Prince of Darkness Limited Edition Steelbook 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

10 reviews for Prince of Darkness Limited Edition Steelbook 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Denise H. – September 24, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   Most terrifying horror movie I’ve ever seen!

   First, put aside any notions about the plot or acting…just focus on the imagery that John Carpenter brings in this film. The image of the green, swirling mass in the decaying container is horrifying. Now imagine it’s in the sub-sub basement of an abandoned church….down in a part dating back to the 1500’s. And imagine a secret sect of priests charged with containing this swirling mass within the vessel. Pretty intense.The visuals that John Carpenter created in this movie are without question, the most memorable, horrifying and chilling images that I’ve ever seen on screen. I’ve never had another movie that gave me literal chills like this–and purely from the imagery alone. I saw it ages ago when I was really too young–someone got a video at some point after it had been out, and I was terrified by the movie then–and remember the scary images to this day! I bought a streaming version recently and re-watched it–It’s just as chilling as it was when I was little. The abandoned church, the swirling mass of green/evil, and the most horrifying part–the dream that kept recurring throughout the film….absolutely spine tingling!!!!As much as I’ve tried to convince myself the swirling mass of green looks oddly like a Star Trek swirl-type warpcore, I simply can’t…the visual of that swirling container, in the church basement, surrounded by thousands of crucifixes–it’s horrific and beautiful at the same time. Cinematic fabulousness! And the dream that everyone kept having–chilling! There are snippets of voices in the dream sequence, and you can feel the sense of terror building as you slowly begin to process what the voices are saying, as the camera pans closer and closer to a doorway where something shadowy and evil is about to step foot out into the world… It’s done incredibly well, and relies on human fear-instinct and dream terror to evoke a tremendous sense of dread as the camera pans towards the figure. It’s reminiscent of The Fog, with the slowly creeping fog, and the hook that invariably appears as you feel goosebumps rising. Very John Carpenter.Now, the not-so-great. The movie is rather dated. The dream sequence, while still terrifying, has a very 80’s quality about it….smoke machine, fan, figure standing in a doorway–I could be watching a Bonnie Tyler video if I didn’t know better–or any number of other 80’s videos/movies. It seemed the smoke machine/fan/shadowy figure was a requirement of the 80’s video production. While that aspect is logically very mundane and dull, Carpenter has been able to include the buildup of terror as the camera pans, so it becomes more than an 80’s music video and instead becomes this looming horror. Very well done for a trope that could be dated and trite.As an 80’s flick, the characters interactions seem very foreign to what we’re used to now. For example, Brian’s initial interest in Catherine on campus, seems more like scary-stalker-guy than average college guy in love/lust. Not having seen the movie in ages and having been traumatized by it, I probably forgot that there was the whole love affair between the two characters that developed(quickly). Seeing it now, in today’s context, he seems creepy and needs a good spray of mace. Only in the 80’s would his weird obsessive brooding be considered ‘courting’or whatever…today I’d call it ‘stalking’. Just saying….Now the plot. There’s alot of plot that happens fast so it’s confusing and weird. There’s time travel involved, messages from the future, old-time religion, good vs. evil, Satan vs. God, etc. Basically they try to intertwine religion and science(time travel and quantum mechanics). It gets tiresome quickly. I think it would be a better movie to stick with maybe good vs. evil or satan vs. god… Trying to tie metaphysics to science is tricky and takes away from the chill factor.Alice Cooper. Yes who doesn’t love Alice? But I found him to be a distracting factor. It was like, “Look! We got a rock star to appear in our movie–gonna come see it now?!!!” His role wasn’t super complicated…any day-player could have done the role, so again, using Alice Cooper’s celebrity to ‘lure’ viewers is kinda sketchy. It’s like they didn’t think the movie could stand on it’s own merit, but that’s totally not the case.Donald Pleasence as the priest…didn’t work for me. I think this came out in ’87 or so, so he’d already done at least a few horror movies and was the one with a gun chasing down the killer. Seeing him cowering behind a boiler seemed so odd and out of place. His character didn’t work for me either. When he took charge of supervising the green slime container after it’s original priest died, he seemed like he was afraid(rightfully so) but never seemed confident or caring enough to try to stop the evil from being released. I won’t spoil anything, just saying he does’t seem like he would put up a fight to keep the container closed….the priests from The Exorcist seemed like they’d put up a pretty good fight, while this one seemed to say oh well end of the world, whatcha gonna do….Overall this movie is as terrifying as it was to me years ago. It’s creepy, scary and terrifying in all the right ways. There are plot holes and character issues, but the cinematography make it all worthwhile. Still one of, if not the, most terrifying films I’ve ever seen. Def recommend!

