Prince Of Darkness Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Where are you...? Christ?
Before man walked the earth...it slept for centuries. It is evil. It is real. It is awakening.
A priest/a millionaire dies and leaves a diary and a casket containing a key. Another priest reads the diary and after visiting a deserted church discovers a large glass tube containing some kind of green swirling liquid locked away. The priest tells a Professor friend of the discovery and the priest, the professor and a couple of students stay in the church to research the tube. Their discovery leads to the fact that the tube contains the Devil's son, and a prophecy that "when the sleeper awakens the son will release the father." The tube is locked from the inside and the sleeper is beginning to stir. The students/priest/professor now have a battle to stop the Devil from being released but some of them are being taken over to aid the Son's cause...
| Donald Pleasence | Priest |
| Jameson Parker | Brian Marsh |
| Victor Wong | Prof. Howard Birack |
| Lisa Blount | Catherine Danforth |
| Dennis Dun | Walter |
| Susan Blanchard | Kelly |
| Anne Marie Howard | Susan Cabot |
| Ann Yen | Lisa |
| Ken Wright | Lomax |
| Dirk Blocker | Mullins |
| Jessie Lawrence Ferguson | Calder |
| Peter Jason | Dr. Paul Leahy |
| Robert Grasmere | Frank Wyndham |
| Thom Bray | Etchinson |
| Joanna Merlin | Bag Lady |
| John Carpenter |
6.50 out of 10 (8253 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Unnerving tension, a film that makes you believe things just can't end well.
posted on 28 Jul 2009I had been a fan of this film for a long time, and since viewing it initially I had forgotten why. I remembered the brooding tension throughout and the foreboding, there were also a couple of scenes which my memory served me as being quite cheesy, and one scene in particular that surprised me by how much it totally creeped me out, I remember it to this day. So, it was with great excitement I watched the DVD version, and relived the horror. Carpenter can be a complete genius at times, and this movie proves it outright. The cast are excellently picked, and although slightly dated, and indeed cheesy, in places, the feelings I had before were pouring out of the screen at me. From the opening scene you confused, slightly out of place, but things become all to apparent when the main location of the film is reached. The foreboding, creeping terror is brought into your mind early on, and it's almost impossible to forget throughout. With scenes to continually show you things are going wildly wrong, and yet not to give you a clear purpose or conclusion is fantastically engineered. One of the best things about this movie is that you genuinely have no idea what is going to happen, and even watching it again the most amazing feeling of believing that these people, and the world, are just not going to make it is prevalent. I think that sums up the genius of this movie for me, the director, writers and actors have managed to convince you that things are not going to work out, there's just no way, it's almost a shame when the darkness is shown, but it never breaks your mood. Oh, and that one scene that creeped me out before is pure genius, for some reason, and I cannot put my finger on it, it works and works again. There's something so wrong about it and so unnerving…Well, allow me to let you watch the movie…
not a classic, but a worthy entry into the horror genre
posted on 07 Jul 2009Although the script for this movie contains a lot of clunky dialogue and by the numbers characters, and the acting itself (with several exceptions, for example Donald Pleasance) is frequently off kilter (particularly Dennis Dun's embarrassingly mis-timed turn as a sarcastic, cocky young scientist), director John Carpenter nevertheless manages to build up a successful degree of brooding tension, as well as a few jumps and scares in this underrated, but by no means masterful, forgotten 80s horror movie.
Mixed bag for sure, but a kickin' final reel
posted on 13 Jun 2009I saw this movie first on video around 1994 and didn't think much of it.
But I took a chance, having garnered new appreciation of Carpenter and particularly THE THING, and gave PRINCE OF DARKNESS a second look with the wide DVD cranked up a little.Well, it takes a while to get going, and character overall is a problem in this movie... but when somebody's being chased around by a slime-spewing chuckling very tall man with a broken neck the identification factor with the chasEE kicks in pretty quick.I never cared who these people were, but the film kept me vaguely interested until the last reel or two, when Carpenter kicks the music in heavy and goes for the guts... and then I got REALLY interested. Basically around the time that Simon (whichever one he was) goes out the window, the film kicks into gear and really gives its all until the credits roll. "Its all" amounts to pretty much attempting to make you jump and cringe, which is its entire raison d'etre, and PRINCE OF DARKNESS, when all's over, and if it's delivered large, in proper aspect ratio, and with a little punch in the sound... delivers. It is no classic but well worth the time for anyone who loves crazy horror.
