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Prince of Darkness was fucking TERRIFYING - Page 2

post #51 of 93
10/14/04 at 8:23pm
You make a good point, but it seemed to me that while Ghosts of Mars did suck..at least it sucked Carpenter-style. Not much of a defense, I know, but at least I could still see Carpenter fingerprints on it. "Prince of Darkness" was written under a pseudonym, the screenplay ate balls and his direction was indiscernable from any run of the mill TV-Movie Hack. Ghosts of Mars was awful, yes, but it managed to retain a modicum of Carpenter style. Prince of Darkness was just terrible on all counts.
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post #52 of 93
10/14/04 at 9:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatboy Roberts
... but it seemed to me that while Ghosts of Mars did suck..at least it sucked Carpenter-style. ...
I think that quote may sum up the reason this thread has become so long. After Halloween, has there been any JC movie that at least in some way has not had an aspect of suckiness to it?? Even though movies like Big Trouble and They Live are fan favorites, they still had their issues of suckiness that prevented them from being "successful" movies, in a $$$ aspect.

I'd have to say I've been mostly disappointed with most of his movies (after Big Trouble), though I am always entertained by them (except GoM. That was 100% concentrated shit.).
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post #53 of 93
10/15/04 at 12:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatboy Roberts
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.



Have you checked out Badboys 2?
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post #54 of 93
10/15/04 at 1:07am
Quote:
I think that quote may sum up the reason this thread has become so long. After Halloween, has there been any JC movie that at least in some way has not had an aspect of suckiness to it?? Even though movies like Big Trouble and They Live are fan favorites, they still had their issues of suckiness that prevented them from being "successful" movies, in a $$$ aspect.

I'd have to say I've been mostly disappointed with most of his movies (after Big Trouble), though I am always entertained by them (except GoM. That was 100% concentrated shit.).


The Thing. Personal favorite and in my opinion very close to the perfect horror/sci fi film. Kind of like Alien.



Domingo'
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post #55 of 93
10/15/04 at 1:28am
I agree. Over time, I've come to see 'The Thing' as a superior movie to Halloween in every way, not to crap on Halloween, because it's classic.

I also liked Starman, which is a forgotten film in Carpenter's filmography, in that I hardly ever see it mentioned. As well as Christine, which I thought was way better than The Fog.
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post #56 of 93
10/15/04 at 4:24am
I've never understood the appeal of Prince of Darkness, or for that matter, In the Mouth of Madness. I don't find them scary or suspenseful or even good.

The Thing is a masterpiece in my view, so is Halloween. I loved The Fog, Escape from New York, They Live, and Assault on Precinct 13 also.


Ghosts of Mars......baked ass. I was waiting for Ice Cube to say "Got a smoke?"



EOD
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post #57 of 93
10/15/04 at 1:46pm
when I saw Prince of Darkness in the theaters, I didn't like it all, because it didn't make obvious sense with the goofy dialog, and Dunn's acting especially grated on me. I wasn't down with atmosphere ruling the day. I needed a bit less suspension of disbelief.

however in watching it several times since--and especially recently on DVD--I think it a great horror movie, classic Carpenter throwing all sorts of genre elements together, consistency or rationality be damned. all those Cooper bums milling about like zombies... the mad scientist braniac dialog... the 80s party funboy comic relief... Pleasance hamboning it up... etc. I love this kind of shit, actually.

I haven't seen Starman or the chevey chase movie, but beyond that, there isn't a full-length John Carpenter genre picture that I don't think of as well worth watching. each one is like a phone number on a bathroom wall--call it for a good time. the man is a genius at campy B movie throwbacks. Ghosts Of Mars is a lot of fun IMO.
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post #58 of 93
10/15/04 at 2:58pm
Saw this today on rogerebert.com, by J. Emerson

Four underappreciated scary movies on DVD

exceprt - "And then there's this: The nightmarish visuals of "Prince of Darkness" are not as downright bone-chilling as, say, the stuff in Wes Craven's original "A Nightmare of Elm Street," but they're comparably imaginative and memorable -- images that seem to rise up out of the chasms of the subconscious: worms that writhe in clumps on window panes; a crucified pigeon; a sinister liquid that pools ... on the ceiling, and spews into the eye-sockets, nose, and mouth of a sleeping woman; hazy, haunting "dreams" that are really video transmissions from Beyond, broadcast directly to the characters' sleeping subconsciousnesses; a talking corpse crawling with insects as it crumbles into pieces... With its wall-to-wall throbbing electronic score escalating the tension, "Prince of Darkness" plays like a synthesized symphony for the devil ... in the tiniest details, the most minute and invisible cracks and crevices of reality."