   29 people found this helpful
2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Amazon Customer – September 24, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   Science vs Religion!

   John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness is a movie that creeps into your mind like a whispered warning you’re not quite sure you heard. It doesn’t announce itself with explosions or spectacle; instead, it lures you in, one unsettling image at a time, until you’re in too deep to pull away. By the time you realize you’re watching Carpenter’s bleakest film, it’s too late—the dread has already set in.nCarpenter has always been a filmmaker fascinated by boundaries—between good and evil, sanity and madness, life and death. Here, he’s working at the boundary between science and religion. The premise sounds like pulp horror: a group of graduate students and scientists, led by Donald Pleasence’s weary priest, investigate a mysterious cylinder of swirling green liquid hidden in a Los Angeles church basement. The liquid, of course, is not just liquid—it’s the physical embodiment of pure evil, waiting for the right cosmic alignment to break free.What makes Prince of Darkness so hypnotic is its tone. Carpenter doesn’t give us safe horror-movie scares; he gives us the gnawing sensation that everything is wrong. His camera lingers on corridors that feel too long, faces that hold still a beat too long, silence that lasts just a fraction of a second longer than it should. Like his best work, the film plays like a nightmare you only realize is a nightmare halfway through.The performances are understated, almost deliberately flat, which works in the film’s favor. Pleasence’s priest is not a triumphant Van Helsing but a man terrified by the implications of what he’s found. Victor Wong, as a theoretical physicist, delivers exposition with the strange conviction of someone who understands too much. The students—played by Jameson Parker, Lisa Blount, and Dennis Dun—don’t feel like movie heroes; they feel like ordinary people who have wandered into something much larger and colder than themselves.Carpenter’s score is one of his most effective: a slow, throbbing synth dirge that seems to echo from deep under the Earth. And then there’s that recurring dream sequence—grainy, flickering video of a dark figure emerging from a church doorway—that is one of the most chilling images in 1980s horror. He shows it again and again, each time revealing a little more, proving that repetition can be as terrifying as surprise.Prince of Darkness is not perfect—its dialogue sometimes creaks, and its pacing will frustrate anyone expecting the adrenaline rush of The Thing. But its imperfections are part of its identity. This is Carpenter in a meditative, almost experimental mood, building terror not from gore but from ideas: What if God and the Devil were real, but nothing like we imagined? What if science discovered proof of evil—would that make it easier to fight, or harder?By the end, Carpenter doesn’t offer comfort, only a final, shattering image that lingers in your mind like a bad dream. That, I think, is the point. Prince of Darkness is a rare horror film that doesn’t just want to scare you—it wants to rearrange the furniture in your head. And in its cold, eerie way, it succeeds.Science vs Religion? Fascinating!
3. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   SciFi-Kaiju-Guy – September 24, 2025

   3.0 out of 5 stars

   Ancient cylinder of snot discovered in a church basement is the essence of the Devil himself?!? So-so movie. Solid Blu-ray.

