By TESS HENSON

Ah, October. The month of magick and mystery. A time when most people accept as the norm the things they shun all other times of the year. A time of year when an ancient Pagan holiday is celebrated by all races, religions and creeds in this country. A time of year when we let down our guard and entertain notions of supernatural forces, phantasmagoric images and dark rituals. Ironic, how the most beautiful month of the year--what with it's myriad of red, gold and orange colors as if the very trees were on fire, the nostalgic smell of burning leaves, and the way the sunlight slants giving even the brightest of sunny days a surreal darkness--hides within it our primal search for and confrontation of our darkest fears.

What are some of these fears? Death, growing old and losing our beauty, regret at not having done some important thing in our life that would have made it better, losing our children or loved ones. These are the fears--the primal fears--that haunt us all. These are the fears--that when October, that bewitchingly beautiful time of the year, comes around--we start thinking of as the year dies. What better time for something wicked to take advantage of us--when our darkest fears become desperate desires. What better time than when we are fooled by October's radiant beauty. Evil blindsides us, and when we least expect it, we fall prey to its hunger. Such is the theme of the 1983 film Something Wicked This Way Comes, based on the exceptional novella written by Ray Bradbury.

The film takes place in the 1920's or 30's of Midwest Americana--Greentown, Illinois to be exact. It is the story of how two boys--Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, blood brothers and best chums--with the help of Will's father Charles, overcome the forces of evil that invade their idyllic little town one brisk October night. You see, a carnival has come to town--the autumn carnival. Strange it is, to have a carnival come through in late October when the breezes have become cool and winter is just a breath away. However, this is no ordinary carnival--it is Dark's Pandaemonium Carnival--and within it are the deepest desires of a town full of fear and regret.

As the film starts, a traveling lightning rod salesman named Tom Fury (Royal Dano) comes into town selling his wares. He is sort of a portent to the coming evil, the calm before the storm if you will. While he has no specific desires to be exploited by the seductive proprietor of the carnival--Mr. Dark (Jonathon Pryce)--he does have a certain power that Mr. Dark needs to harness, and becomes the first victim to fall under the spell of the hauntingly beautiful Dust Witch (Pam Grier). The rest of the town is full of well drawn characters that set the premise of the story up nicely. There's the cigar store owner who is obsessed with money, the barber who has an acute longing for the company of beautiful women (apparently there's a shortage of them in Greentown, or they're already taken), the barkeep--who's missing an arm and leg from a war injury and who used to be the starring quarterback for Northwestern University. He wants desperately to be able to run and throw the winning touchdown again.

There's the boy's homely, spinster teacher, Miss Foley--who used to be the most beautiful woman in town, and Jim Nightshade's mother (Diane Ladd) whose husband has deserted them for some exotic locale in another country far away. Finally, we have Charles Halloway (Jason Robards), Will's father. He has aged prematurely because of a bad heart, but really I think it's more regret about a certain circumstance involving his son that has caused him to grow old before his time. In a nutshell, the town is ripe for the picking when Dark's Carnival rolls into town.

Charles, always having to deal with his own mortality as a result of his bad heart, is one of the first to notice things are a bit off-kilter just before the carnival sets up on the outskirts of town. Walking through the deserted streets on his way home that evening, he spies a piece of paper lying on the ground. He stoops to pick it up, unfolds it, and sees that it is an ad for the carnival. Looking around he sees a black-clad figure dispersing the flyers around the square. As he turns back to continue on his way home, he turns to the storefront he is standing before, and notices that behind the glass is an ominously beautiful silver coffin--yet another reminder of the shortened life he is leading. Suddenly, before his eyes, the coffin changes into a transparent ice-like block in which is encased a beautiful woman--the Dust Witch. He notices a glowing red ring on her finger, closes his eyes as if to ward off the image, and when he opens them the coffin is there before him again. Shaking it off he heads for home. The Dust Witch has failed to bewitch him.

That night, curious as boys are wont to be, Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson) urges his friend Will Halloway (Vidal Peterson) to come with him to check out the carnival that has not yet opened, but has been set up. Will--much like his father--is unwilling to do anything that is risky, adventurous or the least bit dangerous. His father is a librarian whose adventures are lived vicariously through the books he reads. So, Will--meek, mild and frightened of life much of the time, is not much for accompanying his bolder friend to the carnival in the middle of the night. Jim, however, is the exact opposite of Will. Where Will's hair is blonde, his is dark. Where Will is timid, he is bold. Not having a father figure around has made Jim into quite the little man--but he desires to be a much more mature man. So, he persuades Will, and off to the carnival they go.