Evil Green Jello
posted on 07 Jun 2009This isn't one of Carpenters best efforts, but it's nowhere near as bad as "Vampires" was.It starts out good and creepy: in the basement of an old church is a terrible secret that has been guarded for thousands of years; a strange something-or-other is imprisoned within a huge container. The sinister lava lamp turns out to be Satan Himself! A team of scientists come to the church in hopes of translating the ancient texts which may explain the presence of the nuclear split pea soup. However, the Satanic Goop has escaped from its jar (guess Ziploc hadn't been invented back in biblical times), drips upward onto the ceiling and then squirts down onto the face of the first idiot who decides to stand beneath the gravity-defying puddle with her mouth open.
Once ingested, Satan possesses, and the horny devil goes on a killing spree, building an army out of the possessed and the homeless psychos outside. There's some really creepy sequences here, as the doomed begin to have the same dream involving a guy who looks like a Ringwraith on stilts standing in the church doorway, whilst a static-blurred voice tells them: "This is not a dream. This is 1999." There's also a good, icky sequence involving a mirror. But there's a lot of goofiness here too, and the ambiguous ending left me feeling cheated. However, there's enough dread and spookiness here to delight most horror fans. I give it a 6 on a scale of 10.
The green goo
posted on 01 Jun 2009I missed this one the first time around back in the 80s, and despite what all the critics say, I didn't think it that bad at all. Ok some of it's pretty silly and Jameson Parker and Lisa Blount were about as wooden as two totem poles, but the story did keep my attention without me having to reach up and change the channel. Plus, I really dug the tension filled pulsating synth soundtrack by Alan Howarth.A group of graduate students & scientists are called upon by Father Loomis (Donald Plesance) to investigate a mysterious canister filled with green goo that is stored in the basement of an abandoned church. Right after they get there, all kinds of strange things begin to occur such as the homeless (led by a pale-faced Alice Cooper) going around, zombie-like, killing people outside the church, earthworms and ants clustering on window panes in strange patterns, and machines and equipment moving on their own.When the team begin to translate an ancient document that was also stored in the basement, they find out that the canister contains the energy of the son of Satan who was banished to the darkside, eons ago. This supposedly occurred in ancient Middle Eastern times but how it got to L.A. is never explained.One by one, each of the students are either killed off or possessed by the entity that is slowly growing around them. The scene where thousands of beetles eat away at the guy in the church parking lot is cool. It looks pretty funny when his hands and then his head falls off, rolling around on the ground. Hilarious.Then one of the females has all the green fluid from the canister flow into her mouth and eyes from the ceiling in a reverse matte shot. That looks pretty cool, too. While she's lying on the cot, her stomach starts to expand and she starts to decompose as this thing is growing inside her. It seems the Prince of Darkness is going to use her as an incubator to grow his fetus. The scene at the end with the mirror leading into an alternative universe and Satan's arm being outstretched towards the woman was fairly impressive.
It sort of looked like it existed in some kind of clear, oily fluid that had the consistency of cooking oil.All in all, I think this is a pretty entertaining John Carpenter flick to watch on a Saturday night and I consider it light years above his recent mess, GHOSTS OF MARS. 7 out of 10.
Not bad at all...definitely worth the time...
posted on 08 May 2009John Carpenter has to be one of the most competent directors of our time.
