Prince of Darkness

Name: Prince of Darkness
Genre: Horror
Released: October 23, 1987
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 50
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount

1987

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Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 57 Ratings

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7.6

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7.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 57 Ratings

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Prince Of Darkness

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: October 23, 1987 | R

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount

Summary: A research team finds a mysterious cylinder in a deserted church. If opened, it could mean the end of the world.

Director: John Carpenter

Genre(s): Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr

Prince of Darkness is a real tour de force, and a welcome return. Read full review

Ted Mahar

Those who don't go for horror films, period, won't go for this, but those who do will find this one of the more intelligent, better produced outings of late, with a good, continuing stream of sarcastic humor. [30 Oct 1987, p. E13]

Keith Phipps

It’s an endearingly odd, consistently creepy film that hearkens back to the director’s previous work. Read full review

Roger Ebert

John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness gets off to an intriguing start. But then the movie loses its way. Read full review

Vincent Canby

A surprisingly cheesy horror film to come from Mr. Carpenter (''Halloween,'' ''Escape From New York,'' among others), a director whose work is usually far more efficient and inventive. Read full review

Staff [Not Credited]

Carpenter spends so much time turning the screws on the next scare that he completely forsakes his actors, who are already stranded with a shoddy script. Read full review

Bill Cosford

The sole mystery is the apparent collapse of Carpenter's skills as a storyteller. Prince of Darkness is shapeless and almost utterly lacking in rhythm, as if it had been slashed and then badly reassembled, like a Carpenter victim. [28 Oct 1987, p.D8]

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User Reviews

OriginalDanger

Sep 26, 2021

Prince of Darkness is a John Carpenter film which came out in 1987, a few years after John Carpenter's directed classic "The Thing" which is an excellent horror starring Kurt Russell about an alien entity that imitates other lifeforms including humans.... ... Prince of Darkness is completelyPrince of Darkness is a John Carpenter film which came out in 1987, a few years after John Carpenter's directed classic "The Thing" which is an excellent horror starring Kurt Russell about an alien entity that imitates other lifeforms including humans.... ... Prince of Darkness is completely different but has a kind of dark vibe that The Thing had, but totally different and can't remember what it was about, probably the devil or something and there's talk about religion and God and this weird green stuff that is released from some container or something and starts turning people into almost zombie state beings... No idea what Prince of Darkness is about fully but it's a very good film with great acting especially from Donald Pleasance, Victor Wong didn't appeal to me much but he could of been worse and the rest of the cast were fantastic and all very likeable apart from the creepy beings on the streets which gave it a sort of zombie feel to it.... Prince of Darkness is very dark, absorbing, very cleverly made by the master of horror named John Carpenter and cleverly put together unlike today's rubbish horror movies...... There's little blood and guts in Prince of Darkness but there is quite a bit and what it had worked very well indeed. Check out Prince of Darkness, one of the best horror films ever made.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

HellHoleHorror

Feb 16, 2022

It looks good. There is nothing to complain about. All of the effects look solid as they were done in-camera. I loved the flowing movement. The music is very eighties but that doesn't bother me! It has a good solid sound mix that I couldn't complain about! This starts a little slow but itIt looks good. There is nothing to complain about. All of the effects look solid as they were done in-camera. I loved the flowing movement. The music is very eighties but that doesn't bother me! It has a good solid sound mix that I couldn't complain about! This starts a little slow but it really takes off to be an intense and brutally scary movie. This truly is scary with some solid jumps and a petrifying theme! There are a lot of characters and that helps to keep the pace moving at top speed. It is reminiscent of Halloween (1978) but different and scarier due to the themes raised. The story is told really well and hints at many powers that are way above us morals. Stunning horror that doesn't fail to scare and exhilarate.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Boggiebamph123

Oct 9, 2022

Prince of Darkness always seems to fly under the radar in comparison to Carpenter's other work from the 80's. Personally I think it's his Second best film only behind The Thing. Sure the first half of the movie plods along. The Title Sequence seems to go on for ten minutes. It's comical. IPrince of Darkness always seems to fly under the radar in comparison to Carpenter's other work from the 80's. Personally I think it's his Second best film only behind The Thing. Sure the first half of the movie plods along. The Title Sequence seems to go on for ten minutes. It's comical. I believe it boils down to Carpenter's superb writing. Also the atmosphere has Carpenter's style all over it. The second half of the film takes off like a bat out of hell. One of Carpenter's best.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DirigiblePulp

Dec 12, 2016

The atmosphere is incredibly dense, it's an unrelenting thickness suffocating everything else, including plot, character and common sense. But man does it work and brilliantly.

