| Prince of Darkness | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Prince of Darkness |
| Director: | John Carpenter |
| Writers: | Martin Quatermass |
| Producers: | Andre Blay; Larry J. Franco; Shep Gordon |
| Composer: | John Carpenter; Alan Howarth |
| Cinematography: | Gary B. Kibbe |
| Editors: | Steve Mirkovich |
| Production | |
| Production company: | Alive Films Larry Franco Productions Haunted Machine Productions |
| Distributed by: | Universal Pictures |
| Released: | October 23rd, 1987 |
| Rating: | R |
| Running time: | 102 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $3,000,000 |
| Gross: | $14,182,492 (US) |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | — |
Prince of Darkness is an American independent feature film of the supernatural thriller and demonic intrigue subgenres of horror. It was written and directed by John Carpenter, though he used the pseudonym of Martin Quatermass for the writing credit. It was produced by Alive Films, Larry Franco Productions and Haunted Machine Productions. It was distributed through Universal Pictures and released theatrically in the United States on October 23rd, 1987. The films tars Donald Pleasence as the priest, with Jameson Parker as Brian Marsh, Victor Wong as Professor Howard Birack and Lisa Blount as Catherine Danforth.
Plot[]
How about a nice cup of Satan juice?
Centuries ago, in the Middle East, The Brotherhood of Sleep — a secret order of the Catholic church—discovered a large cylinder of swirling green liquid. Kept secret from even the Vatican, the cylinder was eventually moved to Los Angeles, where it has since been guarded by the Brotherhood. In the present day, the orders' last member dies before he can warn the cardinal that "the sleeper awakens." A Catholic priest recovers a key from his possessions, which leads him to the cylinder's hiding place beneath Saint Goddard monastery.
The priest invites a quantum physicist, Professor Howard Birack, to analyze the cylinder. Birack invites his best students to assist—wise-cracking Walter Fong, demure Kelly, the highly-strung Susan Cabot, laid-back Mullins, and lovers Brian Marsh and Catherine Danforth—and fellow scientists Calder, Lisa, Etchinson, Lomax, Frank Wyndham, and Dr. Paul Leahy. The priest tells Birack that he can sense the growing influence of the liquid and needs him to scientifically evidence its true nature to the wider populace as he fears it will soon escape. After the team arrives at the monastery, the local homeless population begins surrounding the building. The team analyses the cylinder, discovering that it can only be opened from inside and is at least seven million years old. Brian realizes that the liquid is prebiotic, but it is evolving with purpose instead of decaying.
Kelly really needs to stop picking at that.
Translating the Brotherhood's ancient textbooks, Catherine identifies differential equations from before their known invention. Lisa's translations, meanwhile, claim that the cylinder contains Satan, who was buried by his father, an ancient god who was banished to the dark side. Jesus Christ was an extraterrestrial humanoid who warned humanity about the cylinder. Though Jesus was killed by those who deemed him insane and too powerful, his disciples passed on his warning. Birack hypothesizes that Satan's father may be the Anti-God, an even more powerful force of evil bound to the realm of anti-matter.
The liquid begins to exert its influence beyond its container, possessing Susan, who spreads the possession to or kills several other team members. Those who leave the building are brutally murdered by the increasingly enthralled homeless people. The survivors realize that, since their arrival, they have experienced a shared dream of a dark figure emerging from the monastery. Brian surmises that the dreams are a warning sent from the future using tachyons. The possessed bring the cylinder to a sleeping Kelly, where the remaining liquid forces itself into her body, transforming her into the physical vessel of Satan: a gruesomely disfigured being with powers of telekinesis and regeneration. Satan attempts to summon the Anti-God by reaching through a handheld mirror, but it is too small and the effort fails.
Live and in concert - Alice Cooper and his Dirt Street Urchins!
The possessed attack the survivors, while Satan locates a larger mirror and reaches through, grasping the Anti-God's large, clawed hand. The priest cuts off Satan's arm and head with an axe, but it instantly regenerates and again reaches for the Anti-God. Seeing this, Catherine charges at Satan and they both fall through the portal. The priest shatters the mirror, trapping Satan, the Anti-God, and, to Brian's horror, Catherine in the other realm. The possessed immediately die as the liquid evaporates from their bodies, while the homeless people wander away. The survivors, Brian, Walter, Birack, and the priest, are rescued as emergency services arrive to investigate.
Sometime later, Brian experiences the dream again, now seeing a seemingly possessed Catherine as the figure emerging from the church. He awakens and finds Catherine lying next to him, disfigured as Kelly was by Satan's possession. Startled awake, he realizes it was a nightmare. He approaches his bedroom mirror, reaching his hand out towards it.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Donald Pleasence | Priest |
| Jameson Parker | Brian Marsh |
| Victor Wong | Howard Birack |
| Lisa Blount | Catherine Danforth |
| Dennis Dun | Walter Fong |
| Susan Blanchard | Kelly |
| Anne Howard | Susan Cabot |
| Ann Yen | Lisa |
| Ken Wright | Lomax |
| Dirk Blocker | Mullins |
| Jessie Lawrence Ferguson | Calder |
| Peter Jason | Doctor Paul Leahy |
| Robert Grasmere | Frank Wyndham |
| Thom Bray | Etchinson |
| Joanna Merlin | Bag lady |
| Betty Ramey | Nun |
| Alice Cooper | Street schizo |
Notes & Trivia[]
General Notes[]
- This movie is often marketed as John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, which redirects to this page.
