The Watcher in the Woods" as well as this Ray Bradbury adaptation, scripted by the author himself. They also go to some rather dark places with this tale, another risky move, but the film is reasonably absorbing, touching on the subject of dealing with regrets in life. We have a timeless good vs. evil theme, a number of compelling characters, and some very literate dialogue. Purists, however, may take exception to Disney's meddling, as they added new sequences and special effects in order to make this venture a more blatantly commercial, conventional one.Not to say that the film is really bad. It's just not that satisfying in the end. It does have some delicious atmosphere, a superb autumn feel (it takes place in October), and Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark is a dapper, highly theatrical villain.The endearing Jason Robards stars as small town librarian Charles Halloway, whose small town is visited by Mr. Darks' traveling Pandemonium Carnival. What we learn is that citizens who visit the carnival can see their fondest wishes come true - but at a heavy price. With the lives of his young son Will (Vidal Peterson) and Wills' best friend Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson of Tobe Hoopers' "The Funhouse") on the line, Charles must do battle with the fiendish Mr. Dark.It's not exactly hard to guess what Mr. Darks' big secret is, but getting there is still a fair bit of fun. Some children may be put off or disturbed by some sequences (such as the bit with the onslaught of tarantulas), but it is nice to see a somewhat mature offering from Disney. James Horners' score is very spooky, and Jack Clayton ("The Innocents") does a decent job with the direction. The very fine cast includes Diane Ladd as Jims' mom, Royal Dano as the prophetic lightning rod salesman Tom Fury, Ellen Geer as Wills' mother, a highly enticing Pam Grier as the beautiful but eerie Dust Witch, James Stacy as football player turned bartender Ed, and Angelo Rossitto as one of the little people. Peterson and Carson are appealing as the kids.Had this been done with a little more subtlety and less cheese, this could have been something pretty good and interesting. Still, it remains watchable.Seven out of 10.