   THE STORY: A small group of college students & their professors are cryptically invited to spend the weekend in an abandoned rundown church, tasked with analyzing an ages-old container of gooey green glop discovered in the church’s catacombs. These eggheads end up battling Ultimate Evil because, you see, the funky substance swirling within the corroded vessel is apparently the Devil himself – albeit in liquid form?!? Will anyone survive this supernatural confrontation?THOUGHTS: The script for PoD was in need of some minor conceptual changes and major re-writes before filming began, IMHO. Confusing tale of the nature of evil is a disjointed journey into sort-of terror. Normally on-the-money director John Carpenter fumbles the ball with this head-scratching mess. Lots of good actors on hand who turn in decent performances, but the situation isn’t explained well enough nor is it very believable, even on its own terms. For a John Carpenter-directed horror movie about The Church vs. Satan, this mish-mash is a discouraging misfire. There are some great horror moments, but your overall enjoyment will be directly tied to how big a fan you are of either the genre OR the director (or both). I love John Carpenter, unfortunately I just could not get into this film. Like I said, the script (by Carpenter, writing under the amusing pseudonym of Martin Quatermass) is a barrage of wildly diverse ideas that just doesn’t gel. For me, Carpenter’s earlier works remain his best.THE BLU-RAY: The good news is that fans of this film are treated to a very nice Blu-ray release from Shout!Factory. Really solid picture with strong blacks and no pixelation or overuse of DNR. Good old film grain is evident, too. All of which is a big positive since much of this film takes place in dimly-lit hallways, murky subterranean chambers and outside after sundown. The soundmix is strong & steady. A healthy dose of bonus features have been included to help up the value here as well, so if you own a BR player and are a fan of PRINCE OF DARKNESS then buying this Blu-ray is an easy recommendation. Others may wish to rent first. I can only barely give it a modest 3 STARS. I much prefer HALLOWEEN or THE THING for my Carpenter horror fix.

   3 people found this helpful
4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   PAUL JR. – September 24, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   PRINCE ( 80’S CLASSICS )

   IV’E BEEN WATCHING MOVIES SINCE 1950’S. I’M A GOOD JUDGE OF MOVIES, LIKE ALL TYPES SO I CAN RATE THEM. NOW MY NUMBER ONE TYPE OF MOVIES ARE HORROR & SCIENCE FICTION. THE BEST CAME OUT IN 1950’S & THE 1980’S, NO ONE CAN TOUCH THEM, AND I CAN ONLY FIGURE THAT IN THESE TIMES THE ACTING, DIRECTURES,SOUND PEOPLE, ETC ARE THE BEST. THIS MOVIE IS A PERFECT 10, AND IT MUST BE IN YOUR COLLECTION. IV’E BEEN A BIG FAN OF DONALD PLEASENCE,HIS EARLY MOVIES ARE GREAT. IN 1978 HE DID HALLOWEEN AND BOY DID HE NAIL IT. THIS MAN IS TOP NOTCH ACTOR. IN PRINCE OF DARKNESS HE SHOWED US WHY HE IS THE BEST. THIS MOVIE HAS ONE OF THE BEST MUSIC SCORES, TOP NOTCH ACTING,GREAT PLOT, AND IT’S HARDTO FORGETIT WHEN YOU WATCH IT.THIS MOVIE IS ABOUT THE DAVIL, NOT GORY AT ALL,AND HAS A GREAT PLOT. JOHN CARPENTER IS IN GREAT FORM. THIS GUY SHOULD BE IN THE BEST LIST EVER. SO I SAY TO ALL PEOPLE WHO ENJOY A GOOD SPOOKY MOVIE WITH CLASS, IT MUST BE IN YOUR COLLECTION, & IT’S WORTH THE MONEY. THE 80’S SURE CAME OUT WITH GREAT MOVIES AND ACTORS, SO LOOK FOR THESE MOVIE IN BLUE RAY (MANY OF THEM), AND START BUYING. SAD THING IS MOST OF HOLLYWOOD IN THE 50’S ARE GONE AND THE ACTORS OF THE 80’S DON’T DO MUCH ANYMORE, SO WE THE PUBLIC SHOULD SHOW OUR RESPECT & LOVE & RESPECT AND BUY THE MOVIES THEY HAVE DONE. SO PLEASE TAKE THE TIME, AND SPEND SOME CASH. I WILL TELL YOU THAT I DO WATCH THEM MANY TIMES OVER AND I DO NOT GET BORED. IF YOU FEEL THE SAME I DO, PLEASE BUT THEM, YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY.

   4 people found this helpful
5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   MonsterZeroNJ – September 24, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   A Carpenter cult classic in a beautiful new transfer!

