Prince Of Darkness
John Carpenter definitely achieved a run that was second to none from the late 70s to the 1980s while directing an unbreakable string of sci fi / horror classics and the most impressive thing about that fact was in how he managed to do it while still keeping his films on a relatively low budget scale even as they were still epic in story and scope. One of the more interesting (and underrated) efforts of his during this time was this 1987 release that when viewed at face value with its concept might be THE most ambitious film he ever made even as he relegates the majority of the filmâs action to a singular location. Carpenter sought to make a supernatural horror film that included the involvement of the devil (as clearly indicated by the filmâs title) but then also wanted to combine that with elements of real life scientific research (namely physics) in order to show that the first line of defense in any kind of a biblical end of the world might very well be that of scientific researchers and analysts who would wind up (unknowingly) recording the data that adds up to showing that the Apocalypse is indeed upon us. For this purpose, Carpenter cast two old beloved acting icons to formally represent this proposed union of both the religious and scientific sides of this debate in order to protect the world from the clutches of Satan, the first being Donald Pleasence as the elder priest whose overall place in the Catholic hierarchy is never made clear (and who is never formally identified either, being top billed under the character name âPriestâ) and Victor Wong (not as well known as Pleasence but forever remembered for his roles in The Golden Child and 3 Ninjas films) as the brilliant old physics professor who constantly reminds his students that ANYTHING is possible in this universe and that something could always happen that could render all known theories about our existence to be completely and utterly wrong. And so it seems, that this would also apply to our religious beliefs as well since Pleasence (whom we are told had come to know Wong very well when they engaged in a series of Faith vs Science debates on TV) has stumbled upon some information about a secret sect of The Catholic Church (unknown even to The Vatican) for whom the true mysteries of our beliefs are known only to them. In short, God is / was pure evil, Satan was his son who was the chosen one to rule the Earth and that Jesus Christ (who was possibly of extraterrestrial descent) had found a way to trap and defeat both of them in order to protect the world of humans from their wrath. Later on, Wong poses an even more plausible theory that raises the stakes in that everything in the universe (including God) has an antimatter opposite which means that God and Jesus are actually on our side while Satan and HIS father (the Anti God) are the true sources of all the evil in the world. Either way, Pleasence laments over The Church choosing to tell all of us what now seems to be a mere fairy tale since it is easier to follow that rather than the truth, notwithstanding the various other forms of Christian religions alone who would have had a different take on these ideas that are coming from The Catholic side (and given the real life belief that many share that The Catholic Church in and of itself has always been corrupt, that compounds the matter even further of who exactly to believe about what is going on). Obviously, it is easy to see that Carpenter may have overextended his bounds on developing this original story, but the proof in the pudding is in the end result, an intelligent yet EXTREMELY creepy horror movie that manages to send chills down your spine while simultaneously coming up with moments that are sure to inspire cornball laughter from viewers. Once we have the basic overall premise set up, Pleasence and Wong decide to set up a weekend research experiment using mostly graduate students at an old church where down in the basement, the green, swirling, liquefied remains of Satan sits in a canister up on an altar, just waiting for the students to try to take samples of it while every time they look at a window, there is a legion of bugs swarming as if possessed by whatever this being is. Worse, the events inside the church have also attracted a swarm of homeless street people who are led by none other than Alice Cooper (giving a non speaking performance here but also getting the honor of making the filmâs first onscreen kill on a blubbering nerd who just so happens to be listening to some Alice music on his Walkman)! Wong is careful not to tell the others about the true nature of the experiment which he and Pleasence are aware of which might have been a mistake on his part (how could normal people handle knowing that theyâre going to be experimenting on Satan and possibly triggering the end of the world?) as the students seem to act with less than extreme caution around their test subject, causing them to be zapped with generous portions of the green goo and turned into possessed zombies (starting with a female radiologist who manages to look even hotter after she goes under the spell) who nonetheless still look normal enough to fool the others and lure them into traps. Not all of them are that lucky including the guy who tries to take off only to be stabbed with a scissors and then eaten to death by bugs leading to the filmâs scariest scene where the bugs somehow prop his dead body up so that he can deliver a âmessageâ to the others. At that point, several characters who nod off to sleep (the experiment was supposed to last through the weekend but the actual main story takes place over 24 hours) start receiving a âtransmissionâ in their dream (claiming to be from the future) that shows horrific events that are to happen if current events remain unaltered. Among the other notable cast members are Jameson Parker (whose name and face was known to everyone in the 1980s for starring in the hit TV detective show Simon And Simon) as the pretty boy heroic lead who seems to have an obsession for a fellow classmate and researcher (Lisa Blount) before hooking up with her prior to the fateful weekend, Dennis Dun (who had worked with Carpenter and Wong on Big Trouble In Little China and had the potential to be a capable Asian leading man in Hollywood before his career sputtered) as the likable, healthy skeptic of the group who being a ladiesâ man is almost touching in the way that he insists on talking to the possessed females as if they were still human almost all the way up to the end, Dirk Blocker (son of Dan âHossâ Blocker) as the slovenly slob of a grad student whom nobody really asks about when he goes missing and Carpenter regular Peter Jason as another scientist who is brought in but is also kept in the dark about the sinister nature of the experiment like everyone else. Essentially the movie becomes a high tech slasher with the large group of characters inside the church just going down one by one only now they can come back and take down other characters as well, but itâs all well and good as the real reason for the price of admission is in watching Pleasence questioning his own longstanding faith and Wong with his detached analytical persona realizing that something could not only very well be dreadfully wrong, but also outside of his own considerable range for understanding and rationale. Obviously, there are things that fall into the âwhat a dumbassâ category in terms of how the experiment is run (the researchers are NOT ever shown being told to use careful discretion in the presence of the satanic canister; an old religious text that explains everything about the canister and its origins is being translated ONSITE all while the experiment is ongoing(!), thus depriving the others including Pleasence and Wong of proper context of just what the hell theyâre really dealing with until itâs too late; would you really want an experiment that is THIS important to be handled by grad students and not real scientists?). Nonetheless, Carpenter shows himself to be able to crank up the atmosphere seemingly at will despite a bit of a boxed in finale where everybody seems to be either locked up somewhere and / or tripping over dead zombies, but the filmâs final affirmation of true faith being rewarded (and Wongâs man of science being forced to accept that) shows that Carpenter was shooting for the stars here (maybe higher than ever before in his career), succeeding in scaring the shit out of us as he also gives us some philosophical / religious thoughts to chew on for a whileâŚ
8/10