hrkepler 'Prince of Darkness' is not master of horror John Carpenter's best film and it is weakest in his so called "Apocalypse Trilogy", but Carpenter is such director whose more mediocre work surpasses other genre director's film by miles. In 'Prince of Darkness' Carpenter again manages to perfectly create creepy and claustrophobic atmosphere (although might not as good as in 'The Thing') and the horror doesn't need to rely on jump scares and fancy special effects. Only Carpenter can build up such a slow an intense waiting of the doom.After some flops at the box office John Carpenter had fallen into discountenance by the mayor studios 'Prince of Darkness' was again independent film with modest budget. The low budged doesn't take anything away from the movie, on the contrary it doesn't show like a low budget film (I guess it's Carpenter's experiences working on shoestring budgets). The build up is little slow, and the action parts are little corny some times (without right amount of cheese it wouldn't be Carpenter's film), but the dialogue is magnificently written and characters (except some expendables) are rather intelligent and avoiding too much horror movie clichés. Again, Carpenter manages to create an eerie synthesizer soundtrack, that is pleasure to listen, but is not recommended to listen on your ipod while walking on dark streets.'Prince of Darkness' is above average atmospheric and intelligent horror film that uses many interesting ideas and avoids to slump into horror film clichés. It should please hard core horror fans, and is must see for John Carpenter fans.

Jeff Potts This review has potential spoilers. Suffice to say, it is still a very creepy film after nearly 30 years, and you need go no further than that.I read some of the negative reviews about this movie, and about the acting, and I just sort of shake my head. They are missing one of the key aspects upon which this movie stands: disbelief. And it's also the same reason why you can watch this film maybe 40 years later, and it would probably still creep the livin' h*ll out of you.Indeed, it starts a little slow. The music Carpenter adds for the non-dialog scenes builds a very thick sense of dread. But it's when they get the graduate students is where this film gets legs. The students and the professors, all of whom are very scientific and rational people, are asked to analyze something that only lives in what modern Man thinks is nothing more than Dark Age superstition. Yet, the green goo is there, in all of its horrible glory. Moreover, not only are they asked to PROVE that this is evil incarnate, but find a way to stop it. And their reactions reflect their basic struggle to come to grips of what they are seeing.And yet, Carpenter's sound track rolls on. It really does give you the creeps.And that's the genius of the film: the fact that the security of modern thinking has just been ripped away in one fell swoop, and you're staring straight into a chapter or two of Revelations of John, in the flesh. And you're trying to turn it all back with test tubes and computer print-outs. Even early in the film you get the impression that this isn't going to end well.And then there is the dream sequences that lengthen as the movie rolls. This is also key to the movie, for reasons that I won't explain because it is a potential spoiler.To that end, this is a film whose premise is to turn Christianity on its head. For those of faith, this is a bit of an issue. I personally put that aside - it's a horror film, and a flight of fancy. All in all, this film is best experienced in the dead of the night, in a darkened room, alone. That you'll get it.The last scenes in the movie are undoubtedly the best.

tuckerconstable-07055 In present day L.A., many strange things are happening. The moon is beginning to eclipse, the homeless are beginning to look soulless and devoid of any emotion and a deceased priest has left Donal Pleasance's character with a mysterious key. Pleasance finds the key is to the church's basement and in that basement is a mysterious cylinder filled with a green liquid. He calls in a team of college students and their professor to help in an investigation as to what exactly is residing inside of that cylinder. Once the investigation begins, the plot is set in motion. They find out the cylinder contains a demonic being and one big problem is discovered-the cylinder opens from the inside. Once the shapeless being escapes, it begins possessing the students and terrorizing the unpossessed. Things build to such a frightening peak, that the characters are told to "pray for death" in one of the more chilling scenes in the film."Prince of Darkness" is a far from perfect film. Sometimes it's limited budget shows with some cheap effects or in a few instances of campy acting. But, the story is interesting and it's a unique idea to have the very scientific students cross paths with very religious priest, played by Donald Pleasance. While this idea is interesting and would provide for a unique secondary plot, it feels somewhat under cooked. It's not expounded upon as much as it could be. But, a few praises for the film would definitely be the cinematography and John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's eery, pulsating score. Gary B. Kibbe brings a very cinematic feel to a very low budget horror film that many cameramen would write off as undeserving of cinematic scope. And the score makes for a perfect back drop to the unsettling imagery of the film. Also, as a side note, Donald Pleasance is definitely the best actor in the film. Victor Wong is great too, but Pleasance had the ability to bring an intimidating presence on screen that not many actors have the ability to do.All in all, "Prince of Darkness" is a testament to John Carpenter's seamless direction. While the film would be schlock in the hands of any other horror director, Carpenter gives the film a great underscore of fear and dread that's very similar to the feeling of "The Thing" or "In The Mouth of Madness". A good film if you're looking at it as a horror film, but somewhat average when looked at as a John Carpenter film.

jackvictore The first half hour of this movie is your standard character development phase. Only thing is, all of these characters are as boring and forgettable as the interactions they have. A lazy attempt at menacing music plays in the background as if to say, "This might seem boring, but trust me something spooky is happening." A mathematical jar of gas is downstairs and trust me, its spooky! Some quickly glossed over scientific explanation and some vague and distant math equations show that there is definitely some kind of sophisticated power at force here. They do this thing throughout the entire movie where something strange occurs and then they immediately explain it. Its like watching the movie with John Carpenter sitting next to you saying "That happened because of this, and this is what is happening here." The entire movie is given to you one forced spoon full at a time. The plot is a poorly thought out and overly complicated concept explained by someone who doesn't know how to make the science convincing except by having the characters agree with one another in a long sequence of finishing each others sentences. Each character conveniently has the answer to each dilemma as if they had read the script and that is the only reason any of it makes sense to them. They might as well just say "Well the reason this strange thing is happening is because that is what the script says!"John Carpenter should stick with basic concepts like a madman with a knife. This movie had too much empty dialogue and nothing truly scary ever happens. It makes me hesitant to take anymore chances on watching any of his movies.