The one review George Romero liked the most

"The Dark Half" is what Canby calls, "another nightmarish vision of the bestselling author, who likes to ponder, in his own unique way, the cost and dimensions of his success. It's about Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton, playing against type), a novelist who tries to retire his pen name, George Stark, which he uses to write best-selling crime novels. When Stark emerges in the flesh, he looks like Evil Ernest in "Ernest Goes to Jail" - slicked back hair and a wicked smile separate Good Thad from Bad Thad. He terrorizes Thad's family until the two finally face off for supremacy. It's crisp, dark and with a bonus Michael Rooker playing a cop!

Note: King dedicated the novel "The Dark Half" to "the late Richard Bachman", his own pseudonym used to write some of his greatest works such as "The Regulators".

Canby's review is unbiased and filled with nuanced praise. He describes Romero's films as "so beautifully made that Hitchcock could have admired them, or at least their technical ease". What he appreciates most is how well it works as one of King's few solid adaptations. Canby writes:

Only Stanley Kubrick has ever adapted a King novel ("The Shining") in such a way that the ending remains as frightening as the beginning. "The Dark Half" isn't in the same league as "The Shining," but it tops every other King adaptation I've seen. Unlike Mr. Kubrick, Mr. Romero observes the conventions of the horror movie genre, but he observes them with inventive humor and he refrains from applying the fanciest special effects until practically the last minute.

Conventional horror with humor and discipline, huh? Canby could just as easily have described any Romero work.