No matter how poor the script may be (such as Vampires), he still manages to turn it into a smart, frightening movie. And this one is no different.The plot revolves around several graduate students and professors attempting to solve the riddle of a strange goo inside a container located in an old church. As they continue their research, the goo begins to turn them and the people around them into zombies. As they discover this, they also begin to fear that these horrifying events herald the coming of Satan and a seven million year old evil.It is a pretty intelligent movie, all in all, with a very good climax that manages to give one the creeps for minutes afterwards. The main characters perform admirably, and while there are a couple of lazy performances from some of the minor characters, they are barely noticable.Unfortunately, the film is marred by a very slow beginning. Where it should be creepy and terrifying right from the start, it takes around forty minutes for the action and frights to really get started. Once they are, the film picks up considerably and manages to deliver the goods.Although this is not as scary as some of Carpenter's other films, it is still definitely worthwhile. It is very nice to see the occasional horror film that doesn't insult one's intelligence, and this is certainly one of them. 3.5/5
One of my favorites
posted on 27 Mar 2009I've seen a lot of horror films, but few were as good as this one. This thing really unnerved me, especially the growing sense of urgency, and the sets were really great, especially the exterior shots of the church (which I presume involved a lot of flats and matte-work.) After I saw this movie I went to a hospital here to see a patient and across the street is a nursing school that used to be St. Francis College. When I looked up at the roof line and saw the stone cross on it, just like the one on the church in the movie, the building momentarily seemed very sinister. I still get that feeling if I go past an abandoned church. I was glad to see a horror film that at least tried to approach theological questions from an unconventional perspective. Outside of producers of strictly religion-oriented pictures, it was difficult until recently to find a studio willing to do a movie that dealt with religion but wasn't all sweetness-and-light about it. I thought the dream broadcast sequences were really scary, since they seemed so completely otherworldly. One thing I wondered about, though, was the "future scientist" who video recorded the Dark Figure coming out of the church- obviously the Anti-God must not have bothered to exterminate the human race, either didn't know or didn't care that this guy and his technicians were shooting and were going to beam the signals back in time, and things were functioning well enough for the scientists to have equipment, facilities, and money to operate. Maybe the Anti-God had these people on the payroll, for whatever reason. Anyway, a fine job.
NO no noooooooo, this is BORING!!!!
posted on 19 Feb 2009Prince of Darkness (1987) has to be one of the most boring horror films ever, John Carpenter really fails here, there's nothing good on offer, no excitement, no special effects, no gore, NOTHING!!! Just a bunch of boring characters trying to work out the mystery of this green liquid that possesses the essence of Satan and vows to take over the world and possess everyone, who cares, i couldn't sit through this, i fell asleep at the 40 minute mark...... god knows how i got that far into the film to be honest!!! If your a fan of Carpenter, then do yourself a favour and stick with "The Thing" or "Christine", at least they are exciting horror movies, with good special effects and interesting characters.Prince of Darkness is horribly boring and i can only award this film 1/10.
Snore...
posted on 14 Jan 2009This movie was unbelievably boring! Talk, talk, talk, and the most action involved vomiting into other people's mouths. The only redeeming factor was Alice Cooper as a street schizo. Unfortunately, his screen time added up to about 3 minutes. The rest of this film should get used to collecting dust on video store shelves across the country. John Carpenter must have been going through some kind of bad patch to have done a film this insipid.
In a scary place...
posted on 27 Dec 2008There is an abandoned church in Los Angeles.A priest invites Professor Howard Birack and a group of academics and students to the basement of that church to investigate a mysterious cylinder.The cylinder contains some swirling, green liquid.Soon we find out the liquid is actually Satan himself.And soon the liquid starts possessing the members of the group.And no one is safe...Prince of Darkness (1987) is a horror/sci-fi film directed by John Carpenter.It's the second installment in Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy, which began with The Thing and concluded with In the Mouth of Madness.This is a good horror film.I saw it for the first time in the early 90's on VHS.The next time I saw it on TV in the year 2000 and just a few days ago on DVD.This is still a scary movie.When you see the bunch of possessed people on the street, and somebody trying to escape from those people.Or one covered with creepy-crawlies.I could mention many scenes that give you the creeps.The cast is good in this movie.The legendary Donald Pleasense portrays the priest.Jameson Parker is Brian Marsh.Victor Wong plays Prof. Howard Birack.Lisa Blount plays Catherine Danforth.Dennis Dun is Walter.Susan Blanchard is Kelly.The part of Susan Cabot is played by Anne Marie Howard.Ann Yen is Lisa.Dirk Blocker is Mullins.Peter Jason plays Dr. Paul Leahy.The music guy Alice Cooper plays Street Schizo.Carpenter really knows his thing.He knows how to make a scary movie.Step in this scary place and be afraid.Be very afraid...
