Synopsis
When the lights go out, the terror begins.
A quartet of murderous psychopaths break out of a mental hospital during a power blackout and lay siege to their doctor's house.
1982 Directed by Jack Sholder
A quartet of murderous psychopaths break out of a mental hospital during a power blackout and lay siege to their doctor's house.
Jack Palance Donald Pleasence Martin Landau Dwight Schultz Erland van Lidth Deborah Hedwall Lee Taylor-Allan Phillip Clark Elizabeth Ward Brent Jennings Gordon Watkins Carol Levy Keith Reddin Annie Korzen Lin Shaye Dorothy Dorian James John Weissman Jana Schneider Robert Pastner Larry Pine Frederick Coffin Mallory Millet-Jones Laura Esterman Michael Earl Reid Paula Raflo Steve Dash Michael Medeiros E.D. Phillips Norman Beim Show All…
Webster Whinery Scott MacQueen Cliff Cudney Michael Estler Tony Farentino Greg Zoll Mike Christopher
Noite de Pânico, Alene i mørket, Solos en la oscuridad, Armoton yö, Απόδραση από τη Φωλιά του Κούκου, Nel buio da soli, Junk in the Dark, Alleen in het donker, Pavor na noite, Sam u mraku, Ensam i mörkret, Одни во тьме, Ausbruch der wilden Wölfe, Zwei Stunden vor Mitternacht, Dément, Egyedül a sötétben, Sozinho no Escuro, Sám v temnotě, 어둠 속에 홀로, 午夜杀手
From the bonkers Donald Pleasance diner intro scene to the unhinged look of insanity on the face of Jack Palance in that final shot, Alone in the Dark delivers… mixing things up with the usual escaped maniac swill but making it multiple maniacs and throwing in some family siege narrative/home invasion spices into the slasher stew.
I first saw Alone in the Dark sometime in the mid 90’s after seeing genre must watches like The Prowler, The Burning, My Bloody Valentine, and Slumber Party Massacre… I rented it on a whim because of that killer box art and it immediately became a rental staple—I loved the siege narrative slasher feel of it and those early new line cinema vibes… the stellar cast of…
Add this to the list of Oscar winners in horror movies. If you've ever wanted to watch a bunch of veteran actors act insane, this is for you.
I should have liked it more, but I was pretty bored despite its awesome cast. However the ending climax and last scene totally make this movie.
#SlasherSaturday
I may have set my expectations a bit too high for this one. But with a cast that includes Loomis himself Donald Pleasance, Martin Landau and Jack Palance, how could I not have lofty expectations? Despite a stellar poster and a (literally) crazy plot synopsis, this was not nearly as crazy as I was hoping. It is definitely fun to see the aforementioned cast members here. I would have loved more of them. Felt like it was lacking in the gore/effects dept. still, I liked when the baseball bat pounded the cleaver deeper into Fatty’s back. And even though it was kind of dumb, I liked the knife through the bed scene too.
Though it didn’t match my expectations, I still…
I had seen this before and knew I liked it but really couldn’t remember any of it. Now that I have revisited it, I totally remember why. It’s a really well done movie. It gets put in the slasher category but really, I think this is more of a home invasion movie with slasher elements. As a slasher, it’s just ok but as home invasion horror, it’s pretty awesome.
A region wide blackout allows a group of asylum inmates to escape and terrorize one of their doctors and his family. The setup is good but, in itself, is nothing particularly special. What makes it stand out so much, though, is the fact that two of the escapees are Martin Landau…
Mr. Jack Sholder (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and The Hidden) directs this unique slasher starring Donald Pleasence, Martin Landau and Jack Fucking Palance.
This starts off on a fairly wacky note with all the odd going-ons at the mental hospital (by both the criminally insane and the doctor) but it eventually moves into pretty vicious home-invasion territory.
While the movie is quite campy, it has absolutely no problem becoming very tense at times. The performances are unsurprisingly great and the kill scenes are more than solid.
Very underrated.
Totally a top tier Jack Shoulder “golden era” home invasion escaped maniacs slasher jam as far as I’m concerned—Martin Landau and that hat!
A bunch of criminally insane psychopaths escape from a maximum security asylum to avenge a murder that never happened but they get sidetracked by punk rock venues.
Surprisingly goofy, oddball slasher about escaped mental patient(s) seeking revenge on their dorky doctor and his family that might not have worked without its stacked cast of old-timers (cannot accuse Jack Parlance, Donland Pleasance or Martin Landau of phoning it in) and a reliable setpiece guy like Jack Sholder behind the camera. But it's genuinely gruesome when it counts and the performances are deeply weird in a fun way.
Somehow Alone in the Dark manages to feel cut from the same cloth as all my childhood slasher staples while also entirely unique and unlike anything I've ever seen before.
Yup... just what I thought...
B.A.N.G.E.R.
A thorough home-invasion nightmare that starts ever so intricately in the walls of a psychiatric hospital then writhes in set-up mode for a full hour before unmasking a siege/slasher hybrid climax with a devious grin. That final chapter finds the new hospital psychiatrist Dan Potter and his family stuck in a proto-You're Next trap of confusion and corpses and it'll rip right through your senses.
Despite the splashes of gore and demented suspense, this is surprisingly story-heavy as it weaves in details and twists…
"We all kill when we must, and we all die when it's time."
Psychologist, Dr. Dan Potter starts a new job at "The Haven," an insane asylum specializing in experimental treatments that focus on peaceful mediation. Here a small group of criminal psychopaths are housed, and it's Dr. Potter who will be overseeing their care. The group of maniacs were fond of their last doctor, and concoct a crazy story amongst one another about how Dr. Potter must have killed their old caretaker to take his job, so they decide to kill him when the time is right. One night, not long after, a blackout hits the town and the security systems are compromised. It's then that the group of…
You can read my thoughts on this movie in my previous write-up if you are so inclined. I will only add that I am now 100% certain that Jack Palance started to pogo/mosh immediately after that final fade to black. He just seems like a guy who would, you know?!
(Thanks for sending me that video Michelle).
A bunch of maniacs(which include Martin Landau and Jack Palance) escape from the mental hospital during a mass blackout. Being under the delusion that their new doctor has killed their previous doctor it soon turns into a home invasion flick as they target Dr. Dan and his family.
Donald Pleasence pops up as psychiatrist Dr. Leo Bain who is somehow even more incompetent than Dr Loomis! It's a fun little 80's gem that gets some solid performances from it's cast especially Landau who seems to be having the time of his life.