The plot is very unusual, confusing, puzzling and may require more than one viewing. However, I'll sum up the plot as best as I can. A writer named Thad (Timothy Hutton) decides to end off his pseudonym George Stark. However, people that Thad know are being killed off by man named George Stark who looks exactly like him. Thad claims that he has nothing to do with the murders but he's still a prime suspect. Without giving away who Stark is, let's just say the opening plays out as a big hint or a big give away. I wish I could just tell you the whole plot but even after reading the summary of the film and watching it, I'm still a tad bit confused! This is not an easy film to review so I'm going to review it the best way I can.
I'm going to admit this, the characters and actors are ok but the one who steals the movie is Timothy Hutton. He doesn't just play our main character Thad, he also plays the villain George Stark and throughout the film we're wondering if Thad is the killer or if it's a man who looks like Thad who is killing people under the identity of the pseudonym or if he's a twin brother or a part of Thad that's become real. The film just keeps you guessing and guessing until it is revealed and even then I still don't understand it a hundred percent. Getting back to Hutton, while being enjoyable as Thad, he's more scary and enjoyable as Stark. He's cool looking, he's a very psychopathic killer and in the end becomes an insane monster. Again the characters are ok but the ones who I found memorable are his wife, the sheriff Alan Pangborn and the old women Reggie Delesseps.
The film is full of those weird, odd, creative and scary elements that Stephen King is good at bringing (Well if done right). First you got those flying Sparrows throughout the film and appear at a really cool climax involving them, even if does kind of resemble Hitchcock's film "The Birds". You have this surreal and creepy dream sequence that foreshadows an event to happen later on in the film. The murders in the film can be gory for slasher fans while other times it doesn't look as great as you hoped it would be. Heck, you even have a murder that's not shown but is instead explained in very graphic dialogue. The make up by the way that they put on Hutton as Stark in the final act is cool. The music is also very chilling and believe me when I say, you'll never hear Elvis's version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" the same way again. I also give lots of praise for the films lighting and jump scares because it really brings some really good thrills.
Overall, the film is indeed very confusing and probably translates better on paper then on screen but the stuff in it is so good and promising that it makes it all worth while. Me I enjoyed it and I'll probably be returning to this film again to try to put the pieces to the puzzle together.
RATING 3/5
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