One of my all time favorite films, it is nonetheless riddled with flaws.
posted on 15 Dec 2008I saw this movie right around Halloween of 1987 and I would not be exaggerating to say it changed my life. The overall vibe of the film (you might say "ambience") stuck with me for years, spilling over even into my dreams and effecting all of my own art/music/writing like some kind of disease. This film will stay with you forever if you open yourself up to it in the right way. Nevertheless, it does have some glaring flaws: The credits run for about 10 minutes into the movie, interrupting the flow of the story and just plain annoying the heck out of you. The last half of the film decays into a zombie flick with people walking around like robots so that you sometimes wonder if the same person who wrote and directed the first half wrote/directed the second as well (maybe he was possessed). The dialogue between Jameson Parker and the redhead is not only corny, but stupid. But the overall vibe of the film manages to transcend these drawbacks creating an unforgettable horror film.
This is one of the greats of the horror, terror, scary films
posted on 12 Dec 2008This movie is one of the all-time scariest and in the top 10 all time of horror films. I rated this film a 9 on IMDB not because it is a Masterpiece like Citizen Cane or The Godfather, but because it is a 9 or even 10 in the genre of horror films. Horror films can be greats or even classics with low budgets in the making that is what sets them apart from the typical film. Great horror classics take imagination and guts to make not money. This movie was has some flaws, but you quickly forget about them once the evil is released in this story. This is a highly recommended film just like The Exorcist or The Shining is. Also I have read many of the other user comments and do not pay attention to people who slander this film they usually leave comments like confused or confusing that means they did not pay attention or never gave it a chance. I tell you as a person who has seen 1000's of horror films, films that have been banned in many countries and films you can not see anymore cause they do not show them on late night TV anymore that this is a great horror.
Very creepy scientific-religious-horror experience.
posted on 27 Nov 2008I remember watching the VHS cover on my local video store and it somehow creeped me out.I watched this movie after several years and I can say that I'm truly satisfied with it and I consider it to be one of the most atmospheric and creepy Horror movies of the 80's.The plot is really complex for those who only want a simple Horror movie but it delivers as a truly creepy-scientific experience.The acting is always great when Donald Pleasence is on the lead. The rest of the actors do what they can.The last 20 minutes of the movie truly deliver shock, terror, and even claustrophobic moments. I want to recommend this movie not only for Carpenter fans but also for anyone that wants to have a chilling experience.
Finally, An Intelligent Horror Film!
posted on 09 Nov 2008This movie is not for anyone who considers a good horror flick to be in the same genre as: Bride of Chucky or Deep Rising. John Carpenter did his homework on this one! I consider this to be one of his best works. Great performances by Donald Pleasence, Victor Wong, and Dennis Dun.
Green Slime Goes to Hell with Alice Cooper
posted on 31 Oct 2008Having recently become convinced that John Carpenter simply got lucky a couple of times, I was cynical about "Prince of Darkness" from the beginning. I had never seen it until this year, 2001, somehow it had escaped me all this time, and ya know what? I couldn't dislike it.Not even considering that it featured several of the horror cinema flaws that really get on my nerves. For instance, the plot concerns a group of disparate physics students gathered at an abandoned church. We don't know most of their names, and there is an awkward period of the film where the story takes characters we have never seen before and treats them as if we know who they are. And it STILL works!Yes, the story deals with a secret society of priests guarding a large canister of green liquid in the basement of an old church (don't worry, there are enough lit candles down there to make even Carrie's mother proud).Donald Pleasance, showing some surprising restraint, plays a priest who contacts a physics instructor to drag some students to the church for a weekend to "run some tests". Pretty soon the green liquid is on the move, turning the members of the slumber party into zombies in an effort to ensure the resurrection of Satan, who in turn must bring his father, the "Anti-God", into this dimension. Yup! The script hurls skewed physics lessons at us left and right, then links Christianity with extraterrestrials, then introduces an unfamiliar threat in the form of an "Anti-God". And somehow Carpenter pulls it off, damn him!His knack for ominous music remains unchecked, and it sets the mood well here.The sight of Alice Cooper gaping slack-jawed at the camera really was silly and unnecessary...I almost expected Dee Snider to lurch from the alleyway alongside of him...but we can forgive Carpenter for this. I think anybody would have worked Alice Cooper in, too, if given the chance.Carpenter wisely jettisons excess character development in favor of action, particularly when the weird stuff finally starts to happen. And I gotta hand it to him...I never would have thought anybody could make a decent film out of this material. But there ya go. Forget logic. Don't pay attention to the details. Enjoy the ride. I may just have to take back some of those mean things I said about John.
