Here is Prince of Darkness, the first of four reviews that should be coming within the week. Again, sorry about the delays, but I'm back in full swing movie watching/reviewing wise.Prince of Darkness (1987)
Synopsis:A sinister secret has been kept in the basement of an abandoned Los Angeles church for many years. With the death of a priest belonging to a mysterious sect, another priest opens the door to the basement and discovers a vat containing a green liquid. The priest contacts a group of physics graduate students to investigate it.
My Review:
Next on the Esoteric Order of Reviews is John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness. This relatively underrated offering has long been in my backlog of what to rewatch, and upon using a random number generator to choose for me, it picked it. Ironic that my second review will also find it's title in a Carpenter piece, isn't it?
Prince of Darkness is a deceiving movie to the common watcher. Most cast it's message and execution to be exceedingly religious and stubbornly fact based, much like a science fiction film. But, in fact, it is neither. What few people realize about this movie--symbolized in the opening scenes and imagery--is that it is about the fall of religion and the birth of something else. It is about cosmic horror, a relatively under-represented genre in film making.
Almost immediately the film detatches itself from common sense through a professor and his theoretical speeches to the characters in his class that reality is subjective. Furthermore, the movie introduces a sect, and makes a point to say that the vatican had nothing to do with it and didn't even know about it. It is also made a bundantly clear that the film's antagonist is not Satan, but Satan's father, a cosmic deity of untold power, near the middle of the film. Carpenter took an approach here that is quite similar to Derleth or Lovecraft, and it's that he has created a cosmic horror event beyond the means of human knowledge or commense sense.This is both why many people do not understand this movie, and few who do understand absolutely love it.
It takes a keen eye and ear to spot the details early on in this movie and how it is absolutely soaked in a universal, almost speculative atmosphere. It is an intelligent movie in a cheesy, trademark Carpenter shell. The above misjudgment on it being a religious movie, and also Carpenter's own style and choice of film and sound, is why this movie usually gets a bad representation by the masses. But if you view it as a cosmic horror event, similar to lovecraft in structure, you might very well enjoy the movie despite it's rough edges and some terrible casting choices I should say. On the upswing the movie has one of the most chilling Carpenter and Howarth scores ever and atmosphere that is literally dripping with unease and speculation. The droning vibe soon escalates into panic as events unfold and the ancient books are deciphered, which was a very nice narrative touch to have throughout. Also, for many scenes, are some sweet imagery shots, like cultist members, worms, murders, dream sequences, etc that add a very nice unease to things.
The last five minutes or so of the film are absolutely shocking. The subtle twist, though delivered with sledgehammer mannerisms, is hard to catch. The fact is that the ending dream is one of the best things Carpenter has put on film, and so is the meaning of it and how it relates to the story. Like I said, the story is cosmic horror, and the "damned if you do damned if you don't" ending (not the previously mentioned twist) works perfectly with the vibe and atmosphere. The character development, while narrow, is some of the best writing Carpenter has employed in creating human figures, second only to the thing. And lastly on this quick fire segment, the overall length of the movie is appealing. It's quite short, but has good closure and a good start point, playing like a film version of some of the more famous concise horror authors.
In closing, as I want to keep this review relatively short and fully spoiler free, is that prince of darkness still stands as one of the most unusual films in the horror mainstream. It is wonderfully told, oddly directed (in a good way to some, like me) and has one hell of a downer ending. All of these elements play into the fact that only Carpenter could do something like this, something so vague that you leave wondering if it was a horror film or if it was a philosophical lesson. And that is what makes Carpenter so good.
4/5
Synopsis:A sinister secret has been kept in the basement of an abandoned Los Angeles church for many years. With the death of a priest belonging to a mysterious sect, another priest opens the door to the basement and discovers a vat containing a green liquid. The priest contacts a group of physics graduate students to investigate it.
My Review:
Next on the Esoteric Order of Reviews is John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness. This relatively underrated offering has long been in my backlog of what to rewatch, and upon using a random number generator to choose for me, it picked it. Ironic that my second review will also find it's title in a Carpenter piece, isn't it?
Prince of Darkness is a deceiving movie to the common watcher. Most cast it's message and execution to be exceedingly religious and stubbornly fact based, much like a science fiction film. But, in fact, it is neither. What few people realize about this movie--symbolized in the opening scenes and imagery--is that it is about the fall of religion and the birth of something else. It is about cosmic horror, a relatively under-represented genre in film making.
Almost immediately the film detatches itself from common sense through a professor and his theoretical speeches to the characters in his class that reality is subjective. Furthermore, the movie introduces a sect, and makes a point to say that the vatican had nothing to do with it and didn't even know about it. It is also made a bundantly clear that the film's antagonist is not Satan, but Satan's father, a cosmic deity of untold power, near the middle of the film. Carpenter took an approach here that is quite similar to Derleth or Lovecraft, and it's that he has created a cosmic horror event beyond the means of human knowledge or commense sense.This is both why many people do not understand this movie, and few who do understand absolutely love it.
It takes a keen eye and ear to spot the details early on in this movie and how it is absolutely soaked in a universal, almost speculative atmosphere. It is an intelligent movie in a cheesy, trademark Carpenter shell. The above misjudgment on it being a religious movie, and also Carpenter's own style and choice of film and sound, is why this movie usually gets a bad representation by the masses. But if you view it as a cosmic horror event, similar to lovecraft in structure, you might very well enjoy the movie despite it's rough edges and some terrible casting choices I should say. On the upswing the movie has one of the most chilling Carpenter and Howarth scores ever and atmosphere that is literally dripping with unease and speculation. The droning vibe soon escalates into panic as events unfold and the ancient books are deciphered, which was a very nice narrative touch to have throughout. Also, for many scenes, are some sweet imagery shots, like cultist members, worms, murders, dream sequences, etc that add a very nice unease to things.
The last five minutes or so of the film are absolutely shocking. The subtle twist, though delivered with sledgehammer mannerisms, is hard to catch. The fact is that the ending dream is one of the best things Carpenter has put on film, and so is the meaning of it and how it relates to the story. Like I said, the story is cosmic horror, and the "damned if you do damned if you don't" ending (not the previously mentioned twist) works perfectly with the vibe and atmosphere. The character development, while narrow, is some of the best writing Carpenter has employed in creating human figures, second only to the thing. And lastly on this quick fire segment, the overall length of the movie is appealing. It's quite short, but has good closure and a good start point, playing like a film version of some of the more famous concise horror authors.
In closing, as I want to keep this review relatively short and fully spoiler free, is that prince of darkness still stands as one of the most unusual films in the horror mainstream. It is wonderfully told, oddly directed (in a good way to some, like me) and has one hell of a downer ending. All of these elements play into the fact that only Carpenter could do something like this, something so vague that you leave wondering if it was a horror film or if it was a philosophical lesson. And that is what makes Carpenter so good.
4/5
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