How timely for this thread.
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post #59 of 93
10/15/04 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Detective Richard Dix
Saw this today on rogerebert.com, by J. Emerson

Four underappreciated scary movies on DVD

exceprt - "And then there's this: The nightmarish visuals of "Prince of Darkness" are not as downright bone-chilling as, say, the stuff in Wes Craven's original "A Nightmare of Elm Street," .


Nightmare on elm street couldn't hold shit to Prince of Darkness.
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post #60 of 93
10/16/04 at 9:53am
Can't believe I didn't see this thread before, this movie is one of my favorites.

Everything just comes together so perfectly that I'm really suprised it didn't find an audience. My guess is that the whole physics aspect and Lovecraftian style stuff put people off. For those who compared it to japanese horror, I'd have to agree, alot of the scenes have a very ominous feel that you don't see much in American cinema.

Probably my favorite part is when the asian dude is trapped and they're trying to chip down the wall before the zombies get to him, perfectly captures the sense of panic a person would have.
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post #61 of 93
10/16/04 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Detective Richard Dix
Saw this today on rogerebert.com, by J. Emerson

Four underappreciated scary movies on DVD
I liked that article and the author seems to have intelligent opinions about horror movies (which many critics don't) but I had to laugh when he called the DoD remake gorier then the original.
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post #62 of 93
10/17/04 at 6:53am
I don't think Prince of Darkness was that scary, but the ending did make me feel very bad. the shot of the woman being trapped on the other side of the mirror... I like bleak stuff like that.
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post #63 of 93
10/19/04 at 5:33am
I always enjoyed this movie. It's certainly not Carpenter's best film, but I love the tension in the first half of the film. I had so many scenarios running through my head during that first 45 minutes or so as to what was going to happen. The second half was a let down the first time I viewed it because my expectations were just shot way up by a great beginning. I think I was expecting some sort of balls-to-the-wall encounter with Satan. Unfortunately, we didn't get that, which upsetted me initially. I viewed it again, though, a few years later with lowered expectations and found myself really liking the second half. It's pretty scary and who doesn't love that ending? I know it's already been stated, but I also love how a small, old church became the center of the battle between good and evil. Older churches can be very creepy, and I think that helped immensly with the atmosphere.
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post #64 of 93
10/21/04 at 5:35am
This film was all about the 'stache.
LL
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post #65 of 93
10/21/04 at 10:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amphibatron
This film was all about the 'stache.
Truly the most terrifying aspect of the film.
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post #66 of 93
10/22/04 at 6:24pm

Take on the ending?

Personally, I really liked this movie. But let's get past the "I Love" or "I Hate" part of this thread. What did ya'll think of the ending? What is your take on it? Did the chick get stuck on the other side of the mirror in the Satan-universe? Or does she come back in the future and send a message saying that she returns? Stuff like that, tell me what ya think!
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post #67 of 93
10/22/04 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amphibatron
This film was all about the 'stache.

True.

And Egg Shen. Who badly needed his bag of demons.
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post #68 of 93
10/22/04 at 11:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigHeadTooler
What did ya'll think of the ending? What is your take on it? Did the chick get stuck on the other side of the mirror in the Satan-universe? Or does she come back in the future and send a message saying that she returns? Stuff like that, tell me what ya think!
I think that:

A.) she does get stuck beyond the mirror in the "Sataniverse".

B.) In the future (without the 'Super College Science Squad®' to save the day), she emerges from the church, as the physical embodiment of Satan. I say this because if you watch the dream transmissions throughout the movie, the figure walking out of the church is this 15 ft. tall, long-armed looking "thing"; but at the end, the broadcast has changed to show her, acting all ominous-omg-scary.