   Prince of Darkness is a strange movie written by Carpenter and combining religion and theoretical quantum physics. It sounds like a contradictory combination but, it works better then you might expect. The story opens with the death of a priest who presided over a small inner city parish. Enter Donald Pleasance as another priest… who’s name is never given… who discovers that the deceased priest was part of a secret society within the church called The Brotherhood Of Sleep. And this sect have been protecting a dark secret that may challenge the very core of what we have come to believe both scientifically and religiously. A team of college students, led by Professor Birack (Victor Wong from Big Trouble In Little China) and including Brian Marsh (Jameson Parker) and Catherine Danforth (Lisa Blount), are brought to the parish to investigate a strange cylinder filled with a pulsating green liquid in a locked chamber in the basement, as well as, the scriptures that come with it. They discover that the liquid is a form of the Anti-Christ and it seeks release in order to bring it’s father, the Anti-God into our world. And as members of the team start to fall under it’s powerful thrall and they all become plagued by the same strange dreams, it’s terrifyingly obvious that the remaining team members are in a fight against an ancient evil that their science may not be able to contain.Carpenter delivers a very odd but, effectively creepy film. It’s has an atmosphere of dread from the start to the finish and presents a very chilling scenario that there may be things in existence that neither our religion or science may be able to handle. And as these are two things people most put their faith in, it is a disturbing concept. It also presents an interesting idea that Bible prophecies may have actually been warnings sent from the future as the dream effecting all our college science students appears to be exactly that. Carpenter also presents the possibility that certain Bible stories were put in place to cover more disturbing truths as the scientific knowledge to explain or understand the reality of it was not available. Basically we were told things in fable form because the science wasn’t there to properly explain it and we weren’t advanced enough to understand it. As someone who was born and raised Christian yet has always had an interest in science, I actually have had this thought myself occasionally and it was interesting to see the master filmmaker weave this theory into his plot. Carpenter also uses his low budget well and keeps the story, for the most part contained in the church. Again working with the fear of isolation as a horde of homicidal homeless people keep our besieged team members inside. Gary B. Kibbe provides the atmospheric cinematography and would collaborate with Carpenter on 7 more projects and he gives Prince a very unsettling look yet, rich with color. This is a strange film that may not appeal to everyone, it took me a few years and repeat viewings before I fully appreciated it and it’s grown on me since I first saw it in 87 and wasn’t quite sold on it then. The film has it’s flaws, some of the make-up FX are cheesy and some of the violent death scenes, especially those perpetrated by the army of homeless people surrounding the church, lead by Alice Cooper, seem a little out of place in a film that starts out working in subtlety. But, since it does switch gears and become more of a traditional horror film in it’s second half, as the possessed students try to kill or possess the others who are fighting against their former friends to stay alive, so, in the overall scheme they work fine. Some may not have patience for some of the science heavy dialog but, I though Carpenter’s script does a good job of giving scientific explanations for some of the more supernatural elements of the religious scripture presented in his story.Regardless of your beliefs, Carpenter poses some interesting questions and the film is really creepy throughout. And adding to the effectiveness is one of Carpenter’s spookiest scores to date composed with frequent collaborator Alan Howarth. Overall, Prince Of Darkness is perhaps Carpenter’s oddest and most daring film, in some respects but, yet another that wasn’t all that well accepted at first and now has gained a following over the years and rightfully so. This flick may not be for everyone and it’s mix of science and religion may not work for some but, I think it’s an interesting and thoroughly creepy movie that not only presents some well executed traditional horror elements but, poses some interesting questions and theories about what we believe in as well. Also stars another Big Trouble In Little China, Dennis Dun in a fun role as a skeptical student. The film is now available in this beautiful new transfer from Scream Factory!

   17 people found this helpful
6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   William S. Jones – September 24, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   A Stunning Exercise in Existential Dread

