I had a horror fiend friend
back in Junior High who was so excited about seeing this movie. And that was
about all I knew about Prince of
Darkness. But the boys over at H.P. Podcraft mentioned it a couple times
(as well as Carpenter’s frequent inspiration from Lovecraft) and I put it on my
viewing list.
Summary:
A mysterious death at a run
down church causes a priest (Donald Pleasence) to enlist the aid of Professor
Howard Birack (Victor Wong). Wong gathers a top notch squad of graduate students
to study a bizarre cylinder of green matter in a secret chamber under the
church. As their research continues, the team concludes that they
are facing pure evil and attempting to quantify it! But evil never sleeps, and
it uses this opportunity to attempt an escape, one that will tear the very
fabric of reality apart and bring about the arrival of trans-dimensional being
that will destroy our world. Oh and Alice Cooper is on hand as possessed
homeless man.
Good Points:
- The Lovecraftian core story is intriguing
- Some solid jump scares
- Gets creepier the longer you think about the implications
- Goes overboard explaining the premise
- Slogs down a little too often while trying to build tension
- The ending lacks the punch it was hoping to deliver
A really interesting concept
that is restricted with some clunky exposition and a budget that can’t quite
pull it off. Carpenter tries to recreate the isolation and building dread that
made The Thing and The Fog work so well, but he never
quite manages it here. Part of the problem Is the characters are less
compelling here, and the pacing never really works out. It is an interesting
watch and one that provided a neat twist on pure evil. I get the feeling this
will work better in a second viewing a few months from now.
Scores
(out of 5)
Visuals: 4
Sound: 3
Acting: 3
Script: 4
Music: 3
Direction: 3
Entertainment: 3
Total: 3
No comments:
Post a Comment