Alone in the Dark (1982)

I love this movie so much

Fresh and Exciting

A Masterpiece!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

I just finished a review for 'Cruel Summer' in which I pointed out the movie's poster was utmost deceptive. 1982's Alone in the Dark's movie poster was just as misleading, but, oh so delicious.The difference is that this one's purely fiction and fun-horror whereas Cruel Summer was supposedly based on true events, dark and, well, cruel. Now, that all said, it's taken me nearly 40 years to finally get around to watching this "slasher" movie...and I'm a huge early 80s Slasher fan!Just to beat a dead horse, this poster, with the one jeaned-leg, bloody axe, moonlit night overlooking a cabin in the woods...brilliant and completely frightening. I love it. Unfortunately, as stated, it's completely deceptive. This incredible movie was nothing like the slasher movie poster leads you to believe.A new doctor replaces the old one at a free-for-all insane asylum run by Michael Myers' doctor. What separates us sane folk and these murderers is...electricity. So, what goes out in this semi-hippie, environmental messaged movie? Duh.The most dangerous patients, sorry "voyagers," are kept on the 3rd floor and once the said electricity goes out, they go to terrorize the new doctor for "killing their last doctor," or so they believe he did.Unbelievably, in an era (late 1970s to mid-1980s) of slasher movies, this movie had so many layers and surprises, good acting, interesting ideas, inventive gore and twists that I DID NOT SEE COMING even almost four decades later. I couldn't help but be impressed with how advanced this movie was when cookie-cutter slasher movies were produced and released almost weekly back then.I waited a long time to see this, but you shouldn't. If you are a fan of true horror and you haven't seen New Line Cinema's FIRST movie (a few years before Freddy put them on the map,) see this. NOW. In fact, enjoy the normal and YOUNG cameo of Lin Shaye, the mention of Freddy's hometown and actual scares, twists and gore you would NOT see coming here. I don't think I could recommend this more.***Final thoughts: THAT ALL SAID, again...what was with the Terminator ending? Sure, this was two years before the T-800 travelled back in time to the night club...but what was with the ending there? No spoilers...I'm legitimately confused.

Working at an insane asylum, a doctor working to keep his extra- security patients under control finds his efforts thwarted when a massive blackout occurs and they escape into the city, forcing him to realize what they're after and stop them before they can carry it out.This was actually a rather entertaining slasher. One of the best aspects is its intelligence and original story that starts off in a cliché since the fact that the convicts get out isn't anything new, but rather is one take on two different routes than most would expect. This gets a lot of work out of the fact that the convicts escape early on rather than stalking the residents inside with the fear of them getting out so that this one spends the majority of time stalking an individual family instead of going to a specific location and killing off an assembled mass there. This makes the fact that their out and about a lot scarier than what would've been done the other way around. What really sells the movie, though, is the continuous high-quality suspense scenes throughout here which come off rather nice as several of the scenes are highly enjoyable prolonging that factor. The stalking in the van is pretty chilling, the bedroom sequence is an absolute standout knowing they're there and trying to get out while a later assault on a house from unseen sources in the woods nearby features enough good moments to become quite entertaining and effective while detailing the action and brawling for some suspenseful times. The early action from the looting helps this one out nicely as well, bringing along some rather interesting bits as there's a different element present to the action that works nicely, and even manages to set-up the action in the later half rather well. Along with some nice gore based on the respectable body count, there here are the film's good points as there wasn't all that much really wrong with this one. Among the film's biggest ones is that the film has a long set-up to get to the good points. There's way too much time to get to the blackout that sets about the main thrust of the film and puts it into motion, and that there's a really long time to get there is a little off to really make this one exciting. Another small flaw is the ending comes across as slightly confusing and a little out-of-place in the film as it just seems to go on with endless confrontations just to get some action in, especially as it seemed to head for one conclusion and comes out with one that doesn't connect at all. These here are the film's main problems that hold it back.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language, Brief Nudity and a mild sex scene.

Striking visuals, excellent character actors allowed to chew large chunks of scenery, good music & atmospheric, finally a nice 80's time capsule of cultural references make this one a keeper.Donald Pleasance, Martin Landau, Jack Palance all present wonderful characterizations. Between Landau & Palance these two great actors really pull out the stops with some amazing performances & I have to give the nod to Martin Landau as the crazed 'Preacher' Byron, he really gives an amazing performance although Palance is just a nose length behind in terms of off the wall performances! Some great some great shock cuts, nicely scripted thriller with I will admit some implausible plot twists but who cares? This is classic on almost every level & it's a personal favorite of mine. Very quotable lines, amazing performances, these guys (Pleasance, Palance & Landau)could act the socks of any of todays thespians on their worst day & in this film one gets the feeling they R really enjoying themselves with these characters & it shows. Worth finding & highly recommended.

This movie seems to go highly unnoticed, which is insane since its one of the few slasher films I've seen that actually has thought put behind it. Everyone in this film acts very well, with little bad acting, Donald Pleasence (Halloween) gives a pretty funny performance as an insane doctor. The maniacs are all fun to watch. The body count sits at 8 kills, which is a little above standard for slashers, I Gave this film a 7/10 as there still are things in the movie that don't make it as good as it could've been, but this is definitely one of the best slasher films of the early 80s and a recommended movie to any slasher film. (this is also the first movie to use a hockey mask besides Jason in Friday the 13th part 3!)