   I first saw John Carpenter’s “Prince of Darkness” when it came out in 1987, and I have to admit to walking out of the theater with mixed feelings. After his groundbreaking “Halloween”, the competent and suitably creepy “The Fog”, the incredible benchmark that was “The Thing”, and the lively, unforgettable romp of “Big Trouble In Little China”, I felt a little let down, somehow expecting something completely different. It’s too bad that because of those expectations, I had completely missed the point.What I didn’t appreciate at the time (along with many others, apparently) was that “Prince of Darkness”, instead of being a straightforward “good vs. evil” balls-out experience like “The Thing”, wasn’t so much about high-end visual imagery or action, but rather something altogether different…a harrowing descent into a disquieting, pervasive atmosphere of approaching doom. Not that it didn’t have it’s fair share of striking visuals (although more economical in scope, because of the smaller budget, and made all the more impressive when one takes that into account), but that was never the point; simply put, this film was for many years an unrecognized and unheralded masterclass in mood and tone, possessing a subtle but powerful overarching sense of impending dread that few other films have been able to match. There are a number of reasons why this film is so effective, in spite of it’s faults, and it’s easy to forgive those shortcomings for the sake of the overall experience it offers.Other reviewers have covered various points in greater detail so I’ll try to keep from being too redundant. First off, a minor note of viewer discretion: the story itself is based around the transposition of traditional western religion with theoretical quantum mechanics to offer up an alternative worldview of the nature and origin of Good and Evil, and while highly original and inventive, it may come across to some viewers as too severe in it’s radical re-thinking and therefore requisite departure from traditional belief systems. Your mileage may vary on this, but speaking from a personal perspective I daresay that anyone who has even a nominal upbringing in a Judeo-Christian or Catholic environment could, depending on their tolerance level for this sort of thing, perhaps be challenged, possibly offended…or simply roll their eyes and shake their head in amusement at some of the audacious liberties taken here. You’ll know it when you hear it, but in any case there’s really nothing more threatening here than what one would find while watching any given episode of “Ancient Aliens” on the History Channel, so anyone who’s able to hang with those astro-nerds and their New Age revisionist “history-of-the-universe” shenanigans for the sake of entertainment value shouldn’t have any problems.As for the aforementioned shortcomings: In laying the groundwork early on there are some expositional scenes concerning the science and theology where the character dialogue and delivery can at times come across as trying a little too hard to sell the story, and the admittedly complicated reasoning and explanations given may not always appear to gel with complete clarity, or are left purposely ambiguous and incomplete (viewers with short attention spans or an inability or unwillingness to process information may as well go elsewhere). However, given the ambitious and complex scope of the subject matter, trying to hammer out all of the possible intricacies involved or answer every conceivable question would have ruined the pacing and overall flow of the film, so it’s hard to find too much fault there. There are a few instances of questionable character behavior, a few scenes that seem to have been included for effect but that don’t quite make sense or add anything useful, and one or two questionable details of the story or setting (specifically in regard to the basement of the church where the ancient cylinder is kept) which could have benefitted from either a short additional scene or perhaps an extra line or two of dialogue to give a reason for their presence, because without that consideration they can come across as oversights or mistakes unless the viewer is willing to actively participate by coming up with their own interpretation or explanation. This may all sound like nitpicking but it really isn’t…just mentioning the things that are there, but overall they’re trifling, with nothing unforgivable or deal-breaking.The cast, with a few notable exceptions, were mostly unknown or little-known actors but whom I found to all be pleasantly suitable in their respective roles. By and large I’ve always enjoyed the casting in Carpenter’s films; he has a knack for procuring competent, professional talent and getting the most out of them. Among the veteran actors participating here are Donald Pleasence (“Halloween”), Victor Wong and Dennis Dun (of “Big Trouble” fame), and a surprisingly solid Jameson Parker from the 80’s TV series “Simon & Simon”. A quick aside: over the years I have come to particularly appreciate his performance in this film more with each viewing and find myself wondering why he wasn’t used in more films. He brings an understated gravitas and stalwart maturity to the role of Brian Marsh, and is one of the two heroic figures in the story. The other, Brian’s tragically-fated love interest Catherine Danforth (played with subtle, quiet melancholy by the talented Lisa Blount), becomes with one desperate, selfless act the ultimate catalyst and tipping point of the scales in the seemingly hopeless conflict at the film’s climax. Completely by design there’s a definite delineation between Brian and Catherine and the rest of the team, and although the character development between them is necessarily abbreviated and mostly by way of inference, over the course of the film I found myself coming to care about these two and what happens