Review of Prince of Darkness (1987) by Ben H — 07 Dec 2008

Clearly influenced by such films as Susperia, Day of the Dead and even re-injecting elements from his own films like The Fog, JC's Prince of Darkness is still fairly unique in the glut of 80's horror, and it stands the test of time imo. I think because despite these obvious influences, it creates it's own identity, and it doesn't try to pander to familiar horror cliches to much. Because of that, it feels a lot more like a 1970's effort than the era that produced Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees. It never has gotten the respect it deserves I don't think.

Of course it's helped out by Carpenter's amazing knack at creating atmosphere using yet another great score, excellent framing (despite not having Dean Cundey as DOP who filmed all his other best films) and a script that's got a very Lovecraft feel too it. It's not as good as his two masterworks, but still one of Carpenter's last great gifts to the genre (only They Live and ITMOM followed before he started going south eventually bankrolling remakes of his own films!), and even though it takes a bit to get going, it's so well made that the director practicaly hypnotises you with it's pace before it's belter finale. It's a slow burn, but I like it.