Prince of Darkness was fucking TERRIFYING

Hells yeah! This movie scared the shite outta me, and still does. The tachyon transmission, with the robed figured standing in the church entrance raising his arms (not to mention the twist take on this at the end) stuck with me a long time after first watching it.

Also, one part that is just the creepiest ever was when all the bugs start pouring out of that guy and he says some lines in that wicked wierd voice. *SHUDDER!*

"I have a message for you. You're not going to like it. Pray for death."

Great movie and yeah scared the hell out of me when I first saw it. Very unsettling. One of my favorite Carpenter flicks.

One of the best movies ever. It's what horror is supposed to be like.

I didn't like this one. It felt too much like a best of film for Carpenter. Plus having all your favorite actors in it didn't help too.

I'm not knocking it, just I didn't like it.

1987 was a great year for horror. I went to Prince of Darkness three times the week it opened and I just loved it. The plot is goofy as hell, but it somehow worked perfectly for me. Tacyons sent back in time and Christ was an extraterrestrial sent to warn the Earth about a jar full of Satan. The dreams and that blonde woman at the end were the things that frightened me the most. Alice, the guy full of bugs and that ending were a few of other things that got to me in that film. One of my favorite Carpenter films.

"It's so wonderful what you're doing, father ... opening the church again"

Definitely the scariest film I've ever seen. So many little details, tricks and techniques to make it not just 'jump' scary, but by turns strange, chilling, puzzling, nihilistic, gory, surreal and shlocky in a way that gets into your mind and stays there. The vaguely Lovecraftian aspects - the 6 million year-old canister, the ancient texts and cults, and the malevolent 'anti-god' just seal the deal.

I've seen it criticised as just being a film about "hitting zombies with bits of wood" - but IMO that is to miss so much of the film you may as well have sat there with your eyes closed. Or your ears, as the brilliant, driving soundtrack adds hugely to the experience of subtle, almost intangible dread.

I think what really makes it for me is the hopelessness of it all. You can stab a masked psychopath, shoot an alien, blow up a monster ... but what can you really do against the forces displayed here?

I can't believe there are people who find this movie scary, or even entertaining.

"SSSSSCCCHHHHwe are SSCCHHtransmitting from the year one, nine, nine, nine...SSSCCCHH"

Absolutely one of THE creepiest American (said cuz the Asians cornering the market on "creepy" anymore) movies ever. I loved the whole transmission from the future thing. The 'mark' in the bruise on the blonde chick, projectile vomiting devil-juice on people... It worked like gangbusters. And like previously said, the hopelessness of it all is true horror.

Probably gonna pick this up at Best Buy this weekend.

If I could still give out negative reputation points you'd get about 10. ass

And I would wear them like a badge of pride. Prince of Darkness was mediocre at best, boring as hell at worst.

I found it entertaining, mostly due to the professionalism and undeniable presence of Carpenter vets Victor Wong and Donald Pleasance. Overall, it was quite moody and atmospheric, but not that scary.

Has Victor Wong ever been in a movie that wasn't entertaining?

Shit. Didn't know dude was dead...

well it starts of f really dull, and it's full of 80's hair, but bits of it stay with me today and i haven't seen it in a decade - the character that gets stuck behind the mirror - with their hand outstretched...

yeah, i'll join with the love of this film. i'm gonna have to watch it again. damn this website, making me remember all these cool films i have to watch again.

Isn't the church for this film now an Asian-American theatre in L.A.?

Good flick, some FX are very good while others are startlingly lame. They should've had all the possessed folk start to degrade upon possession.

Dennis Dun freaking out in the closet is always good for a laugh.

And you're a jackass at best , asshat at worst. Prince of Darkness was a great movie with loads of "creepy" atmosphere with a good sense of dread . Sure.. it had it's fall backs like having born again Christian Republicans like Alice Cooper in it . But I can overlook this small flaw and enjoy the movie for one of the greatest movies ever made. It's a masterpiece. If you don't like it, you don't like horror. period . ass

Wow.

Just wow.

I mean... wow.

Dude, realx. He dosen't like the movie, you do. Who gives a shit? I hate it when people get all mad and self righteous because somebody has a diffrent opinion about a movie. It's an opinion, he is just as right as you are.

Jeez, what harsh opinions.

