Stinging from the lack of box office success with Big Trouble In Little China John Carpenter returned to his horror/thriller roots with 1987’s Prince Of Darkness. here we get a couple of familiar faces (and John Carpenter alums) Donald Pleasence and Victor Wong leading a cast that includes future Carpenter regular Peter Jason as well as the co-star of the then hit television series “Simon & Simon” as well as an appearance by Alice (yes, that Alice) Cooper.
The film starts off rather slowly with two seemingly separate storylines. One involves a priest guarding a secret and the other is a university graduate class. Tying the two together are ants, at least initially. As the film progresses things begin to converge as well as get a little creepy. Things don’t really progress until about a half hour in, which is a little disappointing.
We know people are going to die. That’s just the sort of thing that’s going to happen in a movies like this. We expect it. The issue is how, along with who and when. Who will survive? Will the evil be contained or will the ending be left open for the viewer to imagine.
These are all things John Carpenter is good at, and while the concepts are good, the pacing of the film just isn’t there. Add to this a batch of characters that aren’t clearly defined and you get what is a film that John Carpenter fans will enjoy watching, but non-fans won’t necessarily enjoy. It’s not a bad film, it’s just that there isn’t anything to make it stand out other than some concepts, but concepts do not make for a full movie.
While it was a box office success, it’s easy to see why Prince Of Darkness wasn’t a critical one. The issues aren’t with John Carpenter the director but John Carpenter the screenwriter. This time he uses the pseudonym Martin Quartermass. John Carpenter also provides the score, which he has done for most of his films, and as usual the minimalistic tone serves the film well.
Shout Factory has brought the film to Blu-ray looking better than it ever has. Everything is sharp and clear, and the audio is crisp. There are plenty of special features starting off with an audio commentary by John Carpenter, but that’s only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There’s a bit from a hosted 25th anniversary screening, a new look at the locations used, the alternate opening used for television (but not the whole of the film’s edit) and of course trailers, stills and more. Interviews abound with score co-composer Alan Howarth, visual effects supervisor Robert Grasmere, John Carpenter and even Alice Cooper. In essence, even if this is your least favorite John Carpenter film there’s plenty here to satisfy even the most casual fan of the filmmaker.
Shout Factory knows what audiences want, and if you’re a fan of John Carpenter at all, you’ll certainly be happy with what is on offer here.