Il signore del male

When the guardian priest of an abandoned church in Los Angeles dies, Father Loomis (Donald Pleasance) finds a diary and a key, opens the door of the basement and finds a cylinder with a gruesome green fluid. The priest contacts Professor Howard Birack (Victor Wong) in the local university and he invites a team of students to research the findings and translate manuscripts. The group discovers that the liquid is the essence of evil, actually Satan's remains, and has been kept locked in the church for centuries. Their research awakes the son of the Devil and when the student Susan Cabot (Anne Marie Howard) gets close to the container, she drinks a jet of the green liquid, transforming in a living dead. Susan spreads the liquid among her friends, increasing the army of evil zombies. While the group is attacked inside the church by the zombies, homeless people surround the church trapping them inside, and Satan tries to bring his father to the world.

"Prince of Darkness" is one of the creepiest movies by John Carpenter. The claustrophobic tale is original, with a dark atmosphere and even twenty years later is still very impressive. The special effects and make-up are scary and the music score of his authorship is also excellent. Alice Cooper is amazing in the role of an insane homeless killer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Príncipe das Sombras" ("Prince of Darkness")

Note: On 11 September 2020. I saw this film again.

Note: On 28 February 2025. I saw this film again.

John Carpenter's made some great horror films, and Prince of Darkness is my hands-down favorite Carpenter flick. First and foremost, the music does it for me every time. Sometimes Carpenter's score do miss their mark, but this time, the music is dead on perfect. Beyond this, the movie overall is wonderful. The opening title sequence (which does extend quite a bit into the film itself) does a great job of setting up the characters and the beginning of the drama at hand. Once the film picks up, it really doesn't let you go until the end, and even then, to the very last shot, the film reminds you that, for the briefest of moments, it had you. Oh, it had you. Alice Cooper makes his first theatrical film appearance with this film, but he appears briefly. Instead, the film centers mostly around Brian Marsh, a grad student brought in as part of a group of collegiate-types to investigate something dark and sinister in the basement of an old church. A lot of people I know pan his performance, but I felt Jameson (TV's "Simon & Simon") Parker's performance was solid and that look of confusion he wears throughout a bulk of the picture seems appropriate to the events unfolding around his character. Donald Pleasance's presence as a Catholic priest who begrudgingly recruits the team of college students and professors, scientists and theorists, adds a sense of credibility to the threat involved, as well as the film itself. And Victor Wong - he's just fun to watch. I love this movie.

It is a pity this good movie of Carpenter did not get a better recognition by critics and audiences. By the time of its release Carpenter had already a good reputation as a horror-movies director (Halloween, The Fog, The Thing) and perhaps people that went to see this film only did so for this particular reason. Carpenter, however, tried to do something different with 'Prince of Darkness' and audiences (and critics) did not follow or perhaps did not give it the proper attention.

A Physics Professor and his group (comprising both graduate students and technicians) accept the invitation of a priest to study an organic fluid that a secret (early Christian) book suggests it should not be tempered with since it has been made by the Prince of Darkness. The group also tries to decode this early Christian document as well.

Carpenter attempted to introduce some aspects of theological implications in this movie without 'hitting' at Christianity or other organized religion. His main concern was of metaphysical nature. My guess is that Carpenter's thoughts were as follows: if God exists and sent Christ (with his dualism: both spirit and flesh-human) then wouldn't one expect that anti-God (Evil-Devil) may also try to set foot on earth using a flesh-organic manifestation as well ? Beyond a certain point the film takes on a traditional horror approach but still it has Carpenter's touch with a very unexpected ending.

I also had a personal reason to like more this film having studied Physics as a graduate student and I thought Carpenter did a more than decent job of portraying believable characters. The romance between two of the students was also built convincingly. Donald Pleasence (another favorite actor of Carpenter) was again excellent as the cynical priest. My rating is a 7.5/10 for this film. One of the good Carpenter films.

One of the Director's most underrated Movies. This is almost a bona-fide Classic. The thing that keeps it from such an exalted status is a few major missteps. It starts with a very creepy setup and manages through most of the Film to keep that sense of Impending Doom with its Supernatural and Apocalyptic tone.

The use of Ancient Texts and Religious language Prophecy is introduced but somewhat abandon as things unfold, giving way to more conventional displays of Zombie like Characterizations and Gore Movie conventions. When a Text translation is rendered on a computer screen... the goosebumps arise.

The scariness is lessened by the end of it all as the Director veers away from the unseen Evil and things get a bit standard. Such as some unnecessary attempts at humor and a denouement that is a reflection of a weak wrap-up. One more item...hopefully, it should be clear by now that Sci-Fi Writers should completely avoid using specific dates in their Stories. It is a Death Trap, because as you discover here, the Dream induced message is coming from the year 1999. Oops!

A priest (Donald Pleasence) finds a large cylinder of glowing green liquid in the basement of a church in Los Angeles. He contacts a physics professor (Victor Wong), who brings a research team to the church to investigate. The research team includes a risibly-mustachioed Jameson Parker, the always-amusing Dennis Dun, Dirk Blocker (son of Bonanza's Hoss), and a few relatively forgettable actresses. I should also point out this entire team of graduate students seems to be in the 30-45 age range. The investigation turns up shocking results as the team discovers the liquid inside the container is the Devil or Anti-God or son of the Devil....it's something bad, for sure.

This is one of the most divisive John Carpenter films, even among his fans. Most people either seem to love it or hate it. I know when I first saw it back in the early '90s I hated it. I thought it didn't make a lick of sense and the male lead was one of the all-time great movie goobers. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I refused to even try it again until about five years ago. But when I did, my opinion of it changed quite a bit. I'm not saying I'm now part of the "love it" crowd. I still believe it's flawed and has some elements than can only be enjoyed on a tongue-in-cheek basis. But I do like it a lot. I have watched it several times in the last few years and have grown to appreciate it more each time.

Some genuinely creepy moments, nice gross-out effects, and a very tense last 30 minutes that ranks among Carpenter's best work. Also, another terrific Carpenter score. I don't even mind the cheesy relationship between Lisa Blount and Jameson Parker or the terrible lines they both have to say to one another. Little bits of corn are kind of expected with Carpenter. It's part of his style. It's definitely a unique movie. I can't think of anything else quite like it.