Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8700 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-10-07
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, Surround Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.com
The B picture lives on in the films of John Carpenter. Prince of Darkness weds supernatural horror with quantum weirdness, when a group of theoretical-physics students, led by their professor, Birack (Victor Wong), joins forces with a priest (Donald Pleasence) to forestall the coming of the Dark Lord. His Darkness has been imprisoned in a cylindrical container as a swirling green plasma since time immemorial, and is now beginning to find his way out. All of this is bolstered by a lot of fancy science talk (all of which is real, I can assure you--someone did his homework), which allows us to settle down, say okey dokey, and enjoy the thrills that this presages. As the title character spreads his contagion through the group of students, holed up in a church to study the sequestered Satan, the film shapes up as an homage to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, much like Carpenter's earlier film, Assault on Precinct 13. But this adds the twist of quantum physics dovetailing with religious orthodoxy, and in the bargain spawning numerous zombie minions. There are plenty of squishy splatter opportunities, the kind that make some affected people say, "This is a bad movie!" while they grin from ear to ear. Look for Alice Cooper as a street schizo. I think you'll recognize him. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

Scary with Possibilities
There are many great reviews on the content of this film, so I won't repeat them here. However, the one aspect of this film that made it one of the most frightening and one of the most memorable films for me was the science - in respect to people from the future trying to communicate with those in the present to warn them about the imminent arrival of Satan so they could change the future outcome. The technology in this future was limited, and could only come through as fractured messages and images during the dream state. I can imagine the frustration and desperation on the other end, as these technicians in the future try with the limited resources they have to make those in the present take action.

The image of Satan's silhouette in the church archway is one I will never get out of my head and it sends a chill down my spine everytime I see it.

Satan is ultimately stopped from coming into the world, at least in the first possible future, but the future technicians will have to start again at square one, as their past has been changed, but not in the way they were hoping for.

Which leads to all kinds of philosophical and scientific questions and possiblities. I can think of no other horror film, let alone a "B" film such as this, that ever inspired that kind of deep discussion.

This is a great, scary, eat-popcorn-watch-it-with-the-lights-off gruesome horror movie...but it also makes you think.

One of my faves!
This movie puts me in mind of Pet Sematary... One of those movies that's creepy and hoakie at the same time.... Good Movie!

This 'water' is deadly....
In the 1980's, John Carpenter was a horror icon with such productions as the Halloween series and the remake of Howard Hawks' "The Thing". A little-acknowledged masterpiece called 'Prince of Darkness' was made in 1987 and has been one of his finest creations.

The storyline revolves around a sinister secret that has been kept in the basment of an abandoned Los Angeles church. On the death of the last memeber of a mysterious sect, another priest opens the door to the basement & discovers a vat containing a green liquid in a perpetual state of flux. While reading the dead man's diary, the priest discovers some disturbing details & contacts Professor Howard Birack of a local university, who brings with him a group of graduate students to investigate it. Initially disturbing are the mobs of homeless people surrounding the church, but things get much worse as the students investigate. One student discovers the vat is locked from the inside; another finds that the liqid is producing differential mathematic equations (which did not exist when the contents of the vat were dated from); another reveals some strange facts from a translated book about Satan, Jesus Christ and something more chilling - the Father of Satan, an all-powerful anti-God. Soon after, the liquid begins escaping from the container & turns the students into zombies, who then murder their colleagues. Anyone who tries to escape meets a frightening fate; one meets a bloody end at the hands of a homeless man and a second dissolves into a mass of beetles after being attacked. The remaining students, the priest, and professor must find a way to stop the devil from releasing his father or face an unthinkable result.

Jameson Parker - best known as A.J. on the TV series 'Simon & Simon' - turns in a respectable performance as one of the graduate students; also giving stellar performances are Lisa Blount, Donald Pleasance & Victor Wong. One can almost see a touch of Dr. Sam Loomis from 'Halloween' in the priest played by Donald Pleasance.

The lack of extras on the DVD is a little disappointing; it's the only reason this DVD gets 4 stars instead of 5.