by Harrison Ford Goes Dark: The Actor’s Unsettling Side
While best known for iconic action hero roles like Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard, Harrison Ford has shown audiences he is capable of much more than just saving the day. In a handful of lesser discussed films, Ford delved into unsettling territory, playing characters with sinister edges. Two projects in particular from the 1970s and 80s – The Possessed and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – saw Ford take on atypical roles that tapped into psychological horror and creepiness. Though not traditionally scary movies, these films highlighted Ford’s range and ability to unsettle viewers in a different way than his usual heroics.
The Possessed, a 1977 made-for-TV movie, came early in Ford’s career just before the blockbuster success of Star Wars. In the supernatural thriller, Ford plays David, a lawyer representing a family dealing with a demonic presence haunting their home. Right from the opening scenes, Ford brings an unnerving energy to David. His cold demeanor and probing questions to the family seem designed more to unearth sinister secrets than provide comfort. As strange events escalate in the house, Ford maintains David’s detached, almost smug behavior that leaves viewers on edge.
Rather than coming to the family’s rescue, David appears more interested in exploiting their turmoil for his own gain. He prods at raw emotions and dismisses claims of supernatural activity with smirks. Ford plays the character as deeply unlikable and suspicious, an early example of subverting expectations of the actor playing an untrustworthy figure. David’s actions and attitude add psychological terror to the already creepy haunting plot. While a supporting role, Ford stood out in The Possessed by bringing subtle menace to a character audiences instinctively disliked. His performance helped elevate what could have been a routine TV movie into an unsettling viewing experience.
Just a few years later, Ford took on the iconic role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. A big budget blockbuster, it established the adventurer as a hero audiences loved. However, 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom took a darker turn, delving into psychological horror more than any other Indy film. Set a year prior to Raiders, the movie finds Jones and his companions in India, where they discover sinister rituals and child slavery being conducted at a remote temple.
Right from the opening scene of a man having his still-beating heart ripped from his chest, Temple of Doom ratcheted up the graphic violence and disturbing imagery. Ford brought his usual charm and bravado to Jones, but the character was pushed to darker places as well. He encounters gruesome booby traps, witnesses human sacrifices, and has to rescue enslaved children in a chilling mine cart chase scene. While still an action hero, this Indy had to confront true evil and the darkest parts of human nature. Ford sold the psychological toll such harrowing experiences would take, showing Jones unsettled and on edge throughout.
Temple of Doom remains perhaps the most controversial Indy film for its intense depictions of violence, gore, and the unethical treatment of children. But it also highlighted Harrison Ford’s ability to take even an iconic character to unsettling places audiences had never seen before. Jones was shaken and disturbed in this outing, a testament to Ford bringing layers of complexity. While still delivering swashbuckling heroics, he imbued the role with a creeping sense of the psychological scars such harrowing encounters could cause. It remains one of the darker mainstream blockbusters of the 1980s and showed Ford was not afraid to color outside the lines of a familiar character.
In the 1990s, Ford took on another unsettling role in the neo-noir thriller Regarding Henry. He played a ruthless lawyer who suffers brain damage from a gunshot wound, emerging a changed man. Ford expertly conveyed the disorientation, confusion, and emotional fragility of his character Henry Turner as he relearns basic skills and grapples with his old persona. It marked a departure for Ford into complex character-driven drama rather than action heroics. While not a scary film, Regarding Henry saw Ford bring vulnerability and unease that lingered with audiences long after.
Harrison Ford has built an illustrious career playing heroes in some of the biggest blockbusters ever made. But his willingness to take on unsettling roles in films like The Possessed and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom showed he is capable of much more than just saving the day. Even within mainstream entertainment, Ford found ways to tap into psychological horror and unnerve audiences. Whether playing sinister figures or pushing heroic characters to their limits, Ford has proven himself a shapeshifting actor not afraid to color outside expected genres. While best known as an action icon, these lesser discussed films highlight Ford’s range and ability to unsettle in ways audiences never expected.
