In a small American town, a diabolical circus and its demonic proprietor (Jonathan Pryce) prey on the townsfolk.

For some reason, I recall as a kid turning on the TV and this was on... and thinking it was pretty scary. Now, twenty years later, I am watching it and thinking I was a silly kid. I love horror movies and this would hardly even qualify. It has music very much like "Harry Potter", and is no scarier than anything from the series.

Not to say it is a bad film. It is actually rather decent, and there is never a bad time to adapt a Ray Bradbury story. How faithful it is, I have no idea. I have not read nearly enough of his work. But it is interesting some of the parallels here with the work of Stephen King, primarily "It" or "Needful Things".

The '80s saw Disney dabbling in darker-than-usual fare, with The Watcher in the Woods (1980),Return to Oz in 1985, and this '83 adaptation of Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, all three movies guaranteed to give unwary little ones nightmares.

Set in Green Town, Illinois, in October, early to mid-20th century, the film focusses on two young friends, Will Halloway (Vidal Peterson) and Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson),who witness strange occurrences at the mysterious travelling carnival that comes to town. The carnival's insidious proprietor is Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce),who seduces visitors to the attraction, promising them their heart's desire, but always with unexpected results. Jason Robards plays Will's father Charles Halloway, the town librarian, who must protect his son and his pal from the wicked showman, overcoming regrets of the past and his fear of death in the process.

The movie's autumnal small town setting and macabre carnival provides plenty of atmosphere, perfect for Halloween viewing, while the freaky sideshow folk who parade through town add a distinct level of unease, all of which is likely to unsettle younger viewers; add in several scenes of outright horror (Will seeing himself decapitated, an attack by hundreds of tarantulas, and the decaying of Mr. Dark on a magical carousel) and bad dreams are almost a certainty. Kids of a less nervous disposition, however, will surely love the magical quality of the movie, and the film is a perfect introduction to the horror genre, a gateway into the wonderful world of dark and demented cinema.

The movie is particularly likely to appeal to fans of Stephen KIng, whose work often employs motifs found in Bradbury's novel; in particular, the film reminded me a lot of IT, both being coming-of-age horrors in which the young protagonists must confront their fears to defeat a supernatural force (King is a big admirer of Bradbury and even wrote a rejected script treatment for this very film).

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for stunning blaxploitation star Pam Grier as the sultry Dust Witch, who pets a tarantula (you couldn't pay me enough...),and for my favourite little person in movies, Angelo Rossitto.

After reading some of the previous comments made about this film, I feel compelled to add my own.

I've never read the Ray Bradbury novel, though this movie did make me want to read more of his work. So what if it's not entirely true to the book? How many supernatural-themed stories adapted for film actually were true to the story in pre-CGI days? At any rate, I love this movie because it was spooky without being scary, and for a kid's movie, that was perfect for me. I'll never forget how creepy Jonathan Price was in this film. I loved the effects and the moody art direction.

It's dark without being too dark for kids, which I'm pretty sure is what Disney and most parents would want.