to them, and it is this connection which further gives the end of the film a singularly potent, unforgettable gut-punch which will stay with the viewer long after the credits have ended.As far as the visual presentation goes the production design, locations, sets and cinematography are all well-conceived and melded together with optimal consistency and meticulous attention to detail, and it really shows throughout. This is a great looking film, with keen aesthetics that complement the subject matter admirably. The special effects and makeup appear to be almost exclusively practical in nature, with only a smattering of digital effects added in post-production, but this is purely speculation on my part. To go in expecting a top-shelf visual effect extravaganza such as that which was present in “The Thing”, well…it isn’t here. This film only had one-fifth of the budget as that one to work with, so no dice on that count. What is here on full display, however, is a prime example of making the very most of what you do have to work with and doing it in a way that overcomes budgetary restraints with ingenuity, imagination, craft and technique. I found the visual effects throughout to be unpretentious yet ultimately satisfying and dramatic in the best workmanlike sense, punching well above their weight class without taking over, while also being finely-tailored and in keeping with the overall look and tone of the film. The lighting, camera angles and set pieces are all capably fitted together and executed with a master’s flair, and the unorthodox (albeit somewhat risky) technique Carpenter employed to create the mirror scene during the final, climactic confrontation near the end of the film was an inventive stroke of pure genius.As many others have stated, perhaps the single most defining factor contributing to the overall atmosphere of “Prince of Darkness” is the somewhat minimalistic, yet supremely effective score. Written by Carpenter (and later mastered, I believe, with his multi-film collaborator Alan Howarth) while watching the finished film on a tv set (remember those?), the pulsing synthesizer begins at the opening credits and immediately becomes the organic heartbeat of the film, rising and falling and undulating throughout with a life all it’s own. For the most part the music is understated, even approaching ambience at times, and is brought to the fore as punctuation only during certain scenes, but this to great effect, and seldom has any soundtrack exuded such a disquieting, profound undercurrent of brooding menace as is on display here. When given free rein as he was on this project, Carpenter is a true auteur in the sense of creating films that are unmistakably his, down to the scoring and sound design, and in this area he excels much more often than not. I believe his most beautiful work (to my ears, at least) was in “Village of the Damned”, and the most well-known being the classic, instantly recognizable theme from “Halloween”, but I’ll contend that the score from “Prince of Darkness” is by far the most fitting and effective of any of his films. In particular, the passage flowing through the final mind-wrenching epilogue into the end credits will chill your bones to the marrow and haunt your dreams.Final Thoughts:When everything is said and done it really all comes down to the storytelling, through either narrative or presentation (hopefully both), and the ability to create and maintain a consistent integrity of characterization, mood and atmosphere that will make or break any film, especially when it comes to suspense and horror. Although having pretty much moved on in my viewing habits as I’ve gotten older, I have sampled quite a fair number of newer efforts and in doing so have noticed a dramatic shift in the genre, namely that over the years so much in the horror film industry has gone the way of the mean-spirited and ugly; wherein the classic archetype of ordinary people forced by circumstances beyond their control to push back against the darkness has been replaced with a certain all-encompassing, corrosive ambiguity in which quite often there are no longer any clear protagonists and antagonists, and indeed very little discernable difference between good and evil anymore, and old-school storytelling, filmmaking craft and ingenuity have been usurped by little more than alarmingly ubiquitous grotesquery, obscenely graphic portrayals of sadistic cruelty and torture, cheap jump scares, darting figures in the foreground or background, lazy sound design and editing, uninspired and unimaginative directing and lastly, uninformed and derivative storylines populated with shallow and wholly unsympathetic characters who are impossible for the viewer to engage with because writers and filmmakers today either don’t know how to invest them with any sense of genuine humanity, or else don’t think it’s important enough to bother with. To put a fine point to it, the only useful purpose I can find anywhere for the overwhelming majority of this myriad of post-millennial failures is to serve as a contrast and reminder of just how much better many of the older films really were, and still are. So there it is…that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.I’ll finish up by saying that for whatever it’s worth I consider “Prince of Darkness” to be one of the very last genuine accomplishments in horror cinema before everything started to go south just a few short years later, and arguably one of the finest. They simply don’t make films like this anymore, and if you’re someone who likes the genre and somehow missed out on it, go watch it one dark, stormy evening…you won’t be disappointed. If you’re one of the many who have seen it, go watch it again…you won’t be disappointed either; it holds up remarkably well and is one of the few films that somehow seems to get better with each viewing.