The rides and booth fronts are all well lit--but no one is about, so the two boys sneak into the carnival grounds. As they begin to investigate, a door on one of the carnival cars opens and Jim decides to check it out. As they enter the car they notice lots of spider webs, and some old pictures on the wall. Jim starts to dust off the pictures to get a better look. Could these people be other victims who fell prey to Mr. Dark and his minions? Will backs into something, then feels a tickle on his hand. He looks down and notices a huge spider making it's way across his fingers. He screams, startles Jim and out of the car and off the carnival grounds to home they run. In a dark corner of the car, the Dust Witch looks on, holding and stroking one of her eight-legged pets.

The next day the carnival officially opens, and it seems as though the entire town is there. The cigar shop owner is there, and has won a contest with a lucky ticket he bought. He's won $1,000 dollars, and as he is in love with money, it's quite a happy day for him. The barker reminds him that he has also won a fine Cuban cigar and a complimentary pass for a ride on the Ferris Wheel, which the cigar storeowner happily takes then makes his way to the ride. As he steps up to be seated, he notices that his day has gotten even better--as if it possibly could--because he will be sitting next to a very beautiful lady--the Dust Witch, unbeknownst to him.

As the Ferris Wheel comes back around--we see that the cigar owner is no longer on the ride--only the Dust Witch as she gives the ride operator a knowing smile. Then we see the barber is there, having his palms read and his fortune told to him--also by the Dust Witch. She sees that he has long desired the company of beautiful women. He is in tears because what she tells him is true. She also tells him that what he desires, he can have. We next see him in a tent with many other men, watching several exotic ladies--including the Dust Witch--dance in harem outfits. The ladies entice the happily bewitched barber to the stage, dance around him until he is naked and then he disappears.

We also see the barkeep at the carnival. He has just won a ticket to the Hall Of Mirrors, and Jim and Will help him hobble up to the entrance. As he stands before the mirrors, he sees his lost leg and arm reappear--and hears the sounds of a cheering crowd as if at a football game. He happily hops into the mirror maze, and Jim and Will watch in wonder as he disappears in a flash of white light--never to be seen again, at least not in that incarnation. Later on, Jim and Will see Miss Foley coming out of the mirror maze. She seems as if she is in a daze and is talking about how strange and beautiful it is inside. She tells them she just must be tired, and has to get home because her young nephew is coming to visit.

Later on, Jim and Will see an unopened tent and decide to investigate. What they find inside is an elaborate Carousel with which they are immediately enchanted. They hop on and pick their favorite horses, and are beginning to have a good time when suddenly someone behind them lifts them off the horses. It is the carnival barker, and Mr. Dark. Mr. Dark introduces himself, and then admonishes the boys sternly for messing about on a ride that's obviously out of order. He entices the boys with complimentary tickets for a ride on the Carousel that night, which Jim grabs out of Dark's hand. Jim and Will then run home, flushed from the day, and anticipating the return to the carnival that night when everything will be closed down.

That night, before sneaking off the carnival, Will is approached by his father, who wants to have a talk with him. Will is reluctant to talk, as his relationship with his father, who he sees as an old man--older than a father should be--is strained at best. But he sits and listens as his father tells him a story of how when Will was only four years old, he nearly drowned in a lake by which they were picnicking. Charles explains that because his father did not teach him how to swim, he was not able to dive in and help his own drowning son, and that Will would have surely been swept away by the current if it had not been for another man--Harry Nightshade, Jim's father--who dove in and saved him. Will says that he vaguely remembers being pulled out by someone but that he couldn't recall by whom. Charles told him that it should've been him, and that another man had done what he--in his fatherly duty--should've done. He is ashamed and tells Will so. Will loves his father though, and probably loves him even more so because of him "coming clean" so to speak, and a deeper bond is formed between them.

