Prince of Darkness

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Carpenter directs. Gary B. Kibbe behind the camera. John Carpenter scores. Steve Mirkovich cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Netherlands. Dialogue in Latin, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 4.7× over at the box office.
• 339 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Latin, English.
• 5International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Netherlands.
• 6Directed by John Carpenter, shot by Gary B. Kibbe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by John Carpenter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Steve Mirkovich shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9Donald Pleasence and Lisa Blount and Victor Wong carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "Before man walked the earth...It slept for centuries. It is evil. It is real. It is awakening.".
• 11IMDB entry: tt0093777 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 12Classified under 18 themes, including "research", "dreams", "obsession", "secret society".

The technical file

Cinematography

Gary B. Kibbe

Original score

John Carpenter

Editing

Steve Mirkovich

Production design

Daniel A. Lomino

Makeup / hair

Francisco X. Pérez

VFX supervisor

Robert Grasmere

Sound

David J. Hudson

Stunt coordinator

Jeff Imada

Runtime

102 min · 1h 42m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$3,000,000

Box office

$14,182,492

Return

473% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Prince of Darkness (1987) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

60% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

50/100

IMDB rating

6.7/10 · 53,252 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

John Carpenter

• 
  The Thing

  1982 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Halloween

  1978 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Cigarette Burns

  2005 · ★ 7.3
• 
  They Live

  1988 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Assault on Precinct 13

  1976 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Big Trouble in Little China

  1986 · ★ 7.2

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Bong Joon Ho Reveals the John Carpenter Film That Terrified Him!

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  "Prince Of Darkness" movie trailer [1987]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Prince Of Darkness ≣ 1987 ≣ Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Ti West on PRINCE OF DARKNESS

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Prince of Darkness (1987) trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2015-10-15
  ★ 7/10

  Then it really is Old Scratch knocking at the door. Something of the forgotten John Carpenter movie, Prince of Darkness shows both the good and bad side of the supremely talented director. The story is a beaut, a bit skew-whiff, but unmistakably Carpenter territory as Satan exists in some sort of parallel universe. How he manifests himself is narratively a bit tricky, but still it makes for good horror, especially as the old religious angle finds Carpenter - in the guise of Donald Pleasence - chortling away to himself in a way that Old Nick has been prone to do. Cue bugs, green goo, zombies and a centuries old sect determined to keep Satan out of our world. The scares are many, atmosphere bubbling away (in time with another of Carpenter's pulse beat synth musical scores), while the finale has a genuine surprise up its sleeve. Unfortunately the cast are playing second fiddle to the supernatural strengths, working from a script that doesn't sit at one with the screenplay, rendering the characters as uninvolving fodder. Yet be that as it may, it's still a film of delights, enough in fact to make it a top end entry on Carpenter's CV. 7/10

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2022-11-09
  ★ 7/10

  When an elderly priest passes away, one of his colleague discovers a mysterious green liquid hidden in a cylinder deep beneath a long-abandoned church. Rather misguidedly, as it turns out, he invites a group of enthusiastic students to come and investigate it's properties. Big mistake! It was hidden deep in the bowels of this crypt for a very good reason, and once they release it they discover that the Satanic horror they face might just be the tip of the iceberg! Donald Pleasence is strong here as the priest who realises, all too late in the day, that they are facing a terror that could jeopardise the very future of humanity... Christianity at any rate! Can he galvanise his now panic-stricken helpers to reverse the effects of the deadly gloop before they all become zombified servants of evil? The dialogue maybe isn't so hot, especially as hysteria begins to set in amongst the petrified, but the pace is great and the effects have held up remarkably well as this solid and quite menacing story builds to a genuinely exciting conclusion. The supporting cast deliver well, too and John Carpenter and Alan Howarth manage a score that adds quite a bit of peril to the accruing sense of danger the former creates throughout this rather superior drama. It's short, taut, and well worth a watch.

  Read full review ↓
• patient12025-10-17
  ★ 8/10

  Such an interesting film, grew up minutes from the church this was filmed at. It’s where the Pope used to stay when he came to Los Angeles, California. This was really quite unnerving when it came out, as we saw it in the movie theater, and it had people gasping and leaving the theater. I knew I was in for a good time when that started happening. I’ve loved this film ever since, raised my 3 kids on John Carpenter films, and am hoping to do the same for ALL OF my grandchildren as well.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• AL

  Alive Films

  US

• LA

  Larry Franco Productions

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerShep Gordon
• EditorSteve Mirkovich
• ProducerLarry Franco
• Executive ProducerAndre Blay
• CastingLinda Francis
• StuntsRandy Hall
• StuntsWayne King
• StuntsMario Roberts
• StuntsJustin De Rosa
• Assistant Sound EditorCharles Davis
• StuntsEllarye
• StuntsDebbie Evans
• StuntsSimone Boisseree
• StuntsChristine Anne Baur
• Production DesignDaniel A. Lomino
• Set DecorationRick Gentz
• Location ManagerKen Lavet
• Script SupervisorSandy King
• Casting AssistantMelanie Massey
• Production CoordinatorMarian Shambo
• Unit Production ManagerStratton Leopold
• StuntsBob Herron
• Standby PainterAnthony Tomeo
• Sound EffectsJohn P. Fasal

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• research
• dreams
• obsession
• secret society
• time travel
• satan
• anti-christ
• artifact
• priest
• los angeles, california
• church
• demon
• satanic cult
• hopeless
• lovecraftian
• sinister
• distressing
• sincere

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1987-10-23R

Also known as

International titles

• John Carpenter's Prince of DarknessUS
• Príncipe das SombrasBR
• El señor del malAR
• John Carpenter's ParadigmJP
• パラダイムJP
• Qaranlıqlar ŞahıAZ
• Die Fürsten der DunkelheitDE