In fact, you will not be impressed at all
posted on 28 Oct 2008My god, what a mess. I remember watching it in the 80s, with some cuts, and not being impressed, but I didn't remember that it was this bad. Films like this and Village of the Damned (among other bombs in his later career) makes me question Carpenters competence as a director and screenwriter again. Perhaps Halloween and The Thing really were good despite him? The best thing I can say is that his strength, if any, is in atmosphere, some visuals and sometimes the music works to the films advantage. More often it doesn't however. Too many cheap sounding synth ploinks. The plot is virtually non existent. There is a setup of some kind, then nothing happens. It is almost Fulcian in its illogical plot points and sluggish pacing. The ensemble, amazingly, is quite competent and fun to watch at times, when they are not bogged down with mumbo-jumbo exposition. The whole project seems like a low-budget rush job, to cash in on the kids who might swallow it. We have one location, just throw in all ideas we can think of and see what happens. The funny thing is that the film recently inspired a dream, in which I was aware of watching the film, and it didn't make any sense either, but the scenes were scrambled together in a surreal way, and stripped down to just a voice-over reciting scientific theories and one sterile corridor with many doors, leading to mysterious room were bizarre things happened. Some day I might do a re-edit it to make it more like that dream...
Overlooked
posted on 01 Oct 2008Since the day I saw this film, I never really quite understood why people dismissed it. Definitely in the top five best horror films I've ever seen, it is an incredibly powerful piece of work, and very claustrophobic. This terrified me more than anything I had ever seen on the small (or big) screen. The first thing you see at the start of the film is the Universal logo followed by the intro to one of the most terrifying scores in movie history. Every time this film screens on national TV, it sends a chill down my spine. This score really helps the film in many ways, it kicks along with what is happening on screen and increases the tension. The film works so well in the way it combines the contrast between a normal day at University, to a nasty claustrophobic chapel in which `that thing' in the basement is the heart of the trouble. The chapel is absolutely ideal for this type of film, it is a claustrophobic setting, and they have to sleep overnight with the entity that has been kept a secret. The graduates are analysing a strange green canister in the basement of a chapel, underneath the place where they sleep. They don't know what it is, and everything they discover about it becomes too unreal to be true. When other things start to happen they have to take note. The film combines the `what you don't see is what scares you' factor, with gratuitous violence and gore. I think they got the balance just right. Just for the record, shake off the scares and the film really isn't as perfect a film as it is frightening. Take for example Victor Wong and Pleasance muttering some embarrassing drivel. When asked about her wound, Susan remakrs; `oh, it's just a bruise', despite the fact it's of blade-like structure. What about the mirror at the end, when you see it through the door, it only appears to be half the height of the wall. Then in another shot, it's the entire height of the wall. Go figure. We see Satan's hand at the end of the film, it looks completely dis-satisfying and plastic. Who on earh lit all those candles in the basement, and at the end how did they get the darn canister up those stairs? Hmm?I also object to one particular scene in which thousands of real cockroaches were crushed underneath the feet of one of Satan's disciples. Was this kind of cruelty really necessary? In the UK leading newspaper Daily Mail awarded this film 2/5 because of `jokes which flattened the atmosphere'. What a poor excuse. Did they not see the meaning behind Walter? His role was to create an earthly atmosphere. People do make jokes, people are not going to go all depressed on us if something like this is happening. People will try and stay sane. Carpenter really pulls his character off when two zombified university graduates come after him and he panics, after which point he never makes a wisecrack again. I believe this to be a very potent part of the film and very important to the climax.I think this film terrifies so much it actually hides the minor errors completely. How special this was when I first watched it. I doubt there is another film out there that will have that same impact. I believe all religion to be the biggest lie ever told and do not believe in a god or an anti-god, but