While many people are still happy to proclaim streaming platforms as the death of cinema, they are also the savior of movies of the past. Disney’s 1983 Ray Bradbury adaptation of Something Wicked This Way Comes finally became available in the U.S. when it was added to Disney+ as part of the streamer’s October update, and it has taken little time in spooking up a spot on the streamer’s Top 10.
The release of the classic family-friendly horror movie couldn’t have come at a better time with Halloween around the corner, and the Disney+ Top 10 is proof of that. Something Wicked This Way Comes has just slipped into the chart at number 10, but it could well climb in the next few days as people become aware that it is now streaming. It joins both versions of Haunted Mansion, Halloweentown titles, and Hocus Pocus 2 casting a spell on the top of the list.
The title’s appearance on Disney+ ends a years-long gap in its digital availability; prior to this week, the film was largely limited to physical home media and sporadic TV airings. While the movie is not a classic feel-good Disney offering, and has some divisive reviews, it is a part of Disney’s history that has been reappraised as the House of Mouse’s “dark” era, which also featured movies like the massively underrated The Black Cauldron.
For those who have not been enticed into the world of Something Wicked This Way Comes before, the synopsis is a simple one: “Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce) brings his traveling carnival to a small Midwestern town and grants wishes, for a price.” With a cast also including Jason Robards, Pam Grier, Royal Dano, and Diane Ladd, and under the direction of Jack Clayton, the combination of Bradbury’s classic horror story and Disney sensibilities became a movie steeped in contradictions which makes it a fascination addition to the Disney+ library.
‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ Was Plagued with a Troubled Production
Ray Bradbury’s tale of dread and horror does not seem like the ideal material for Disney to have taken on in the early 1980s. Known at the time for bright, universal fairy stories, Something Wicked This Way Comes was not the kind of story that anyone expected the House of Mouse to put out under their own banner.
The movie’s production was hindered greatly by a falling out between director Clayton and author Bradbury over an uncredited script rewrite, and Disney’s demands of having many months of reshoots, re-editing, and re-scoring, all with Clayton on the sidelines, after the director’s cut of the movie received a lukewarm response during test screenings. This saw the movie’s budget rise to $20 million, meaning that the $8.4 million it made at the box office was nothing short of disastrous.
However, that kind of failing is only good for turning a flop into a cult classic. While the movie has just a 61% and 64% from critics and audiences, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes, several recent reviews cite the film as “a great childhood horror” movie, and one that comes with a lot of nostalgic weight behind it. It may have “tacky” special effects, and could be seen as a somewhat Disney-fied entry into the horror genre, but it is still a “surprisingly potent work of dark fantasy.” However, with middle-of-the-road scores, it is not surprising that there were reviews, such as one by TV Guide, that called the film “a property snapped up by Disney, which promptly sucked the life out of it, turning it into a scrubbed and innocuous coming of age tale.” As part of a spooky season marathon, it looks like something wicked is here to stay this October.
- Release Date
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April 29, 1983
- Director
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Jack Clayton