My question is (assuming I'm right about ^THAT^), why did he receive the transmission at his house? Wasn't the premise that, due to the future guys projecting a tachyon beam into space exactly where the church was in the past, that the signal would be picked up by a sleeping person at the church?


In other news, I refuse to acknowledge the OTHER version, that has added random scenes of Simon&Simon guy sleeping; presumably to raise the possibility that the ENTIRE MOVIE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A FILTHY FIGMENT OF HIS DISEASED IMAGINATION. /Haunted Honeymoon
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post #69 of 93
10/23/04 at 3:56pm
My favourite explanation of the ending, one I only read very recently, was that it was Catherine coming out of the church the whole time. That THAT was what we were being warned about all along, the dream coming to a climax too late, (possibly due to miscalculation?) for us to do anything about it.

To be honest I forget what the 'ominous shape' looks like, pre-Catherine revelation (and I'd be way too scared to fire up the DVD to check) but I do really like that explanation all the same.


And regarding Brian dreaming the dream at his house, doesn't Father Loomis say at one point about how it "pushes other dreams out" and that people exposed to it will eventually have it "every time [they] go to sleep"?
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post #70 of 93
10/23/04 at 4:17pm
this movie still creeps the hell outta me, as much as I love The Thing, this just edges that out in the creepiness factor.
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post #71 of 93
10/24/04 at 3:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ah, Alucard
My favourite explanation of the ending, one I only read very recently, was that it was Catherine coming out of the church the whole time. That THAT was what we were being warned about all along, the dream coming to a climax too late, (possibly due to miscalculation?) for us to do anything about it.

To be honest I forget what the 'ominous shape' looks like, pre-Catherine revelation (and I'd be way too scared to fire up the DVD to check) but I do really like that explanation all the same.


And regarding Brian dreaming the dream at his house, doesn't Father Loomis say at one point about how it "pushes other dreams out" and that people exposed to it will eventually have it "every time [they] go to sleep"?
Hmmm, I don't mind that explanation, but for me, it doesn't explain the difference in appearance in the transmissions. I will now offer screencaps to ponder.

The first 2 pix are from the dream sequence mid-film:


Now, these are from Brian's dream at the end:


So what do you think now? I'm interested in hearing any & all opinions about this too, BTW...
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post #72 of 93
10/24/04 at 1:46pm
Yes, there's no question that they're completely different entities. What a shame.

I suppose this means I revert back to pretty much what you said in your 'B' reading - that Catherine is the new 'Anti-God', or at least her form is the one being used, as opposed to whoever it was originally.

I say this simply because the warning is still being sent - if she'd stopped it, or if she'd escaped, in the year 1999 (and how come we didn't have tachyon stream beaming video technology five years ago?) - then presumably there would be no need to send such a warning message at all.

Poor girl. I guess that's what spending 12 years stuck in a mirror does to you.
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post #73 of 93
10/24/04 at 2:13pm
Ah, even if the rest of the film were total GOM then those shots still guarantees Prince of Darkness a place in horror history. that shakey, fake news footage predates Blair Witch's style of verite by a decade and is still way creepier. DJ Shadow used the message as a sample to fantastic effect on his first album too.

yay!
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post #74 of 93
10/24/04 at 11:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trinity'sGusset
Ah, even if the rest of the film were total GOM then those shots still guarantees Prince of Darkness a place in horror history. that shakey, fake news footage predates Blair Witch's style of verite by a decade and is still way creepier. DJ Shadow used the message as a sample to fantastic effect on his first album too.

yay!
Name of album & track plzkthnx?
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post #75 of 93
10/25/04 at 5:19am
the albums called 'entroducing...DJ Shadow' and it has three 'transmissions' dotted throughout it, accurately mirroring the film. the album is great too - dance music that guitar music fans can enjoy. and horror fans of course.
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post #76 of 93
10/26/04 at 1:51pm
I was surfing today & came across this review. It made me lol a few times. Worth the read.
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post #77 of 93
10/26/04 at 2:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BATTY [Roy]
I was surfing today & came across this review. It made me lol a few times. Worth the read.
Yeah, that guy has funny reviews.
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post #78 of 93
10/26/04 at 3:36pm
Excellent review. I loved all the animated gifs.

