Review of Prince of Darkness (1987) by Timothy S — 28 Aug 2014

Although his films were not always successful, John Carpenter is a very adventurous filmmaker who is never content to make the same movie twice. "Prince of Darkness" is very ambitious, but it fails to follow through on the promise of the nifty set-up making it one of the few of his film misfires.

The first half is a whole lot of talk, some of it theological mumbo jumbo and some of it scientific mumbo jumbo, but I was admittedly intrigued by the basic premise. What I could understand of it, that is. I was fascinated as the two separate story lines converged into one as Carpenter's masterful score portends of something ominous to come.

But unfortunately, the movie doesn't have a lot of faith in its convictions and the second half settles into a far more conventional groove as Satan possesses this group of students are forces them to do his evil bidding. It's a very conventional plot device in a movie that had, up to that point, successfully avoided all conventionality. All of the deep dialogue and musings about life and the universe are quickly thrown out the window in favor of gruesome mayhem.

The film isn't even very scary, mostly because the idea of the Devil isn't particularly real enough to terrify the audience. The scariest thing in the film are the brief shots of a dream shared by the students that brings to mind the popular "Found footage" pictures of recent memory. The cast is mostly lethargic, and even revered Donald Pleasence in the lead role doesn't bring much to the proceedings.

"Prince of Darkness" is a rare misstep for a director known for his passion and creativity.