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Movies / Upcoming / Prince of Darkness
Prince of Darkness

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Prince of Darkness (1987)

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44 %
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Reviews Counted:18

Fresh:8

Rotten:10

Average Rating:5/10

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Director John Carpenter creates a film that is genuinley scary with PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Graduate students are confronted with pure evil when they go to study a container of strange ooze discovered... Director John Carpenter creates a film that is genuinley scary with PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Graduate students are confronted with pure evil when they go to study a container of strange ooze discovered in the basement of an abandoned church. The ooze is released and all hell, quite literally, breaks loose within the church. Some of the students are turned into skinless zombies while others receive warnings from the future sent in the form of hazy dreams. The warnings tell of the rise of Satan and the ensuing destruction of humanity. The students must stop the evil from being released, even at the cost of their lives and souls. Carpenter pulls together a solid ensemble cast and builds a heavy mood of impending doom around them. There are many truly terrifying moments, with the climax of the film being one of the most visually brilliant and disturbing in the horror genre. Rock star Alice Cooper provides a fun cameo appearance as a minion of Satan. PRINCE OF DARKNESS was the first production in a three-film deal Carpenter signed with a small Hollywood studio in the 1980s and is one of the great films of the director's canon. The other two films in that deal were THEY LIVE and MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN. [More]

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount, Victor Wong, Jameson Parker

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount, Victor Wong, Jameson Parker, Alice Cooper, Dennis Dun, Susan Blanchard, Ann Marie Howard, Ann Yen, Ken Wright, Dirk Blocker, Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, Peter Jason, Robert Grasmere, Thom Bray, Joanna Merlin, Betty Ramey, Jessie Ferguson, Helen Kelly

Director: John Carpenter

Director: John Carpenter

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Prince of Darkness

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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Crossing the boundary at the outer reaches of the physical world where science meets superstition and reason collides with the irrational, it tells a tale as miraculous as the Bible and as dry as any technical text.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
10/05/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film

One of John Carpenter's most underrated films, gory, grim and good.

comment Comment
01/14/05
Blake Davis
Blake Davis
KFOR Channel 4 News

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Reasonably chilling.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
06/29/05
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

No review available.

comment Comment
08/20/04
Nicolas Lacroix
Nicolas Lacroix
EnPrimeur.ca

A minor Carpenter entry, to be sure, but still weird and freaky enough to make for solid B-horror viewing.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

No review available.

comment Comment
01/24/04
Spence D.
Spence D.
IGN Movies

The last superlative Carpenter film. Moment of silence, please.

comment Comment
09/08/03
Widgett Walls
Widgett Walls
Needcoffee.com

An okay rental. Didn't even come close to living up to its potential.

comment Comment
08/28/02
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

it's NEW and IMPROVED LIQUID SATAN!!!

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/04/04
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/02/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
02/18/07
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Among Carpenter's worst and that's saying something.

comment Comment
11/25/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

comment Comment
01/28/03
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The setup is great; the payoff leaves you more than a little bit disappointed.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
01/24/05
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

No review available.

comment Comment
01/15/04
Randy Shulman
Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Carpenter's first real misfire.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
 
 
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