this is still powerful viewing. Although I have no reason to argue with these people, I can't help but wonder what people missed when they say this is one of Carpenter worst movies. I point you at such monstrosities as In The Mouth Of Madness, or even Christine. In my holy opinion this is Carpenters second best production behind The Thing, that excels in an incredibly powerful and gripping plot. This film has received lots of praise by me, because unlike three other films I can think of, this one is actually genuinely FRIGHTENING! One of Carpenters last great films.Despite the fact the film had an 18 certificate when I saw it, I was 14 when I first saw this film (now they've lowered it to 15, for some reason). It was one of those films where you just couldn't stop thinking about it. Now I'm older things don't have that kind of effect anymore  That is what makes watching these kind of films when you're young, so special…4.5/5
Probably One of the Scariest Films
posted on 10 Sep 2008I am sort of a fan of Carpenter. Some of his movies are absolutely excellent, and some are just kind of flat. "Prince of Darkness" is among his excellent films and probably one of my favorite movies altogether. The movie has loads of gloomy atmosphere, one of the scariest story lines I have ever seen, and genuinely good acting and a great score.The storyline is one of the most complicated out there so I will try to sum it up for those who have not seen this. A priest dies who has been guarding an ancient key at the beginning of the movie. This key opens the door to the basement of an old abandoned church. Donald Pleasance plays Father Loomis (Loomis being a tribute to the character he played in the Halloween films) who explores the basement of the church with a college professor. They discover a container with a strange green liquid, sealed and locked from inside. They decide to turn this into a project and bring many different departments in from the college. They discover something far more terrifying then they ever could have imagined.I remember watching this movie on video in 1988 and not being able to sleep for weeks. This really is one of the scariest movies ever made. The gloomy atmosphere and the great music score build so much tension in the air that you can sense something apocalyptic about to happen.Me talking about the movie isn't going to help unless you see it for yourself. This is not a gorefest, just very atmospheric. Check it out. 10/10
sticky satan
posted on 10 Apr 2008Devil has sent his son on earth to help him coming back on earth.. In an enclosed place, Goodness and Evilness are fighting. Evilness is strong, intelligent and has different shape ; Goodness is clewless and falls in every traps.. John Carpenter is taking anguish upstairs step by step. The music, composed by Carpenter, is a bit overdone.. But Donald Pleasence (the priest) does a great performance.
Science & Religion, Anti-God and a hint of Lovecraft!
posted on 06 Aug 2009This movie scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. It wasn't the action that scared me so much as the creepy atmosphere, and above all else, the hopelessness and dread of the story. There is also something very Lovecraftian to this movie, in that the horror lies in the whole situtation, and there is no hope of escaping the madness of it all. But then again, Carpenter has done other very much Lovecraftian movies, with "The Thing" and "In the Mouth of Madness" very much Lovecraft-inspired... which is also a goooood thing, because that's a damn good influence!************Possible Spoilers**************This movie is totally hopeless (in a positively scary sense!!)... Indeed, everything in the universe has its opposite, mirror image, and that includes absolutely every type of matter. People believing in the idea of God, of a supreme mind willing the destiny of everything that exists, will probably freak out at the idea of that same God being, instead of a positive being, an Anti-God. But if a God truly was, would He really be as we'd like Him to be? That, alone is scary, and reminds me of the deities of the Mythos, like Azatoth or Nyarlathotep... Oh, and add to that the possibility of sending communications back in time, by emitting them faster than light, which could very well be done sometime in the future (read about Gunter Nimtz's experiments, for exemple).This is not gory or "watch for that axe murderer" (although there are hints of both here and there), but it does have its charms : a great score, a creepy philosophical concept, Lovecraftian psychological terror, and a great ride into the bleak, hopeless, and apocalyptic.Subtle, and disturbing, for those who can think and immerse themselves in an horror movie WITHOUT the need for excessive gore and makeup.