The Collegian Thursday, December 7, 1989
Stephen King looksl
into his Dark Half
by Robb Frederick
Entertainment Editor
Stephen King has never
claimed to be a gentle author.
His unparalleled literary catalog,
supported by chilling characters
ranging from rabid dogs to
vengeful automobiles to reborn
pets and children, has kept
millions of fiction enthusiasts
warily reading until the early
morning hours.
King continues to assault the
imaginations of his readers in
his latest horror offering, The
Dark Half. Revolving around
novelist Thad Beaumont, The
Dark Half details the pressures
placed upon a celebrity
struggling to independently
continue the work which has
brought his star status.
The morbid excesses of
King's style, however, provide a
few grisly obstacles for Thad's
continued prosperity.
After two moderately
successful books, Thad
Beaumont begins to write under
the pseudonym George Stark.
Stark's writings, centered around
the character Alexis Machine,
contain a degree of violence
quite different from the style of
Thad's own writing. The novels
also differ from Thad's in
another way; each sells
extremely well.
In - Spite of - the finanCial
success under Stark's name,
Thad decides to do away with
his "dark half" and resume
writing as his own self. Stark,
however, objects to this
decision, and the pseudonym
becomes a vindictive entity.
Stark begins to roam the
Maine countryside killing
individuals related to Thad's
career. His trip takes him to
publishers, agents, and finally
to Thad's own family.
King characterizes Stark as
the epitome of evil, creating a
villain without hesitation or
remorse. Stark's artistic ability
with a straight razor is
mercilessly detailed through
King's narrative.
An original touch of King's
allows Stark to possess
fingerprints identical to those of
his creator. Because of this,
Thad is immediately blamed for
the killings, a situation which
is intensified when each victim
is found to be involved with the
Crossword
PuzzEe
SoEntion
writer's career.
- As Starks' crusade continues,
the story begins to focus on the
relation between Thad and his
living penname. The two are
capable of subconsciously
communicating, and each begins
to show traits of the other.
The Dark Half climaxes as
the central characters converge
on Thad's summer home. Stark,
who is rapidly degenerating,
forces Thad to collaborate with
him to create a final novel.
King's choice of characters
enables him to weave an
intricate work containing scenes
of frightening realism. The use
of a writer struggling with a
penname is nothing new for
King, who produced his tirst
five books under the name
OP'
lor
Richard Bachman.
The novel also continues the
style of another King
nightmare, Misery, which
described the perils of a
celebrated novelist confronted by
an obsessed fan.
The primary fault in The
Dark Half is King's tendency to
take his grotesque descriptions
to excess. The scenes involving
Stark's razor use are
unnecessarily graphic. King
seems to be using the passages
more for shock than for plot
elaboration, and" this may
disappoint some fans already
familiar with King's proven
mastery of the medium.
Although this use of
repulsive descriptions weakens
the quality of The Dark Half,
the book remains far above the
caliber of other "horror" novels.
King's creativity is unequaled,
and his realism verifies his
knowledge of the subject matter.
The Collegian would like to
wish all students, faculty and
staff a safe, happy holiday
break.
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Back to the future again
Special effects wizardry fails to save sequal
by Joe Williams
Collegian Staff Writer
Back to the Future Part II
picks up with the ending of part
one. "Doc" Emmet Brown
(Christopher Lloyd) comes back
to whisk Marty McFly (Michael
J. Fox) and his girlfriend back
to the future to save their
children.
The script for Back To The
Future Part II is crafty enough
to make your head spin. In this
movie the characters travel 30
years into the future, back to an
altered 1985 (were they started),
and then back to 1955.
The future sequence in the
first part of the movie is fun but
also has more brand-name
products than should be
advertised in one movie. The
age makeup in this sequence is
so grotesque it makes it
difficult to recognize the
characters. The first part of the
movie is also the - most
" I inventive.
Fox plays Marty at his
present age, older Marty, his
Bear sympathizes with wildlife
by Christi Luden
Collegian Staff Writer
Directed by Jean-Jacques
Annaud and produced by Claude
Berne, The Bear is a phenomenal
movie. The Tri Star Pictures
film is in its sixth week at
Cinema World, and it appeals to
people of all ages and walks of
life.