   4 people found this helpful
7. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   rayJ – September 24, 2025

   4.0 out of 5 stars

   its a 3 star film..but i added and extra for ‘awesome’

   What can i say..i bought the movie because im a rabid fan of the Pleasance/Carpenter duo. Im filled with regret that Wilford Brimley got teh part they had pictured Donald Pleasance for in The Thing…so this is a bit of a consolation.Here we have a small group of virtually unarmed people,in a confined space,battling forces they are ill prepared for..nothing new for a carpenter film. But its a tried formula and it works again. The film has an aura about it…something set up fantastically by the TEN minute opening credits. The score has a living breathing pulse that permeates the whole movie..so much so that even the down moments-meant to let us catch out breath-dont really give us much time to do so.I cant say that many in the cast are well known..at least in The Thing,you were spoiled with recognizable faces that gave the story credibility and made the characters easy to sympathize with. Here we have,of course,Carpenter regular Donald Pleasance (Halloween,Escape From New York,-playing Father Loomis-get it) and Victor Wong/Dennis Dun – a duo from Big Trouble In Little China (a film that was too original for mainstream audiences..yeah,sad huh?) and future Carpenter mainstay Peter Jason. The rest however,arent names or faces that you can really place anywhere else. A silly move perhaps…there’s a romantic couple-and you might not care about both partners. But what kind of “meet-cute” is ‘lets save the world from Satanic green goo’ anyway?Which brings me back to the story..sure its no oscar contender…but its what its meant to be: a fun,chilling,dark ride into the halloween of our minds. It has atmosphere,building action,and a cool vibe thats all trademark Carpenter. Theres some gore,Alice Cooper,science lectures and theological conundrums…and the creepiest ‘found footage’ type scenes from the year 1999. Dont laugh,its scarier than all 4 & 1/2 hours of the Paranormal Activity sequels combined.Do i recommend? Well if you’ve already seen Halloween,The Thing,or a creeped out Donald Pleasence and want some more…yes,get yourself the Prince Of Darkness special edition. Youll be happy to have it in your colection.

   3 people found this helpful
8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   R. Freiberger – September 24, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   Great classic Carpenter

   I’m a big fan of horror movies and have a special place for John Carpenter. He has directed some of my favorite movies including Big Trouble in Little China and Escape from New York. While Big Trouble in Little China (known as BTiLC after this) has a more action comic feel, Escape from New York (EfNY) has a very dark world where action comes and goes between a very simple sound track. It was much later that I found BTiLC was actually out of the norm for Carpenter while EfNY was more of his trademark style. Years later a close friend suggested I check out Prince of Darkness, only telling me the story is done really really well.After watching this the first time, I kinda of briefly remember the movie but as with most movies you seen as a child, don’t recall the impact it really had. Sitting over the full movie, I was really surprised on the story, the great casting (if many characters returned for BTiLC) and just the slow burn of the movie. I don’t want to give away the movie, but the core story line is a liquid which is found in an old church that has some relations to a dark spiritual force.As the movie progresses, you start to get a sense on how bad things start to get and soon, the movie switches into a sort of zombie invasion fortress defense. While I have seen many horror movies, this movie is one that truly scares me and just the flash backs are enough to keep this off my night time watch list. Granted the movie is from the 80’s so the effects appear dated, it’s still fun to watch. The use of a water tank is very creative to simulate a another dimension.

   2 people found this helpful
9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Geoff – September 24, 2025

   5.0 out of 5 stars

   “I have a message for you, and you’re not going to like it”

   Maybe it’s the amazingly original concept driving the apocalyptic religious horror element that makes Prince of Darkness so unsettling; with hardly any blood and gore or jumpnscares, Carpenter weaves a near-flawless horror/mystery hybrid with a solid cinematic lore comprised of cherry picked scientic theories(primarily quantum mechanics) and mathematics (differential equations).Or it could be the intensely minimalist synthwave soundtrack that employs the trademark Carpenter ominous prescience full-time. There’s very few scenes in POD where there is no BGM. Most people would find a near-infinite aural loop for a score wildly annoying, but those rules go out of the window here. Carpenter’s musical composition is without a doubt the emotional Crux of the entire film. If you pay close attention, the never-ending score evolves constantly with a precisely foreboding subtlety, and it is in this evolution that the viewers nerves are subsequently unrattled with that same deftful subtlety, until you reach a later point in the film and realize just what the script’s philosophical implications about the duality of human morality are and how our free will is weaponized against us to bring about our own ultimate destruction. It’s almost as if Carpenter is some sort of synthesizer-sorcerer or audio-alchemist with the way he embodies that good vs evil battle so perfectly in POD’s soundtrack.part from all that praise, the truth of the matter is that I absolutely love Carpenter’s script and premise with Prince of Darkness. It’s a refreshingly original stroke of genius to delineate the battle of good and evil in subatomic terms and theory. The idea that, if God truly exists, than so too must an Anti-God exist–in the same way that antimatter exists solely to annihilate matter to keep the universe balanced.The StudioCanal 4k region free release is as sweet as it gets. I’ve already watched the movie three times since buying it very recently and I can’t speak highly enough about how effective the HDR10 is in bringing the aging church structure to life, or how the vial of green Anti-God particulates looks so real that you could reach in and grab it right off the screen if you so dared. The colors are intense with a moderate HDR PEAK value and a color restoration that was painstaking in its immensely vibrant detail. It’s one of the best available 4K transfers for any Carpenter film.Every true horror buff should watch Prince of Darkness. Carpenter in his cinematic prime was unbeatable, and POD helps cement that veracity in stone

