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Prince of Darkness (1987) r
Another pleasant surprise from rewatching a film I didn't like as a kid.
A strange container is found from the basement of an abandoned church after a priest who's been guarding it dies. The priest who made the discovery is deeply disturbed by his find and contacts a university professor of theoretical physics for consultation. Afterwards professor gathers a group from his own students plus few people from other branches of science to find out what's really inside the container.
Prince of Darkness reminded me of Fulci's The Beyond. They both are seemingly small stories that end up having quite far reaching conclusions. They're born from the same biblical imagery which they twist to their needs. Most of the horrors faced by the characters are (on a horror film scale) rather mundane but there's something far more sinister lurking behind the scenes. It also looks a lot like Fulci's movie (in other words really damn good).
I like the script too. The quantum physics explanations are correct enough to work in a film and I guess I have to forgive some stupid discussions about it by the characters as they are clearly meant for the viewer. The concept is quite unique and interesting enough to carry a film. There isn't much character development but majority of the people do have a clear personality.
The slowly moving story is very well supported by its visual style. Shots are often quite dark or at least shadowy, there are long corridors with heavily emphasized perspective and an eerie threat surrounding everything. The atmosphere is magnified by good soundtrack which is somewhere between Goblin and Tangerine Dream.
I really need to rewatch more Carpenter. I kinda understand why I didn't like this when I was 13 or so but now it was very good. My rating might even be a little too conservative.
Another pleasant surprise from rewatching a film I didn't like as a kid.
A strange container is found from the basement of an abandoned church after a priest who's been guarding it dies. The priest who made the discovery is deeply disturbed by his find and contacts a university professor of theoretical physics for consultation. Afterwards professor gathers a group from his own students plus few people from other branches of science to find out what's really inside the container.
Prince of Darkness reminded me of Fulci's The Beyond. They both are seemingly small stories that end up having quite far reaching conclusions. They're born from the same biblical imagery which they twist to their needs. Most of the horrors faced by the characters are (on a horror film scale) rather mundane but there's something far more sinister lurking behind the scenes. It also looks a lot like Fulci's movie (in other words really damn good).
I like the script too. The quantum physics explanations are correct enough to work in a film and I guess I have to forgive some stupid discussions about it by the characters as they are clearly meant for the viewer. The concept is quite unique and interesting enough to carry a film. There isn't much character development but majority of the people do have a clear personality.
The slowly moving story is very well supported by its visual style. Shots are often quite dark or at least shadowy, there are long corridors with heavily emphasized perspective and an eerie threat surrounding everything. The atmosphere is magnified by good soundtrack which is somewhere between Goblin and Tangerine Dream.
I really need to rewatch more Carpenter. I kinda understand why I didn't like this when I was 13 or so but now it was very good. My rating might even be a little too conservative.