Jim and Will take off for the carnival that night, to redeem their ticket for the free ride on the beautiful Carousel. They arrive, and see that the tent is still covering the ride, as if it's not yet in operation. So, they sneak under the bottom of the tent, and spy Mr. Dark and the carnival barker talking amongst themselves. Mr. Dark asks the man to step up on the ride, and when the man is seated on one of the horses, Dark starts up the ride. However, this ride does not spin forwards, but backwards, and as it spins 'round, the boys notice that the carnival barker is rapidly growing younger and younger until finally he appears to be a boy of about seven years. Dark stops the ride, picks the boy up, and tells him, in so many words, to go about the business of completing their purpose in this town. Jim and Will, frightened to say the least, run back into town to tell someone--anyone--who will believe what they just saw.

They decide to tell Miss Foley, their teacher. As they step up to her house, they notice through her window, that she is talking with a young boy. Perhaps it is her nephew that has come to visit whom she had mentioned earlier that day. The boys knock, and she opens the door in surprise, as she was definitely not expecting her two "whisper-ers" to be at her door. She invites them in to introduce them to her nephew--and instead, it is the man-boy from Dark's Carousel. The boys make up some excuse for being there--like Will being sick and not coming to school the following Monday--and make their way out of her house.

As they turn to leave, they notice the boy has followed them out. The boy glares pure evil at them, then picks up a stone and throws it through Miss Foley's window-- making it look like Jim and Will did it. The boy runs away and of course Miss Foley blames her two whisperers. They decide to return to the carnival to see what else they can find out. Miss Foley is suddenly enchanted by her image in a mirror. She begins staring at herself, and before her eyes seemingly becomes the young and most beautiful woman in town that she once was. Basking in her youthful glow once again, Miss Foley is rapt when suddenly her eyes light up white, and the sight is taken from her. Not only that sight--but everything, as she has become quite blind.

Upon their return to the carnival, the boys are sneaking around when they hear Mr. Dark admonishing someone about "those two boys." Immediately knowing that he is talking about them, they sneak into the tent where Dark is and watch as he has Tom Fury--the lightning rod salesman--strapped into a makeshift electric chair. Dark is prodding Fury for information about the two boys, and he also wants to know when an enigmatic bolt of lightning is going to strike the Carousel. You see, apparently lightning reveals their evil nature, and rain washes them away. There's a storm brewing, and Dark needs to know when and if these things will come about as he certainly doesn't want the townspeople to find out their evil purpose. Only Tom Fury can tell him--but he won't break, and Dark continues to shock him.

As the boys look around, they see the cigar store owner dressed as his own cigar store Indian standing silently in a corner next to the barber--who is dressed like one of the exotic harem ladies he had danced with previously. He has become the carnival's token 'bearded lady'. Will becomes agitated watching Dark electrocute Tom Fury and suddenly shouts out for Dark to stop. Now Dark knows the boys are onto him. The boys also know, and they scamper out of the tent, stumbling upon a makeshift guillotine replete with a catching basket in which lies Miss Foley's head. The boys make for home, and Dark summons the Dust Witch, telling her to follow the boys and bring them back to him.

At their respective homes and in their respective beds, the boys try to sleep and forget the terrors they had witnessed that night at the carnival. However, forget they cannot, and as Jim and Will wake from their fitful slumber they both see a dark and ominous shadow flit across their bedroom windows. Will, becoming concerned for his friend and neighbor, crawls across his roof and into Jim's room. The boys crouch as the shadow passes by again. Suddenly there is a thunderous pounding on the roof, and cracks begin to appear in the ceiling.

As the boys are mesmerized by the growing crack, they are startled when the window breaks and turn quickly to see why. They both scream as they see the reason why the glass gave way-- several large, hairy spiders have busted through the window--and are now even coming through the crack in the ceiling--and are scuttling toward the boys. Jim, being the brave one, takes a pillow and begins to crush them. Will is petrified and can do nothing but jump on the bed and sit curled in a corner with the sheets wrapped around him. However, soon the sheets by his feet begin to move and he knows the spiders have crawled onto the bed. He throws back the covers and screams as he sees a horde of spiders creeping toward him. The scream, along with a bolt of lightning that hits the lightning rod that Jim had bought from Tom Fury earlier that weekend breaks the Dust Witches' spell, and both boys jerk awake in their respective beds, with no spiders in sight. It was a nightmare, or more likely, a psychic attack.

