Rating: 
Summary: Better the first time
Review: When I saw this movie as a teenager, it scared the bejeesuz out of me in broad daylight. Maybe it was a small town religeous upbringing or maybe I was just a little wussy-boy, but it certainly didn't pack the same punch 14 years later.I like horror films, and I like John Carpenter's stuff a lot (I DO get tired of his extremely mediocre soundtracks). The problem with "Prince of Darkness" is that it's VERY typical of the mid-eighties horror film and Carpenter didn't find the inspiration to make it special like he does sometimes. The cast looks like somebody took the actors of just about every other John Carpenter film of the preceding decade, put them in a pot and dumped them into the movie without bothering to give them new characters to play. Mostly they go through the motions in a less than convincing way. The most convincing job comes from the bugs that explode out of one guy's neck as his head falls off (I mean you REALLY believe those bugs wanted out of that guy's body the way they crawl out of there). In all seriousness, it's not THAT bad (but it's close), but if you haven't seen it, rent it first just to be sure it's your kind of horror movie before you buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: we are transmitting to you...
Review: Yes! This gave nightmares for months after seeing it the first time. May not be THE John Carpenter movie to beat (That would be The Thing)but is up there with Escape From NY and Dark Star! Being familiar with the British serial character Alan Quartermass (sort of a WWII precursor to Dr.Who)helps, as it was based on one the series' stories (again Carpenter throwing the referrence to us in the credits, creidting Alan Quartermass with the screenplay). Many good features, stalwart Donald Pleasance, looking doughy and confused, BD Wong flirting with everybody (and failing miserably)-and my personal fave-Thom Bray as expendable scientist #1! That's right, the Boz from "Riptide" gets attacked by posessed bums led by...Alice Cooper! What are ya waiting for?!
Rating:
Summary: A very creepy and underrated John Carpenter masterpiece
Review: When I first saw this,I just thought it was odd.Since it's story is has so many intricicies,the movie gets better and better with each viewing.A group of scientists are brought it when a priest of a church realises that Satan is coming back and his spirit is contained in a jar of green liquid.Likable characters,interesting horror sequences,and a positively chilling and brilliant score by John Carpenter himself round this excellent horror movie. END
Rating:
Summary: One of Carpenters best ¿ a cult horror classic.
Review: I remember seeing this in the theatre when it first came out and there is no mistaking that this is one terrifying horror movie, not because Carpenter can knock up a load of blood on the screen but because it has brains and all the hallmarks of classic Carpenter suspense. If you are a Carpenter fan then you probably know that his earlier shoestring budget works are better than his recent big budget crap fests - The Thing, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween and The Fog are what makes Carpenter great. Prince of Darkness is no exception to that rule. The film concerns a secret Christian sect, called the Brotherhood of Sleep, who have kept something evil locked up in one of their churches downstairs in a large glass vessel. When the final brother dies he passes on the secret to Father Loomis (Donald Pleasence) who in turn decided to call in some physics students from the local college to find out what is in the vessel. Soon the students find themselves up against an evil that is waiting to be reborn, and also up against themselves as the evil takes hold of them (sort of turning people in zombies that spray evil water out from their mouths). The single most amazing thing about the Prince of Darkness is the whole atmosphere. There is very little blood at the start and yet the feelings that are evoked by the wonderful set designs, music and lighting will have the hair on the back on your head sticking up. When the blood does come it is not as shocking, however there is one scene of a dead man outside standing in beetles that gave me sleepless nights for weeks. Imagine that thing standing at the end of your bed at night! This is not just a horror film either. There is lots of quasi-science going on, including theories on things like tachyon particles that can transmit messages through time (in fact the Brotherhood of Sleep all the have the same dream). So in reality this movie's genre is a horror/sci-fi rather than just horror. Although the film has certainly dated, it is still leaps and bounds ahead of the horror we put out these days. We like horror films that think a little and Carpenter used to do that for us. Oh how times have changed for this once great author, but let's not be too judgemental because of what he has already given us. Certainly Prince of Darkness ranks up there as one of the tenses and weirdest horror films of all time. Alice Cooper also has a cameo as a possessed wino! Now how can you say no to seeing that! Bottom line is to let this film take you. Sure it is nearly twenty years old, but it is just so damn original that you have to give the man top marks. A cult classic in every sense of the word and certainly DVD ownership is a must for early Carpenter fans. As a note Screenwriter "Martin Quatermass" is actually John Carpenter.
Rating: 
Summary: Prince of Darkness Delivers
Review: Any true fan of John Carpenter's work will thoroughly enjoy "Prince of Darkness." At a time in cinematic horror history when the best that Hollywood could put out were mindless slasher movies (a la Friday the 13th, parts 1 - 99), Carpenter created a thinking person's cult classic. He shunned the useless gore and replaced it with quantum physics (somewhat watered-down, but honest-to-goodness actual theory, I know because I teach the stuff). An abondoned church is the perfect setting for a clash between good vs. ultimate evil, and Alice Cooper adds a fitting touch. All-in-all, I would suggest that true horror (not gore) fans chalk up any negative reviews of this movie to ignorance and see it for yourselves. Oh yeah, the ending leaves you stunned. Does anyone know what became of the planned sequel?
Rating: 
Summary: messy prince
Review: Prince of Darkness is messy. It's all over the place and reminded me a bright kid who refuses to apply himself in school. The talent is there, the skills are there but it doesn't quite come together. However, the good parts of Prince are darn near brilliant.
Here's the good stuff:
Dennis Dun, as the one of the students. The scene where he finds himself trapped in a closet while the antichrist wakes up is priceless. Dunn reacts just like a normal person would. He freaks out and is actally saved in part becuase of that hysteria.