   5 people found this helpful
10. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Evan Brehany – September 24, 2025

    5.0 out of 5 stars

    An Educated fan’s review

    For the diehard fans out there of John Carpenter and of particularly PRINCE OF DARKNESS, this review is for you. Chances are, this is as good as it is going to get for this film. Germany and Japan have had their own blu-rays, and neither seem to actually stand up to this. Remembering that this was (As they themselves said) Scream!Factory’s most requested title, let’t take a look.VIDEO:There has been some talk of edge enhancement. It doesn’t seem that bad. Definitely not noticible to me anyway, and I’ve been watching the Universal DVD for the past eight years. What is noticible is that the increased color range and sharpening make a difference. Details are great, even if the anamorphic lenses used on the film blurred the edges of the frame a bit. But it does effect things like Alice Cooper’s make up in the film. He’s no longer a pasty white anylonger, more natural fleshtones are apparent. No one has heard, nor did Shout – mention that Carpenter or Gary B. Kibbe supervised this transfer so I guess it’s really up to the consumer as to what they want. But such details.Audio:It’s great. Noticible differences from previous DVD copies – the scene where the Priest is talking to his superiors in the court yard at the beginning has more audiable sprinkler sounds. Just great stuff. The soundtrack pops well.ExtrasThis is what we’ve all come for, right? I really wish I knew what the making of this disc was like. Before this, if you wanted a really good disc of PRINCE OF DARKNESS, you either got the British DVD or if you really wanted the creme de la creme, the Caheirs du Cinema DVD of the film. Not every special feature in the world is included on this blu-ray. Maybe that’s a good thing. The introduction and scene analysis features from the French DVD have been said to be lackluster. What Scream! self produced is great. Interestingly enough, Carpenter looks better than he did in other Scream! produced featurettes. And though some of what he says is repeated in the audio commentary (Taken from the European/Studio Cannal release), the repetition comes with greater details to his anecdotes. The Alice Cooper interview kind of sucks, certain questions didn’t seem to have been answered, such as his song PRINCE OF DARKNESS – was it written for the film? We hear it in the film and it wasn’t released officially on an album until 1988. The Robert Grasmere interview is full of great stuff. He remembers the film fondly and vividly, even bringing with him some props to show. Alan Howarths’ interview plays more like an overview of his time working with Carpenter than about the POD score specifically.To bring this up, the alternate for TV edit of the begining. Yes, it comes with everything that the fabled TV edit is supposed to come with. They don’t include things like Donald Pleasance actually reading the diary via ADR over the footage that is already there in the theatrical cut, but it’s great stuff. Great stuff.A trailer is there, but it comes with two radio spots as well. Sweet. A TV spot has surfaced on youtube, but eh, make your own second disc for this release!Horror’s haunted grounds is fun, though not really substantially. A fun piece.An obvious easter egg is a video from the 25th anniversary screening Q and A. It’s okay. Nothing in depth.If you are a fan and want more, either wait for stuff to pop up on the internet to download or buy this release. And I do suggest you buy it. Sure, it doesn’t have a booklet with some well written articles on the film (and they’re out there), and it doesn’t have the video of the premiere at Universal Studios (which could have been bought by Getty Images for $500), but it’s great none the less. Buy it now. Don’t need to be an alien from THEY LIVE to tell you that.

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