The next morning the boys are at church, and as they leave the Sunday service and round the corner onto the main street, they see that the carnival has decided to parade through town--lead by the sinister Mr. Dark. At first Jim is delighted at the prospect and starts forward to enjoy the show. However, Will pulls him back and tells him that it's not a parade--it's a search--for them. The boys try to find a place to hide and duck into the bar. Once there, Will calls his father at home and explains to him what is happening. The boys then take refuge in a tunnel under the bar that leads to the street. They find a grating that they can see out of, and continue to witness the bizarre parade. Will's father, walking along main street, begins to search for his son and Jim. He goes into the bar and begins to talk to the barkeep.

Mr. Dark enters the bar, walks up to Charles, and starts asking him about two boys he's looking for as they have won prizes at the carnival and he wants to make sure they are received. Charles quickly leaves, and as he makes his way down the street, Mr. Dark stops him. He asks again if he has seen the boys and begins to describe them to him. He shows Charles pictures of the boys--drawn on the palms of his hands--and Charles realizes that Dark is indeed looking for his son and his friend. Charles gives Dark a couple of names, but Dark calls his bluff telling him that he already knows the boy's names. Dark then asks what his name is. Charles obliges, and Dark seemingly already knows all about him. He knows that Charles is the town librarian, and taunts him, saying that he lives his life through other people's stories. Charles then challenges Dark right back saying he should come to the library sometime for some elucidation.

Dark answers the challenge and arranges to meet Charles at the library later that night. Dark assumes his position at the head of the carnival parade, and as they march off the song changes from a jaunty circus tune to a funereal dirge. As the parade moves on down the street, Charles feels something pull on his toe--he looks down and through the grating to see his son and Jim Nightshade. He reaches through the grate to hold his son's hand, realizing that they have to continue hiding out, and tells them to meet him at the library that night. As he turns to leave he sees a young boy holding a football. The boy is dressed exactly like the barkeep. The boy tosses the football to him, and perplexed, Charles tosses it back. The boy catches the ball with one arm--the same and only arm that a much older barkeep used to catch a football with. Charles now realizes that something strange and sinister is indeed afoot in this sleepy little town, and that it revolves around Will and Jim.

That night, with the boys at the library with him, Charles finds an old town registry. He also finds some history of the autumn carnival. The stories are always the same--a carnival blowing in on the cold October wind with a storm not too far behind it. Townspeople being bewitched and having their lives turned upside down. Evil permeating every nook and cranny. The carnival always ending with an uncannily strong thunderstorm for October, and with the autumn people always saying they will return. It has happened more than a few times over the many years of the town's existence. Suddenly, they hear a knock--Dark has arrived. Charles tells the boys to hide and he turns to confront Dark. Dark immediately begins to search for the boys, but Charles stalls him, telling him he knows who they are. He tells them he knows they are the 'autumn people, the ones that come from the dust and go to the grave'.

Dark agrees, saying that yes, they are the hungry ones--always waiting to feed on the town's regret, fears and greed. He looks into Charles' soul and sees a man old beyond his years, and offers to make him young again in exchange for the boys. He takes the town registry and imbues the pages with years off Charles' life. Then he begins to tempt him with them. He goes all the way back to thirty--a time when a man is in his youthful prime, but Charles is not easily tempted. Dark begins tearing pages out of the book--with each page representing another year. He goes all the way to forty before giving up, knowing that Charles will not be tempted. He then summons the Dust Witch to give Charles a taste of death, so he'll know what to expect when it comes 'round again. As the Dust Witch begins to slow Charles' already weak heart, Dark begins to search earnestly for the boys. He finds them hiding in the stacks, and as Charles lies seemingly dead, Dark drags the boys back to the carnival. He plans to give Jim a ride on the Carousel--only spinning it forward to make him older so he can be Dark's new partner in the evil carnival. With Will, he plans to spin him backwards until he is a baby, and make him a plaything for his midget sidekick.