Yeah, there is a cheese factor to Prince of Darkness, but to say it was not entertaining is saying a lot. Even Ghosts of Mars was somewhat entertaining, even though it's 98% concentrated shit.

Saw PoD on video when it first came out, about 15 years ago. Scary, a little, but haunting because of the time travel, Messiah thing. That was a nice twist that adds that something-to-think-about-later apsect.

"I can't believe there are people who find this movie scary, or even entertaining."

Singer, are you the type who allows themselves to be scared in a horror movie, or are you the type who will fight to prove that a movie is not scary, no matter how hard they try? Just wondering. Not trying to be a dick.

I give a shit! That's who!

Since everyone has seen this I wanna talk about the ending. I loved this movie BUT I am tired of humans in movies beating evil and the old gods. Its not realistic. I wanted that fucker out and crushing skulls. I wanted a new sheriff in town

I can easily buy anyone not finding this film suspenseful. It does have its share of holes. Hoss' son in need of a chiropractor does not guarantee goosebumps.

Everything is subjective. I find the original Thing more frightening than the remake, and I bet I'm in the vast minority there.

Vast minority might be an understatement there.

I saw parts of Prince of Darkness when I was a kid, back in the late 80s when USA or HBO would show these movies. I remember it being a lot more scary than it was when I saw it in the past year again for the first time. This seems to happen a lot. But I will admit some good moments of creepy atmosphere. Maybe the section where everyone is trapped in the separate rooms and hallways and that whole song and dance.

LOL

I got to say that when I first saw this film, a long time ago, it was with much anticipation. By the end however I remember being hugely dissapointed, so I'm kind of siding with Jacob here. It has been ages since I saw it though and since so many people here seem to love it, I guess I need to see it again.

Glad to see Zombie spreads his particular brand of offensive idiocy across all the Messageboards though.

Really? It would be awesome if they hadn't fixed it up or anything, and it was still the rotting, awful place it was in the film. Even the tree at the gates was scary!

I'd definitely go there to watch something, although I'd probably run away if I saw any homeless people with bicycles.

I love genunely scary movies, and I love being scared. The Exorcist, The Thing, The Devil's Backbone, Psycho, Halloween, Alien, Hellraiser, The Omen, dozens of others. But for me, Prince of Darkness just doesn't work. Does it have moments of atmosphere? Sure. But I remember how much I was looking forward to it, how frightening the ad campaign made it look, but the actual film disappointed on almost every level. I'm glad others seem to like it, but it still surprises me, just like I'm surprised that people derive enjoyment from Ghosts of Mars in a non-ironic way.

Roger Ebert thought Ghosts Of Mars was better than The Thing.

<shudder>

'The Devil's Backbone:' least scary horror movie ever.
'The Others:' now, there's a scary movie.

On topic, I thought POD was pretty good when I first saw it. I revisited it on video a few years back, however, and am of the opinion that it hasn't aged well.

I love that.

And I love this flick.

15 negative reputation points

I'm interested, zombiesdontrun, if PoD is a "Masterpiece", what are your top 5 horror movies??

No particular order..


Prince of Darkness
Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Friday the 13th part 2
The Thing

The church across the street from where I used to live looked EXACTLY like the one from POD, including the creepy guys around and everything. I loved it. I just missed Alice Cooper.

I saw this on opening night when it first came out, a midnight showing, and was so excited.

I left the theater so disappointed.

I haven't seen it since but I wonder if I should. Perhaps it would be better the second time around and with lower expectations.

Most Carpenter films are.
Movies I didn't like the first time around, but now appreciate-
Big Trouble In Little China
They Live
Prince of Darkness

Maybe I should revisit Escape From LA...

I love Carpenter to death, but Prince of Darkness is probably my least favorite of his that I have seen. To me, it's just a silly film. Sure, it's fun to watch Donald Pleasance AND Victor Wong in the same movie, but beyond that the film was just slow and not scary at all.

I feel the same way. My first post on these message boards was about how I felt the 2nd half of JC's filmogrophy was shit. Since then I have revisited them all with the exception of Escape From LA and they've really grown on me. I now have a huge John Carpenter section in my DVD's. I grew to appreciate the films even more after reading the book John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness. Great book.,

A remake would be weird. A lot of the appeal of the original was down to the fact everything was so derelict, so ordinary and so disused - the buildings, the people, the faiths, everything.