- The tagline to this film is "Before man walked the earth... it slept for centuries. It is evil. It is real. It is awakening".
- There are a total of seventeen credited cast members in this film.
- Filming on Prince of Darkness began on May 18th, 1987. Shooting concluded on June 25th, 1987. The movie was shot in Los Angeles, California. Scenes with the church were filmed at LA Artcore at 120 Judge John Aiso Street. Scenes of Brian Marsh's house were filmed at 2646 Menlo Avenue. [1]
- The total running time for the film is 102 minutes, but the 15-rated release in the United Kingdom cut forty-two seconds to avoid an 18 rating. This includes a shorter bike-stabbing sequence, the removal of some swearing and a brief cut to 'soften' the scene where Calder cuts his throat with a splinter. [2][3]
- John Carpenter regards this movie as the second installment of his "Apocalypse" trilogy, which includes The Thing from 1982 and In the Mouth of Madness from 1994. [4]
- Actress Anne Marie Howard, who plays Susan Cabot, is credited as Anne Howard in this film. This is her first work in the horror genre.
Home Video[]
- Prince of Darkness was released as a collector's edition Blu-ray by Shout Factory on September 24th, 2013. It was produced with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer and 2:35:1 aspect ratio. [5]
- Prince of Darkness was released as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray collector's edition by Shout Factory on January 19th, 2021. [6]
- Prince of Darkness was released on Blu-ray as an Amazon exclusive SteelBook edition by Shout Factory on August 12th, 2025. [7]
Reviews[]
- On the movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Prince of Darkness has a Tomatometer score of 63% based on 41 posted critic reviews. It has 26 fresh ratings and 15 rotten ratings. The film has a Popcornmeter score of 61% based on more than 10,000 user reviews, averaging 3.5 out of 5. There is a narrow 2% variance between the Tomatometer score and the Popcornmeter score.
- On Letterboxd, Prince of Darkness has a weighted average review score of 3.58 out of 5 based on 99,113 user reviews. It has 4 positive reviews, comprising 40% of the total base, with 3 negative reviews at 30% of the total and 3 mixed reviews, also making up 30% of the total tally. The movie has a user score of 7.3 out of 10 based on 58 user ratings, indicating generally favorable reviews. [8]
- On Metacritic, Prince of Darkness has a Metascore of 50% based on ten posted critic reviews.
- On The Movie Database, Prince of Darkness has a user score of 68%.
Disambiguations[]
Prince of Darkness could refer to:
- Dracula: Prince of Darkness - A 1966 film by Hammer Film Productions
- Dracula - Sometimes referred to as the Prince of Darkness.
- Lucifer Morningstar - Commonly referred to as the Prince of Darkness.
Recommendations[]
See also[]
External Links[]
- Prince of Darkness at IMDB
- Prince of Darkness at Trakt TV
- Prince of Darkness at Letterboxd.com
- Prince of Darkness at Themoviedb.org
- Prince of Darkness at Rotten Tomatoes
References[]
- ↑ IMDB; Prince of Darkness (1987); Filming dates. Filming locations.
- ↑ IMDB; Prince of Darkness (1987); Alternate versions.
- ↑ British Board of Film Classification (BBFC); Prince of Darkness. Approved running time.
- ↑ The Verge.com. The Classics: John Carpenter's 'Apocalypse Trilogy'/A look at John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy," made up of "The Thing," "Prince of Darkness," and "In the Mouth of Madness."; Joshua Topolsky. (September 2nd, 2012).
- ↑ Blu-ray.com; Prince of Darkness Blu-ray. Collector's Edition. Shout Factory (September 24th, 2013).
- ↑ Blu-ray.com; Prince of Darkness 4K Blu-ray. Collector's Edition. Shout Factory (January 19th, 2021).
- ↑ Blu-ray.com; Prince of Darkness 4K Blu-ray. Amazon Exclusive SteelBook, 4K Ultra HD. (August 12th, 2025).
- ↑ Metacritic; Prince of Darkness. Metascore & User Score.
Keywords[]
Alternate dimensions; Axe; Birds; California; Catholic Church; Church; College; Computer; Cult; Dead animals; Decapitation; Defenestration; Demons; Disfigurement; Dismemberment; Dreams; Eye injury; Full moon; Hypnosis; Impalement; Insects; Invulnerability; Los Angeles; Mind control; Nightmares; Occult; Possession; Priest; Profanity; Reanimates; Regeneration; Satanism; Scientific experimentation; Scissors; Self sacrifice; Severed hand; Severed head; Severed limbs; Smoking; Space portal; Stabbings; Suicide; Telekinesis; Throat injury; Worms