The score is typically moody and great, and it's used effectively as a constantly reverberating background beat toThe atmosphere is incredibly dense, it's an unrelenting thickness suffocating everything else, including plot, character and common sense. But man does it work and brilliantly.

The score is typically moody and great, and it's used effectively as a constantly reverberating background beat to the slow unveiling of hell on an uncoupling earth. This film works so well because it's truly unrelenting, and I don't mean in the Evil Dead sense of constant assault, but in its unbearable grip on your audio and visual senses. It's a slow strangling.

This film also made me realize how great of a stylist Carpenter is. I always knew that on some level, but watching this again for the second time I realized how casual Carpenter is in his brilliance. His shots have an off-the-cuff elegance, almost as a painter so in control of his work he doesn't have to stop and savor his great images because they all are in a way, each shot into the next, a kind of constantly evolving masterful painting of horror. Shots of crosses through fence links, zombie faces awash in black and shadow, the lighting of an Argento witches movie, the soft surrealism of water dripping upward yet slowly outward towards hell, visions of ants invading the back grating of a TV set, white light from inside calling to them.

It's kind of amazing. I really really wish the plot came together a bit more. I like the obtuseness of it to a point (how much could the characters really know about it all) but because of that a lot of the revelations come from people hypothesizing out loud in a way that you know the movie is trying to explain itself without actually having to -- having its cake and eating it too.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

talisencrw

Sep 20, 2014

It's a shame Carpenter the director wasn't as spot-on with technique and suspense as he was with Halloween and The Thing. Some really brilliant ideas, like the shared dream, but a truckload too much symbolism and imagery--some subtlety here would have been nice. Good scoring by Carpenter,It's a shame Carpenter the director wasn't as spot-on with technique and suspense as he was with Halloween and The Thing. Some really brilliant ideas, like the shared dream, but a truckload too much symbolism and imagery--some subtlety here would have been nice. Good scoring by Carpenter, fine work by Pleasance and a nice cameo by Alice Cooper (in the soundtrack too). If it had perhaps another star or two, could be considered a classic...… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

HingleMcCringle

Nov 7, 2021

John Carpenter's second best movie behind The Thing, a little lacking in a portion near the end but otherwise a really good watch. Good plot, solid acting, great practical effects and makeup, and of course well done directing and music by Carpenter. It was interesting hearing the scientificJohn Carpenter's second best movie behind The Thing, a little lacking in a portion near the end but otherwise a really good watch. Good plot, solid acting, great practical effects and makeup, and of course well done directing and music by Carpenter. It was interesting hearing the scientific dialogue from over 30 years ago going on about quantum physics and combining that with the supernatural and horror elements really hooked me.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilipeNeto

May 20, 2018

This is yet another biblically-based horror film that tackles the end of the world. In this case, it focuses on a small abandoned church where a mysterious brotherhood kept a large hermetically sealed cylinder containing a viscous substance. The movie never tells us what that thing is, norThis is yet another biblically-based horror film that tackles the end of the world. In this case, it focuses on a small abandoned church where a mysterious brotherhood kept a large hermetically sealed cylinder containing a viscous substance. The movie never tells us what that thing is, nor how it was stuck there, nor does it explain why it came out of the cocoon (one of the biggest problems in the script). But the truth is that it looks like a milkshake of wickedness, evil concentrated. And in it lies the secret to awaken the Prince of Darkness. The movie may seem strange and very unbelievable because of these elements, but the truth is that it works very well as a horror movie. John Carpenter is a master at creating suspense and scare the audience, and he achieves one more success in this film, probably one of the least known of his consecrated career. Donald Pleasence is the most obvious name of the cast, in the role of an unusual Catholic priest. The cast, on the whole, fairly complied with what was demanded of it. The special effects are good but the characterization and the wardrobe deserve special applause because they stand out, particularly as the film draws to an end.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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