(and I swear I have a fear of cracked plaster and rusted iron because of this film, and think of that church every time I see a run-down building)

I just liked the way the end of the world was coming not out of big ornate temples, or somewhere amongst grand, dramatic scenery, but instead in some shitty neighbourhood in Los Angeles. It made it more, well, real.

And I just automatically associate 'remake' with gloss, glitz (and lack of soul) - and I just can't see a modern-day horror film being made that was full of warty old tramps and funny-looking old men.

Presumably they'd have to cut out some of the quantum physics rubbish as well, to make it more ... understandable?

I'd be interested to see it, don't get me wrong, I just think a lot of what makes it good is the way it's a product of the times, the places, and of Carpenter himself as he was back then - and none of those things really exist any more, sadly.

Very true Alucard. It's one of those that should never be remade. It's a period piece.

It is a very good book - it put alot of his work into perspective.

As for Prince of Darkness, I dont think its one of his best fims, but it is one of his scariest

when I saw this in theaters I didn't like it, probably because I was in catholic high school at the time and it seemed especially hokey to me. but I keep watching it since and it is a lot of fun in very tried and true John Carpenter fashion.

I dig how the openingish scene with Pleasance priest at table with artifacts recalls similar opening in The Fog. there is a lot of stuff that goes on quickly in this movie before some longer setpieces play out in confinement. the same is true with Escape From LA I would say (although the rest of the movie is not as claustraphobic)

I like it very much, but then again I love almost all of John Carpenter movies (yes, even GoM), except for Vampires, I kinda like it but loose interest in last 20 minutes of the movie. K'mon the vamps should have won, hands down.

But the Thing remains JC's best movie ever, it is simply a masterpiece.

I first saw this movie my first year in college way back in 1987 or so on late night HBO. I had all the lights off and i have to say it really freaked me out. By the end of the movie, I was literally on the edge of my seat.
Now, I saw it again a few months ago on a Saturday afternoon. It was still a good movie, a little dated, but creepy, but it didn't have the same effect it had on me 17 years ago...

Joey

I saw it on TV recently too... and also have the DVD since... and I got to say, as with ALL of Carpenter's movies, you do a disservice to yourself to form too solid of an opinion on them based on redacted, squashed TV versions. they can still be enjoyable on TV and I'm glad they do get aired, but... if ever there was a genre filmmaker who really revels in uncensored widescreen, it's JC

I believe this movie is, by far, the worst of John Carpenter's works. It's a self-absorbed, delusional, suspenseless mess. The fright scenes aren't frightening, the acting is below sub-par, and the psychobabble technotalk gobbledegook so totally overruns the script that even when you do manage to struggle past the strained "Deep thoughts" falling out of every other characters mouth (Except Dennis Dun's, he gets every terrible one-liner Carpenters coke-addled mind spit out onto the typewriter) you don't give a shit about the "tension" and "creepiness" that's supposed to be going on.

Cockroaches eating someone from the inside out sounds like a cool idea--until you see the execution.
Alice Cooper as a homicidal bum sounds cool--until you see the execution. Death by sharpened bike frame just isn't as cool as it sounds.
Being posessed by satan sounds cool--until you realize Satan is a giant blender filled with limeaid, and people are possessed by spritzing said limeaid directly into people's open mouths.

No character in this movie has any depth at all, none of their decisions make any sense, and the only thing that actually DOES work in the movie are the dreamed videotape transmissions from satan. It's a cool concept, completely run into the bottom of the portapotty with a crap script and bad actors sleepwalking through it. It's as if Carpenter forgot how to block a scene, shoot it nicely, and make it move. This movie just sits there, mouth open, waiting for someone to spill some limeaid into it.

The cockroach scene is one of Carpenters best kills, imo.

I respect your opinion on this, and you make good points about the execution on PoD.

But really?? The worst of all his works?? JC has made quite a few messes, and I think Ghosts of Mars tops the list in every aspect. Take every fault you find with PoD, and each one pales in comparison with the ridiculously stupid GoM. The flashbacks were horribly executed, and the design of the main ghost dude makes Alice Cooper as a bad guy look like Darth Vader. These are but a few unbelievable bad ideas that can be found in this movie.

To call PoD the worst of JC movies by far is reaching a little, when there are quite a few of his that are at least as bad, if not much worse.