The setting in the gorgeous
wilderness of British Columbia
allowed for filming which will
leave viewers in awe. Since the
film is based on the lives of two
bears, Bart and Youk, there is
little dialogue and that fact made
the scenery even more
noticeable and important.
The movie begins by
showing a mother bear digging
into a bee's nest to get honey
for her cub. The nest was
located in the side of a
mountain, and the rocks around
it began to loosen as the mother
dug further. The rocks fall upon
the mother, killing her
instantly. The cub (Youk) is left
to fend for himself.
The Fall 1989 Graduates of The Society for Human Resources
Management would like .to Congratulate our
New Board Members:
/ Coordinators: Linda Holman & Debbie Johnson
Functional Coordinator: Ray Cerqua •
Treasure: Monica Wojcicki
Secretary: Kathy Stoupis
- Go - od - Luck in 1990 from Terry & Steve
son Marty Jr., and his daughter
Marlene together in . one scene.
After saving his children, Marty
goes back to 1985 to find it has
been altered.
This is where the plot gets
so confusing the writers have
Doc use a blackboard to explain
everything. Doc and Marty go
back to 1955 to save 1985. This
is where the film gets a little
tedious.
Many film clips from the
first movie are used here to keep
things moving along, There's a
well done Hitchcock-esque scene
where Marty tries to steal a
book that's responsible for
altering the future. But from
there on plot twists start to get
annoying.
Finally, the end of the movie
arrives, but nothing is actually
solved. The climactic events get
carried into the next sequel,
which has already been filmed
and will be released this
summer.
In part one, Marty got to
change his future. In part two
Marty gets to fix his mistakes.
Many of Youk's growing
experiences are documented in
The Bear. The cub first
encounters a frog, which he
chases around playfully. There
are many scenes with this
cuteness throughout the film.
After Youk is introduced to
the audience, two bear hunters
are shown at their campsite,
cleaning their recent kills. As
morning comes, the two hunters
set out to track more bears.
They come upon a set of huge
footprints and continue to track
them until they locate a
mammoth male bear. The
young hunter shoots and
wounds the bear, causing it to
run away and later mutilate a
horse belonging to the hunters.
This action prompts the movies
primary storyline.
The large bear (Bart), wounded
and bleeding, limps on to fmd a
cool stream to bed down in, in
order to clean his wound. Once
this
.stream is found, Youk
returns to the picture. The cub
is thrilled to see another of its
Page
Rnth ant fantaciac wet ran all
identify with, but in Part II
there is scarcely any character
development worth mentioning.
Michael J. Fox is likable as
Marty, but he's pretty much the
same as he was on the
television show Family 'Ties.
Christopher Lloyd's Doc is just
as insane as his previous
performance in the first film.
Sequels are older than anyone
can remember and their primary
purpose has always been to
capitalize on the popularity of
the first story. But what makes
a sequel good is that it can stand
alone. The central characters
remain, but the story changes.
Back to the Future H does
not stand alone. Not only does
it blatantly capitalize on its
predecessor, it is devised to
make viewers go back to see the
first movie. The ending is a
quasi- cliffhanger leaving a need
to see part three.
This is not the worst sequel
ever made, it just doesn't
measure up to its original.
kind, and immediately tries to
get close to Bart. After a bit of
growling and thrashing, Bart
finally allows Youk near him.
At this point, a father-son
relationship begins.
The rest of the film is filled
with the two bears helping each
other in times of need. Youk
receives guidance through a
strange world, and he is
comforted when nightmares of
his mother's death haunt his
sleep. Bart finds friendly
companionship as he continues
to run from the hunters who
have vowed to finish him off.
The credits at the end of The
Bear contain many trainers'
names, as well as the different
animals captured on film. The
movie's purpose is also stated
here: The film was made to draw
sympathy from the audience in
order to make viewers more
aware of the increasing rate of
bear killings. That goal is
accomplished through the gentle
depiction of these traditionally
ferocious animals.