Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Prince of Darkness’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It’s no secret that I love horror movies through and through and one thing that I’ve always appreciated when it comes to this magnificent genre, is the sheer versatility that it puts on display. Because really, there’s something for everyone when it comes to horror films. If you’re a fan of splatter, you’ll find plenty of movies that provide you with guts and gore. If you want something a touch more philosophical, well George Romero’s work has you covered. But really, we all watch these films for one reason and one reason alone, to experience a feeling of terror.
 
Because who doesn’t love a good scare, and the feeling of being alive that comes with all of those thrills and chills because once the terror has come to an end, we are safely returned to our everyday lives where we can go about our business in relative peace and quiet and return to the scares when we deem necessary. But some horror flicks, well they are simply not content to provide us with an encapsulated experience that ends once the screen fades to black. They mean to rock us to our core and stay with us long after they’ve come to an end and recently, I took the time to revisit a horror movie that accomplishes just that in Prince of Darkness.
 
Now the plot for this one we won’t spend much time discussing today, because if you’re here on this written journey with me, you’ve seen this movie, and really, I want to spend as much time as possible discussing what exactly makes this horror story so great because I cannot emphasize this enough, this is a damn fine film and really, the first thing I love about this motion picture is the strange sense of realism that it provides. Now, I’m certain that statement just raised a few eyebrows because you’re probably asking, how on earth can a horror film be realistic in the slightest, and it’s a question I would agree is valid, but Writer/Director John Carpenter actually managed to pull off such a feat.

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As to how exactly he accomplished such a wonder, well we can all thank science for that. Because this film deals a lot with alternate dimensions and matter/anti-matter, which was revolutionary stuff in 1987 when the film came out, but it is commonplace now and by being on the cutting edge of stuffing this kind of research into a horror movie, and by giving Satan himself a physical manifestation, the lines between fiction and film are blurred and that messes with your mind in ways you never thought possible and as your mind tries to process the possibility of science making this kind of evil tangible, you find yourself sucked into the story…
 
But, outside of that surprise storytelling wise, the other reason this motion picture works so well is the sheer fact that the scares in this one just so happen to be of the highest quality. Working within that realm of realism, Carpenter removes any scripted feel to the scares, and they almost seem chaotic in nature, lending a real sense of danger and dread for the audience. And the ‘anything can happen’ feel that comes with this, makes the third act as wild as they come and the fact that Carpenter pushed the envelope with some of these scares is why this movie stays with you for so long, simply because the terror unsettles you at your core.
 
If anything, all of those elements, and the fact that Carpenter does a fine job of throwing Revelations into the mix, make this motion picture a modern classic in my eyes since it is so incredibly thoughtful and so incredibly terrifying all at the same time and I’m glad to see that companies like Shout Factory have given this movie the care it deserves with a remastered Blu Ray release. Either way, this one is a must see in my book, and a must own since it’s so unique and well-crafted and if by chance you haven’t seen this film, please seek it out and give it a look, you’ll be glad you did. 

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