It's a shame that a slasher as smart as "Alone in the Dark" got lost in the tidal wave of similar films during this period. Indeed, debuting writer / director Jack Sholder has got more on his mind than mere titillation. Sex and nudity are kept to a minimum, and devising ingenious ways to murder people is never the order of the day. Instead, what Sholder does is look hard at the whole idea of insanity, and that thin dividing line between "normal" and "abnormal".
It concerns Dan Potter (Dwight Schultz) who becomes the new psychiatrist at a pretty radical institution dubbed The Haven. He meets the most dangerous men in the place - former P.o.W. Frank Hawkes (Jack Palance), former preacher & arsonist Byron Sutcliff (Martin Landau), overweight child molester Ronald Elster (Erland Van Lidth), and a fourth psycho named The Bleeder because he gets nosebleeds while killing people. The man in charge of the place is Dr. Leo Bain (Donald Pleasence), who in an amusing turn of events is revealed to be even less connected to reality than these patients!
It's great fun to watch this able cast of veterans at work, even if this period could have been considered a low point in their careers. Landau is particularly delicious, camping it up something fierce. It's of course ironic now to see Schultz play the rational one as, later on, he became well known for creating a whacked-out character of his own, "Howlin' Mad" Murdock on 'The A-Team'. Pleasence is delightful, as he plays a touchy-feely bloke who also likes to smoke marijuana. Deborah Hedwall as Potters' outgoing wife and Lee Taylor-Allan as his unstable sister have their moments. Also appearing are familiar character players such as Brent Jennings, Larry Pine, Frederick Coffin, and the always appealing Lin Shaye in a hilarious bit.
The very first in-house production for New Line Cinema, which had previously been in the business of distribution, this is interesting as well as entertaining stuff. There are many fine scenes here, especially one that deserves to be iconic, as the horny blonde babysitter whimpers atop a bed while one of the maniacs thrusts his knife up through the mattress. Adding to the amusement is a wild performance by a band named the Sic *Beep*s.
You know this is going to be a good time with the opening Freudian nightmare, and it continues to work all the way through the eventual "Night of the Living Dead" style siege situation. It's very well shot, by B movie pro Joseph Mangine ("Squirm", "Alligator") and given a catchy and melodic score by Renato Serio.
All things considered, this is one film that deserves to be discovered or rediscovered by horror fans everywhere. Too bad it shares a title with a much derided video game adaptation of the 21st century.
Keep an eye out for the very brief appearance of a Tom Savini-created zombie.
Eight out of 10.
It concerns Dan Potter (Dwight Schultz) who becomes the new psychiatrist at a pretty radical institution dubbed The Haven. He meets the most dangerous men in the place - former P.o.W. Frank Hawkes (Jack Palance), former preacher & arsonist Byron Sutcliff (Martin Landau), overweight child molester Ronald Elster (Erland Van Lidth), and a fourth psycho named The Bleeder because he gets nosebleeds while killing people. The man in charge of the place is Dr. Leo Bain (Donald Pleasence), who in an amusing turn of events is revealed to be even less connected to reality than these patients!
It's great fun to watch this able cast of veterans at work, even if this period could have been considered a low point in their careers. Landau is particularly delicious, camping it up something fierce. It's of course ironic now to see Schultz play the rational one as, later on, he became well known for creating a whacked-out character of his own, "Howlin' Mad" Murdock on 'The A-Team'. Pleasence is delightful, as he plays a touchy-feely bloke who also likes to smoke marijuana. Deborah Hedwall as Potters' outgoing wife and Lee Taylor-Allan as his unstable sister have their moments. Also appearing are familiar character players such as Brent Jennings, Larry Pine, Frederick Coffin, and the always appealing Lin Shaye in a hilarious bit.
The very first in-house production for New Line Cinema, which had previously been in the business of distribution, this is interesting as well as entertaining stuff. There are many fine scenes here, especially one that deserves to be iconic, as the horny blonde babysitter whimpers atop a bed while one of the maniacs thrusts his knife up through the mattress. Adding to the amusement is a wild performance by a band named the Sic *Beep*s.
You know this is going to be a good time with the opening Freudian nightmare, and it continues to work all the way through the eventual "Night of the Living Dead" style siege situation. It's very well shot, by B movie pro Joseph Mangine ("Squirm", "Alligator") and given a catchy and melodic score by Renato Serio.
All things considered, this is one film that deserves to be discovered or rediscovered by horror fans everywhere. Too bad it shares a title with a much derided video game adaptation of the 21st century.
Keep an eye out for the very brief appearance of a Tom Savini-created zombie.
Eight out of 10.