Donald Plesence as Father Loomis. Father Loomis is scared to death and does what most audience members would do if confronted with the devil and zombies. He hides. He spends the second half of the movie avoiding trouble and finally when he finally gets his courage up it's wonderful.
Victor Wong as the professor. Wong is just plain great all the time. His character is basicly Van Helsing by way of China.
The possessed street people. They were quite scary and Alice Cooper's message never fails to provide a jump in your seat moment.
The music. The soundtrack is excellent and keeps you on edge.
The "you will not be saved" scene. The next time you see someone intently typing you might be tempted to walk on by without calling attention to yourself.
The ending. C'mon, admit it. You didn't expect that, now did you?
Here's the bad stuff:
The heroine is bland. I didn't care about this girl one bit and since a major plot twist rests on her shoulders that a flaw.
The "hero" is Jameson Parker (He played the preppy brother on Simon and Simon). He's so laid back and slow that it's like watching rice pudding dry up. Plus that mustache was silly looking. The hero can not look like a dork unless it's a comedy.
The students. They're all supposed to be brilliant but they behave as stupidly as the kids from Jeepers Creepers.
The devil. The monks have had the devil trapped in a glass tube for centuries. This means that some monk without the aid of TV, modern science or computers or any of the stuff our heroes use managed to catch Old Scatch and keep him in goo form all this time. Plus, we later see that he has fingers like a deformed Mickey Mouse. Oh. Obviously it's not Victor Wong and the Scooby gang that's needed. Father Loomis should've found a little old monk who was prepared to get medieval.
The plot. I love John Carpenter but this plot is full of holes and just seems sloppily thrown togehter.
So there you have it. Prince of Darkness is highly flawed but it has some really creepy scares.
Rating:
Summary: Those College Students Couldn't Have Been THAT Smart
Review: Here is my biggest complaint about the film. Most of the college students suffer "Friday the 13th Syndrome" where they wander off by themselves in places they KNOW they shouldn't be, but hang around just so they can meet their grisly end. Ask yourselves, when you walk into a room only to find green Satan goop dripping upwards and pooling on the ceiling, wouldn't you go to your friends for help? I thought so. Such a great premise and genuine forbodeing builds up to Camp Crystal Lake in an inner city church.
Having said that, I still give it three stars and maybe it should be four. Excellent premise. Donald Pleasence delivers the doom and gloom forecast like no other. The transmissions from the future are great. The ending left me COMPLETELY rattled. If this film were a little shorter, eliminating the necessity of killing off so many college kids while leaving the substance of the story intact, this would've been perfect. (Either that or give me more plausible ways to kill off the herd.) Not Carpenter's best, but it sure could've been.
Rating:
Summary: Have a sip of Green Goo....there, now don't you feel better?
Review: The movie begins with an old priest dying as he clutches a strange little box to his chest. Father Loomis (played by Donald Pleasence) takes the key and discovers the two thousand year old secret hidden beneath the church, strange vat that is now beginning to come alive with green goo.
Loomis goes to Professor Howard Birack (played by Victor Wong) who lectures on parapsychology at the local college, and requests that he and his students join him at the church to study the peculiar icon. Birack brings along his students, Brian, Catherine, and Walter (plus expendables) where they meet Loomis at the church, ready to spend the night there with the radiologists and biologists and other specialists Loomis has lured towards their doom.
John Carpenter has filled `Prince Of Darkness' with as much creeping dread as `The Thing', `Into The Mouth Of Madness', and `Assault On Precinct 13'. The tone of his `Doom-Doom' soundtrack makes even a vat of green goo seem very sinister. And sinister it is. After luring Susan to the basement to take a peek at it, she notices that the goo is dripping upwards, just before our friendly vat gives her a taste. Now Susan wants to share the flavor with everyone else.
The goo wants to spread itself around, and Birack discovers that it is sentient and has a purpose. With the homeless people acting as minions to the goo and trapping the Priest and students inside, they must put their heads together and discover not only what the goo wants from them, but what it is trying to achieve through them.
`Prince Of Darkness' is a creepy, suspenseful horror flick, perfect for those nights alone with no one to cuddle except your plush Cthulhu. Donald Pleasence and Victor Wong give excellent performances, and Dennis Dun (playing Walter) has always been one of my favorite character actors. Suspense, rotting people, crazy bums, Alice Cooper, sinister atmosphere, beetles, zombies, stabbings, senseless spoutings of false wisdom, and green goo. What more could a horror fan wish for?
On a personal humor note, see if you do not find yourself wishing that every time Brian (played by Jameson Parker) looks into the mirror, he will catch onto how horridly ridiculous his moustache is and shave that dang thing off! Enjoy the movie!
Rating:
Summary: Great movie with a wild twist at the end ! ! !
Review: This is one of My more favorite John Carpenter movies I have to say.
The movie starts off with 2 plots, one is a university which focuses on a class room for para-psychology, the other is the last Priest of a secret order holding something dies.
The church contacts the parapsychology proffessor which brings back to one plot. The Professor has his students spend the weekend 'grudginly' at this church to study something but no one knows as of yet what it is.
While setting up in the church they meet others from the uni who are to work with them, radiologist, biochemist, ancient language student, etc...
Alice Cooper played the part of a street bum, I guess the leader of them who becomes possessed and with the help of the other bums keeps the students locked in the church so they cant get out...
Alice Cooper was perfect for the part because he had no speaking roles I have to admit but still very good movie with a shocking build up and a twisted ending that will make many think hard about things in general in life which to Me is a sign of a good movie...
Although this movie may not be at the top of your collection, it is well worth getting and watching over and over on occations...
Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: It's slow!
Review: The movie features Donald Pleasence, but it simply doesn't have that much life to it. This is probably John Carpenter's worst effort.
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