It also reminded me of one of what I consider the scariest moments in the film -- when Wyndham leaves the church, and he sees Susan, and the other guys, and then that horrible old bitch fucking glides along with her pair of scissors and stabs the shit out of him. Just that quick shot of the sliding, held-aloft scissors really freaks me out.
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post #79 of 93
10/27/04 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ah, Alucard
Just that quick shot of the sliding, held-aloft scissors really freaks me out.
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post #80 of 93
10/27/04 at 3:21pm
That wasn't very nice!


And now I'm seriously considering watching it again.
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post #81 of 93
10/27/04 at 4:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ah, Alucard
That wasn't very nice!


And now I'm seriously considering watching it again.
Then my evil work here is done.

*places hand on hips, tilts head back, laughs maniacally*
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post #82 of 93
10/27/04 at 5:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ah, Alucard
I suppose this means I revert back to pretty much what you said in your 'B' reading - that Catherine is the new 'Anti-God', or at least her form is the one being used, as opposed to whoever it was originally.

I say this simply because the warning is still being sent - if she'd stopped it, or if she'd escaped, in the year 1999 (and how come we didn't have tachyon stream beaming video technology five years ago?) - then presumably there would be no need to send such a warning message at all.

Poor girl. I guess that's what spending 12 years stuck in a mirror does to you.
That was always my take on it.

As for the question of tachyon stream beaming video technology... Don't be naive. The government's been hiding technologies like that from the general public for years.
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post #83 of 93
10/27/04 at 6:30pm
It was pretty good and had some genuinely good scares, but the ending was a let down.
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post #84 of 93
10/27/04 at 7:03pm
It is kind of anti-climatic, I agree, but at the same time I do like what I now realise is a quite Lovecraftian feel to the conclusion. That we didn't 'win', but instead merely postponed the inevitable cataclysm. It just helps add to the horrible feeling of human insignificance, powerlessness and cosmic unfairness that pervades the film.
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post #85 of 93
10/29/04 at 7:14am
I always saw it as the original dream with the big satin was what came out of the church in 1999 they sent the warning back and when it was recieved things changed. which is why when the video is beemed back again Catherine is leaving. I think its a big downer because no matter what warning they give the events gonna happen anyways all they do is change the face
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post #86 of 93
10/29/04 at 7:25am
Change the face...
Change the face...?
Oh dear lord please don't leave me hanging - what's the end of the sentence!

Please, from the bottom of my heart, Newbie Newbster, please use syntax. It is your friend and stops my brain melting.
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post #87 of 93
10/29/04 at 7:37am
yea yea I know. on the other hand I would like you to take the 12 pack of heiny I drank into consideraton.
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post #88 of 93
10/29/04 at 8:38am
Duly taken into consideration Newbie, carry on, and i'm now very impressed by how coherent you were. maybe i'll write a post after my halloween party tonight, see how bad i do.
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post #89 of 93
10/29/04 at 8:53am
One thing I always wondered about was the actual nature of the event that was filmed and then sent back through time.

Was that just some guy with his camcorder running past the church who happened to capture that footage at the time? Did people know somehow - were they warned, or told in some way?

Or did Anti-god just come out of the church at the same time every day just to raise his arms, and they got it on camera that way?
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post #90 of 93
10/29/04 at 10:22am
When I first saw it, my thought was that it was filmed by one of several scientists, that were investigating some strange incidents at the church. Then later, as whatever apocalypse was occuring, they thought up & implemented the tachyon message.

But as an adult, I have doubts about this theory, as scientists from the future (1999OMG), investigating something like this, would've likely had more high-tech surveillence equipment set up, not just a shitty, running, hand-held, camcorder oh-shit-there-it-is-there-it-is clip.

*shrugs*
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post #91 of 93
10/29/04 at 7:26pm
I always figured the quality was bad due to it being sent threw time.
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post #92 of 93
10/30/04 at 7:51pm
Yes, it was a warning broadcast from the year 1-9-9-9, but we didn't figure it out in time to do anything about it...
LL
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post #93 of 93
6/18/07 at 10:44pm
Ah, I love this movie. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps. I still think this is one of the most entertaining, scary as hell and atmospheric horror movies ever made. Just thinking of the tachyon emission is giving me goose bumps. Going to pop this DVD in over the weekend and scare the hell out of my wife.
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