Something Wicked This Comes debuts on streaming for the first time

Something bad has happened to streaming after years of being lost in the content wilderness.

Disney has finally made the 1983 fantasy horror film available Something bad happens this way, adding the long-forgotten film to their Disney+ lineup on October 3, 2025. The 42-year-old horror film based on a Ray Bradbury novel is coming to the streaming service just in time for Halloween.

Disney doesn’t have a very deep bench when it comes to horror offerings, which isn’t surprising given their family orientation. Something bad happens this way represented a rare foray into darker territory for the studio, but they changed their minds on this new direction after the film’s failure.

The production would have cost 20 million dollars, Something nasty only grossed $8.4 million. This was doubly disappointing for Disney after the difficulties they faced just making the film.

The horror-fantasy flop was written by Bradbury himself, with veteran director Jack Clayton at the helm, but problems began when Clayton was ordered by Disney to do rewrites. Clayton assigned John Mortimer to execute the rewrite of Bradbury’s screenplay, which did not please the famous author, who had been trying to develop the film since the 1950s.

The film ran into even more problems when test screenings went poorly, prompting the studio to undertake reshoots with Clayton no longer at the helm. This effort only resulted in more failures in screening tests, leading Disney to bring Bradbury back to rewrite the ending.

The final version of Something bad happens this way It wasn’t really a critical failure, with Roger Ebert giving it 3 1/2 stars, calling it “a horror film with elegance.” Rotten Tomatoes gets a 61% fresh rating in its aggregation of the 33 reviews of the film.

Negative reviews point out the film’s inconsistent tone, a result of Disney’s attempt to tone down its darkness for the sake of family audiences. It is also criticized for some very obvious signs of editing, including mysteriously older child actors in some scenes.

Something bad happens this way went to cable television after its theatrical release failed, and subsequently received two DVD releases, before being released on Blu-ray in 2021 via the now-defunct Disney Movie Club.

This Blu-ray is now out of print, but Disney has remedied the unavailability of the film in HD by finally putting it on Disney+, giving their failed 1983 experiment in horror and fantasy a chance to find new admirers. Those who like old-fashioned special effects and/or the works of Bradbury will find something to enjoy in Something bad happens this way.

At least until Disney disappears it again.