The film rarely rises above gruesome catharses.

Strong performances add the required heft to keep you onside when the plot gets dodgy. Hutton's nice-guy image is perfect for the dual role.

As if to make up for the slack pacing, the violence seems unnecessarily garish and sadistic.

The Dark Half presents a fascinating concept about an author's dark side coming to life, but sadly the idea is handled in a rather sloppy & clumsy manner with its repetitive structure and a laughably nonsensical explanation of the events.