Prince of Darkness (1987) Universal/Horror RT: 102 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence, gruesome images, frightening themes, sexual content) Director: John Carpenter Screenplay: John Carpenter (as Martin Quartermass) Music: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth Cinematography: Gary B. Kibbe Release date: October 23, 1987 (US) Cast: Donald Pleasence, Victor Wong, Jameson Parker, Lisa Blount, Dennis Dun, Susan Blanchard, Anne Howard, Ann Yen, Ken Wright, Dirk Blocker, Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, Peter Jason, Robert Grasmere, Thom Bray, Alice Cooper, Joanna Merlin, Betty Ramey. Box Office: $14.1M (US)
Rating: ****
After the horror classics Halloween and The Thing, Prince of Darkness is John Carpenter’s finest work. It’s definitely his most cerebral work. The characters discuss subjects like quantum physics, theology and differential equations. My knowledge of science and math is decidedly limited; I couldn’t broach any of those subjects with a measurable degree of confidence. Thankfully, Carpenter makes the difficult concepts in Prince of Darkness accessible to general audiences without dumbing down the movie. It’s intelligent as well as scary.
It opens with the death of an elderly priest with a terrifying secret. The priest (Pleasence, Halloween) brought in to investigate reads his late colleague’s diary and discovers he was a member of a clandestine sect called “The Brotherhood of Sleep”. They’re so secret, not even the Vatican knows of their existence. The key found on his person unlocks the door to the basement of an abandoned Catholic church in downtown L.A. Hidden in the basement is a large canister containing a mysterious green liquid. It’s the job of the Brotherhood to watch over it. The liquid is the physical embodiment of Satan. For centuries, its existence has been concealed. Now, it’s “a secret that can no longer be kept”.
In direct opposition to one of the key theories of physics, chaos seems to descending into order. This is what prompts Priest (as he’s called in the credits) to ask his old friend quantum physics professor Birack (Wong, Big Trouble in Little China) for help. Birack recruits several of his grad students to join them at the church for the weekend in order to prove the container’s contents through modern science and mathematics. While not overjoyed about giving up their weekend plans, they’re bound to be less thrilled by the weird events to come.
While a group of local homeless people (led by rocker Alice Cooper) gathers outside the church, members of the group inside start falling victim to the evil in their presence. Many of them experience the same dream of a menacing dark figure emerging from the front doors of the church at some point in the future. It’s soon discovered that the entity in the container needs a physical host to bring the ultimate evil, characterized as “Anti-God”, into the physical world. You see, it’s theorized that everything in the universe has a mirror image, a complete opposite. It stands to reason if there’s a God, then there’s an Anti-God. It’s pretty freaky if you think about it.
Oh, I haven’t mentioned any of the students involved in the not purely academic exercise. I guess it doesn’t matter too, too much since they’re essentially lambs for the slaughter. The ones we get to know the best are romantic couple Brian (Parker, Simon & Simon) and Catherine (Blount, Dead & Buried), little Asian guy Walter (Dun, Big Trouble in Little China), reserved Kelly (Blanchard, They Live) and attractive radiologist Susan (Howard). Others, like token black guy Calder (Ferguson, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh) and serious-minded Asian girl Lisa (Yen), aren’t developed at all. In addition, character actor Peter Jason (48 Hrs.) shows up as jovial chemistry professor Dr. Leahy. It’s always great to see him. He and Dun provide much-needed comic relief. At one point, Walter is described as “asshole-ish”. You could say that. He always manages to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. He’s an arrogant (possibly gay) sort who naturally freaks out when faced with the supernatural horrors of his class assignment. I don’t mind the lack of character development. It isn’t about the characters; it’s about heavy ideas.
In the lead roles, Pleasence and Wong are both phenomenal. Prince of Darkness is at its most intellectually interesting when these two discuss and debate God vs. science. Pleasence gives his usual histrionic performance, spouting lines like “No prison can hold him now.” and “He was our prisoner, not yours!” The only difference between Priest and Dr. Loomis is the clerical collar. Oh, and the evil is more abstract than a guy in a Halloween mask.
Wong is completely believable as an academic type who, after a lifetime of believing in science, must question his beliefs when confronted by something that can’t be explained by any of his theories. He tells his class “while order DOES exist in the universe, it is not at all what we had in mind.” The events he’s about to witness will prove this statement true.
Prince of Darkness is one of the freakiest movies I’ve ever seen. More than one viewing is definitely required to absorb everything, especially the academic stuff. Carpenter, who’s actually interested in quantum physics, loads his movie with deep, heavy ideas. It’s also creepy as hell. Take the dream sequences. The shaky, grainy imagery combined with the garbled electronic voiceover is genuinely unnerving. As the movie progresses, more and more of the dream is revealed until we finally learn what it really is. I LOVE this aspect of Prince of Darkness.
There are several effectively freaky scenes in Prince of Darkness. One of my favorites is Lisa, brought in to translate an ancient text found in the basement, repeatedly typing “I live!” on her computer before giving over to the following ominous statement: “You will not be saved by the Holy Ghost. You will not be saved by the god Plutonium. In fact, YOU WILL NOT BE SAVED!” The street people are pretty scary too. They stand there in a trance until somebody tries to leave the church. That’s when they move in for the kill. A tech geek (Bray, Riptide) gets impaled by a rusty bicycle frame (BLOOD SPURT!). Another fellow gets stabbed with a pair of shears (QUITE BLOODY!). There are plenty of decent gross-out effects too, like when the chosen student transforms into the grotesque monster that can replace its own head should somebody decide to cut it off with an axe. Then there’s the final scene before the end credits. It’s simultaneously freaky and frustrating.
The ominous score for Prince of Darkness is composed by Carpenter (a man of many talents) and Alan Howarth. It plays almost continuously throughout the movie which enhances the sense of dread one would feel going up against an unknown force. The set design is suitably creepy. The abandoned church is chilling. The cylinder with the green liquid looks AWESOME! I love how it gives off this eerie green light. The screenplay by Carpenter (using the pseudonym Martin Quartermass) is brilliant. It’s a movie you really have to think about for a while. The movie’s pace might be a little slow for some, but I say it’s the right way to go. Carpenter has a gift for building suspense and it shows here.
I watch Prince of Darkness every year around Halloween and never get tired of it. I enjoy watching the story unfold. Carpenter tries to do something different and totally succeeds. He makes you think in-between the jump-scares. It’s smart, but it’s fun too. It all comes together perfectly. It’s a prime example of cerebral horror done right.
