Codeliusthe2nd

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Night 15 of 31 Nights of Halloween Having just finished reading Ray Bradbury’s wonderful novel, I knew that I needed to fit this film into this year’s marathon. Having the novel fresh in my mind, I went into this not expecting the novel itself to be played out on screen, and to my surprise, for the most part, this was a near-perfect adaptation. While there may be some changes made to the last act, overall, this is a very solid adaptation of such a unique and fun read. The October setting feels perfect, and the locations they opted to film in suited the setting perfectly, putting forth the pitch-perfect tone from the first frame. The cast is strong, the sets are stunning, and the costuming looked fantastic. Everything that I would have wanted out of the adaptation was nearly realized with the film. Though they may have cut one of my favorite scenes from the novel for the film, I still felt this was a true adaptation of Bradbury’s novel. I’m not one who is big into coming of age stories, but this one really hit the spot for me, and I’m so glad that the film adaptation lives up to the wonderful story Bradbury crafted.

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Something Wicked This Way Comes

#4 of 31 Days of Madness: October 2017 (https://boxd.it/1fIvM) A mildly disappointing blend of Halloween and nostalgia—some of the things that are commonly praised about this movie—things that in the end are accompanied by the conventional notion that love conquers fear. Based on the novel of the same name, Something Wicked This Way Comes is at best a decent slice of Disney fantasy/horror with a somewhat different turn of events than the usual—its heavy with dialogue that is rather only there to spell out its themes of fear and growing old, and it only vacuums the entertainment that casually enters at sparse intervals. Unfortunately, this film just doesn't do enough to capture these themes, mostly because of its slow pace and the missing array of adventure needed. For the most part, the imagery remains creepy and pleasing to see in Disney flick, and there are occasional moments of terror that are captured impressively—one scene being the bedroom of tarantulas and the two boys freaking the fuck out. Something Wicked This Way Comes could have been more of this, but sadly it fails to surpass the delight of hearing its premise. 2.7/5