Review

A Priest dies, leaving a strange box containing a key. Father Loomis, Carpenter can't resist, investigates and finds a locked door down the local disused church. Turns out the son of Satan is imprisoned in a glass cylinder in a room behind the door, but due to an exploding sun's debris reaching our planet, he's getting ready to make the big appearance. Okay, calling that not a good development.

Meanwhile, physics professor Dr. Howard Birack, along with various street people, notes some strange changes going down. Ultimately the doctor, the priest, and a crew of university brainiacs start researching the mysterious cylinder. Our Scooby gang is quickly under siege from the denizens of the streets, and that cylinder isn't going to hold the son of Satan for long. Much tension ensues. Ready to rough it in an old church?

Okay, so hands up who doesn't like JC movies? Right, the two of you in the back can head off to a Celine Dion concert or something, while the rest of us get down with a very underrated Carpenter masterpiece.

First up, a big thanks to a certain young lady for sending in a copy of Prince of Darkness in for ScaryMinds to groove on down too. Much appreciated, any time you want to send more gems like this go right ahead. No honestly, we can dig it. Secondly, thanks to the staff of SM for giving me a chance to get on down with a published piece, dudes awesome, hope you like the following ramble. There was a third thing, but I've forgotten what that was, and as this review is already going off the rails, time to get back to the business at hand.

In the 1980s, big bad John had a series of movies which didn't do well at the box office, yet were some of his best work. Guess the time wasn't right for fighting in the streets man, or something of that nature anyway. Hence it's taken quite some time for these almost forgotten classics to turn up on DVD.

Jet's first ever review resurrected from a defunct site with permission of the former owners

Prince of Darkness shows a Director at the height of his power. The movie builds slowly, and amps the tension throughout. You just never know where JC is taking you in this funhouse. While largely psychological in nature, the Director ladles on the red stuff from time to time to keep the viewer on his/her toes. And when JC goes brutal, he really goes brutal here. However, underlying the whole movie is Carpenter's central tenet, the conflict between science and organised religion.

Father Loomis knows he has pure evil in a tin down the crypt, but he needs the resources of the local university science department to prove it. Conversely, the Scientists are forced by their very rationality to accept the presence of evil as a physical force. And right there we have the scope of Carpenter's vision for the movie, neither side is entirely right, and neither side is entirely wrong. Hey, and people say horror movies simply go "boo"! Apparently not when JC is involved. In a strange twist that only Carpenter could have risked, evil is defeated not by science or religion, but by pure brute force. Whatever is the dude getting at here?

Carpenter furthers his underlying meaning by having the down-and-outs as minions of ultimate eee-vil and not the rationalists or the theologians. As a writer, Carpenter is perhaps harking back to the good old horror standby of those with weak minds being easy cannon fodder for the creatures of the night. Not entirely sure this is overly successful, as Carpenter unfortunately also has bugs, worms, and cockroaches as the harbingers of doom. Careful with that axe, Mr Carpenter, people will be wondering what you are doing running with it. What's really cool is that the leader of the people of the streets is none other than the great Alice Cooper, looking spooky and deranged. I had a wide smile over Alice's inclusion here, and the dude is a hoot.

Overall the movie is tense, gets where it's going without detours, and will shock you in parts. Man, that geek guy should've stayed where he was!

Well hey ho, first review on the new site and a classic undervalued gem of a movie to be talking about. Did I enjoy Prince of Darkness, you bet your arse I did. Great classic horror, with some nice messages staggering into the night included. One of John Carpenter's best outings, and a definite high mark of his career.

You get zombie-like derelicts, demonic possession, and a pretty wacky video dream sequence. End of day you can't ask for much more in my book of shadows. Carpenter ties the package together nicely with some deft touches, and an underlying look at science and religion.

Do yourself a favour and go grab a copy of this undiscovered gem today, you are in for a treat. John Carpenter screams school's out for the summer!