Alone in the Dark

"Alone in the Dark" centers on a small New Jersey community, where Dr. Dan Potter is assigned to work as a new doctor at "The Haven", a mental institution outside of town, run by Dr. Leo Bain (Donald Pleasance). The third floor of the institution homes a group of very insane, murderous men, who are under careful watch. But when a blackout occurs and the entire area loses it's electricity, the electrical powering that keeps the men behind closed doors is of no help. The murderous men escape from the Haven, and head towards town, where they begin a murderous rampage before reaching Dr. Potter's new home.

Not to be confused with the 2005 creature horror flick of the same name, "Alone in the Dark" boasts a fairly unique premise that hasn't been used (town crazies let loose to wreak havoc on the city after an electrical shortage). If you ask me, I thought this was a fairly original idea for a horror movie, and a clever one at that; taking into consideration the time this film was made, this was a fresh idea. The problem here is that the film lags quite a bit, and really for no good reason really; one would think character development would fall in place here, but not really. It plods around aimlessly for about 45 minutes before really kicking in, which was a bit of a disappointment, because, if written better, this could have been a much more frightening movie. The idea of lunatics sieging a local house during a blackout is terrifying - it's too bad this film wasn't.

Aside from that, it does have some positives. For one, the acting is quite good. Donald "Dr. Loomis" Pleasance plays the lead doctor of the institution perfectly, in a role that is similar to his in the "Halloween" series, but a bit different. Martin Landau and Jack Palance play a couple of the town psychos flawlessly - they're menacing but strangely funny as well, and this balance works. There are a couple of nice scare sequences (including the babysitter and her boyfriend in the bed ordeal), and above all, this film does manage to be fairly entertaining despite its dragging feet. The ending is also quite quirky, but it flows with the rest of the film's tone and was a nice little laugh to end on.

Overall, "Alone in the Dark" is a slightly above-average horror/thriller that is worth seeing at least once. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the premise, quirky campiness, and decent acting make it a watchable horror movie. It's not your usual slasher flick, and for that I have to give it some credit. Not bad, not great, but just above the usual, if not a little different from. Worth a rental, you may enjoy it. 6/10.

The story = Dan Potter (Dwight Shultz) is a new doctor at an asylum run by the wacky Dr. Leo Bain (Donald Pleasence). Inmates Hawkes (Jack Palance), Preacher (Martin Landau), Fatty ( the late Erland van Lidth), and the Bleeder (Phil Clark) believe Potter killed their old doctor and vow revenge. The gang escapes when a massive blackout strikes New Jersey. As the Potter family prepare for a quiet candle lit dinner with friends, the psychopaths move in for the kill.

In Alone In The Dark the director Jack Sholder creates a great deal of suspense, tension and action in this slightly odd slasher, All of the characters are either oddballs, lunatics, or both. The script (written by Sholder, Robert Shaye, and Mike Harpster) is filled with funny dialogue and a few twists.

The incredible cast contributes a large portion of the goofy charm surrounding this slasher. Most of the acting is completely over the top, but Palance and Landau still manage to bring menace to their characters. One wonders if Pleasence is really acting in his scenes involving a pipe and "exotic herbs". Slasher fans won't mistake Dr. Bain for Dr. Loomis. Dwight Schultz, who later became famous as a member of the A-Team, is good as the young doctor who learns violence is the only way to deal with some threats.

All in all Alone In The Dark is a definite must see for any Slasher fans with an interesting storyline great actors such as horror veteran Donald Pleasence and Jack Palance and gripping scenes that will keep you hooked all the way through.

Four dangerous psychopaths (two played by Jack Palance and Martin Landau) easily escape from an asylum run by a VERY liberal doctor (Donald Pleasance) during a blackout. They proceed to terrorize a doctor (Dwight Schultz), his wife, their little daughter, the doctor's sister (who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown) and a stranger. And the electricity is out, the phone lines are cut and the house is completely isolated...

I saw this in a theatre in 1982 and it scared me silly. It had me jumping and two sequences (one involving a baby sitter on a bed and the other with blood dripping on a woman's face) had me cringing. Seeing it over 20 years later, it's not as scary but still is an above average horror film.

The film moves quickly, there are nice directorial touches from Jack Sholder (who went on to direct "Nightmare on Elm Street 2") and it has an above average cast--Pleasance seems a little embarrassed but Palance is good and Landau is clearly enjoying himself. There are quite a few scary moments, a good spooky score and the final half hour is an all out assault on the family. Also it's pretty restrained in terms of gore.

But there are huge gaps in logic which I didn't notice the first time and I really did not need a sequence where it is insinuated that a little girl has been molested. Also the young girl of the family is the most annoying little brat I've ever seen--I was desperately hoping she'd get knocked senseless just to shut her up. And it really has no ending.

Still, if you ignore the plot holes this film really can work on you. Best seen at night, in a dark room...and all alone:)

So I was in a slasher movie binge at the time and I watched this one right after "Tourist Trap" and "Alice, Sweet Alice".

I felt like this one was kinda "meh" but It had to be higher than Tourist Trap® because at least there was a lot of gore and people dying© which is expected for a slasher flick. (although I gave both movies a rating of 6 on IMDB, my personal rating would be 6.25 for Tourist trap and 6.75 for Alone in the Dark).

The story was reasonable but didn't get me caught up. I've spend basically the entire movie wondering if I should stop watching and go do something else like drawing, reading, etc...

When the story begins, Dr. Dan Potter (Dwight Schultz) arrives at a psychiatric hospital to begin his new job. The place is run by Dr. Bain (Donald Pleasance) and he seems, at times, to be as weird as the inmates. His relationship with the patients sure reminded me of the Poe story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" and the movie based on it, "Stonehurst Asylum". But the story goes a different direction. There is a huge power outage and the security system at the hospital goes out...and the inmates find the alarms and doors no longer function properly. Soon a group of dangerous psychotics leave to go on a killing spree...all the while Dr. Bain seems amazingly chill. What's next??

This is a slasher film at heart, but it has more depth and more story to it than a Friday 13 or Halloween-type movie. It also helps that there was an impressive cast--with Jack Palance and Martin Landau playing two of the super-dangerous psychotic escapees. Now this does NOT mean the film is especially brilliant, as like other films in the genre, it has some cliches--such as the identity of the fourth slasher as well as how the psychotics all attack one at a time instead of at once (thus making them easier to beat).

By the way, although Dwight Schultz is not a household name, Star Trek fans will likely recognize him as the extremely nervous and geeky Lt. Broccoli.