Charles awakens from his death-like slumber, and realizes that it's up to him to save the boys. He makes his way to the carnival where he hears Will calling to him from the mirror maze. He enters the maze and begins to search frantically for Will. The beautiful Dust Witch is there, trying to entice him again with visions of the past that he cannot change. Instead of succumbing, Charles breaks through the mirrors and pulls his son out, saving him. They then realize that Jim Nightshade is in need of saving as well. They run to the Carousel, and sure enough Dark has started the ride with Jim on it, spinning him forward. Charles runs up to the Carousel and pulls Jim off, and before Dark can stop the ride--the enigmatic and prophesied bolt of lightning hits the Carousel, electrocuting Dark.

Back in the mirror maze, Tom Fury is released from the electric chair by the bolt of lightning as it strikes the lightning rod he is holding. He then spies the Dust Witch, takes the inflamed rod, and impales her with it, destroying her. Dark is unable to let go of the Carousel, and as it spins forward he begins to age. Older and older he gets until he is nothing but a shoddy skeleton. As the boys and Charles make their way out of the carnival, his midget sidekick scoops Dark’s skeletal remains up just before the entire carnival is sucked up by a giant tornado. As the sun sneaks up over the horizon, Jim, Will and Charles hop happily back to Greentown, knowing that they have once again defeated the evil, and at the same time have conquered the fear and desire in them all.

Long before the Master Of Horror, Stephen King, gave us a moderately good novel on the greed in the hearts of men and what they will do to get the things they desire (Needful Things), and long before a mediocre movie was adapted from the same novel, Ray Bradbury gave us this wonderful tale of regret, desire and redemption. Bradbury also wrote the screenplay for the film version, and that is one of the reasons his novella adapts so well to the big screen. Expertly directed by Jack Clayton, Something Wicked This Way Comes exudes a sinister charm that makes it perfect October, and therefore Halloween, viewing. However, being that it is a Disney film, this little gem mostly gets overlooked in lieu of more graphic fare. Even though the film was reviewed well by critics, because it was deemed too dark for children, and well, a Disney film--it's true audience was never found. Yes, it is a tale that revolves around children, but is it a children's film? No. However, because it is a Disney film, adults overlook it on the grounds that it might be too juvenile.

It's a true shame that more people haven't found this film, as it does have frightening sequences, and beautiful cinematography, and foremost--a compelling story. Everyone in this town wants something they don't have. The cigar storeowner wants money. The barkeep wants his physicality back. The barber wants love and companionship. Miss Foley wants to be young and beautiful again. Jim Nightshade wants to be older. Jim's mother wants their father back, and lastly Charles Halloway wants to be the father he should be--even more so than wanting good health or youth.

That's why he didn't give into Dark's temptation; the right thing didn’t tempt him. However, as in all temptations, there is a dire price to pay. The cigar store owner becomes a wooden Indian, the barber becomes one of the ladies he so much wants to have to company of, Miss Foley loses her sight, the barkeep has his adulthood and dignity taken from him. All these people are swept away with Dark's Carnival when the tornado roars through. There is no redemption for those who have already succumbed to the temptation, only for those who did not yield to it.

This is one of my favorite films to watch on Halloween. It reeks of October, and it along with the first two Halloween movies (John Carpenter's offerings) has become my yearly ritual of horror movies to watch on Halloween night. It is aptly narrated by Arthur Hill, and was nominated for a Hugo in 1984 for Best Dramatic Presentation. The film did win a Saturn Award in the same year for Best Fantasy Film and Best Writing. The acting is stellar with character actor Royal Dano nearly stealing the show as the raggedy, but wise lightning rod salesman Tom Fury.

Jason Robards is completely sympathetic as the brooding father who is redeemed for not only saving his son, but Jim Nightshade as well--gaining back all the confidence he needs to become a good father figure to both boys. Pam Grier is silently sensuous as the ominous Dust Witch, and Johnathon Pryce is charmingly seductive as the sinister Mr. Dark. However, Diane Ladd is virtually wasted here as Jim's mother. Not much goes on between her and Jim, and her desires are only briefly touched upon. Will’s father at the end of the movie also saves her as he tells her the man she's waiting for at the carnival--for which she has been given a complimentary ticket--is not her husband.

My source for this article is the Anchor Bay DVD release. While this DVD is pretty bare bones, the image has been re-mastered to a clear, crisp quality, and it does include both widescreen and full screen presentations. Other special features include the original theatrical trailer and chapter selections. The runtime is 95 minutes and it is rated PG.