Movie Review: Prince of Darkness (1987)
I love how slowly this movie builds. It gives you almost no answers for a long stretch, but you can tell something is going on, and the tension really never lets up even after the ending.
The religion versus science premise was intriguing for me. Lots of horror movies focus on the spiritual realm and the devil, but I enjoyed the tie-in to science and quantum physics as a means to explain the supernatural phenomenon that was going on.
I knew he was going to be in it, but Alice Cooper still caught me off guard. His kill (the first in the movie) was perfect. The possessed homeless people reminded me of the under siege feeling in Assault on Precinct 13, so it felt like a lot of Carpenter pieces in one movie.
Carpenter essentials: I love the widescreen shots in all of his movies. Hardly anything is ever centered, so I keep my eyes on the outsides wondering if something is about to pop out. I can see Carpenter heading toward They Live with the effects, the vibe, and the shooting style.
The mirror scene was the payoff for all the tension in the church, and my heart really was racing. But, I just kept thinking she could have just pushed her through the mirror and not had to sacrifice herself, but then it wouldn’t have had the emotional effect, so I get it.
I actually prefer an open ending, and apparently so does Carpenter, so I liked how it wrapped up. People hated the unresolved ending of The Thing, and this feels like Carpenter giving the middle finger with the follow up. That’s kind of badass.