John Carpenter believes Prince of Darkness is his most underrated film, and it is also a religious sequel to a traditional British horror franchise. Prince of Darkness arrived through the wonderful John Carpenter film run of the Eighties, the place he made back-to-back classics like The Factor and They Dwell.
Prince of Darkness entails a staff of scientists finding out a mysterious cylinder within the basement of a church, which can or might not include the essence of Devil. Spoiler alert: it completely incorporates Devil. The movie was a modest success upon launch, nevertheless it stays one of many extra obscure Carpenter films.
That is regardless of the very fact Carpenter himself feels Prince of Darkness is underrated. The film is loaded with Lovecraftian ideas too, from its feeling of cosmic dread, its mix of science and faith and the existence of historical forces out to destroy mankind.
Prince Of Darkness Is A Non secular Sequel To Quatermass And The Pit
Carpenter nods to The Stone Tape too
Carpenter made Prince of Darkness on a low price range following a nasty expertise with twentieth Century Fox on Huge Hassle in Little China. Within the aftermath, he needed to make one thing the place he had whole inventive management while paying homage to the works of famed British author Nigel Kneale.
Kneale is finest referred to as the creator of the Quatermass TV serials and flicks, along with 1972’s chilling ghost story The Stone Tape. Specifically, Prince of Darkness seems like a retooling of Kneale’s Quatermass and the Pit, the place the titular scientist (performed by Andrew Keir) uncovers an alien spaceship buried within the London underground.
A examine of the ship and the our bodies inside reveals these creatures had been liable for clever life on Earth – and the supply of humanity’s innate violence and non secular ideas. As soon as the ship reawakens, occasions flip considerably apocalyptic. The unique Quatermass and the Pit sequence and its later Hammer Horror film adaptation are actually thought-about sci-fi classics.
Carpenter performed with the identical components for Prince of Darkness, placing extra emphasis on faith and quantum mechanics. The construction of each tales is kind of comparable too, together with an ending the place a noble sacrifice saves the day – or possibly not, if Prince of Darkness‘ ambiguous last shot is something to go by.
The Quatermass Franchise Was Massively Influential On John Carpenter
There’s a motive Carpenter is credited as “Martin Quatermass”
Carpenter grew up with a love of trashy B-movies and horror, and was a selected scholar of Kneale and Quatermass. Carpenter claims The Quatermass Xperiment – the primary film within the sequence – “blew my thoughts“ when he noticed it as a baby (by way of Kino Lorber).
The younger Carpenter was hooked by its mix of horror and sci-fi, and its physique horror components clearly impressed elements of The Factor. The affect of Kneale is felt by a lot of Carpenter’s filmography, with Prince of Darkness and Ghosts of Mars being prime examples.
Hammer Movies referred to as it The Quatermass Xperiment to emphasise to viewers that it carried the then scandalous X score within the UK. Within the US, the film was retitled The Creeping Unknown.
Carpenter did not suppose a lot of 1979’s Quatermass, nonetheless, which was Kneale’s bleak finale that noticed an aged Quatermass having to take care of one other alien menace and, most terrifying of all, hippies. It must be famous that not solely did Quatermass and the Pit encourage Carpenter on Prince of Darkness, however there’s some Stone Tape affect too.
Particularly, the experiments being run on the canister and the makes an attempt to clarify the supernatural by scientific means. In each circumstances, science is not any safety towards evil forces far older than mankind.
Quatermass’ Creator Wasn’t A Fan Of Prince Of Darkness
Kneale and Carpenter had a nasty expertise collectively making Halloween III
After he made it massive in Hollywood, Carpenter took the chance to method Kneale, one in every of his icons, about writing Halloween III: Season of the Witch. This entry was meant to maneuver away from Michael Myers, with the Kneale-conceived story following an historical witch planning a mass sacrifice of youngsters on Halloween night time.
Kneale’s idea was outrageous and creepy, however whereas producer Carpenter appreciated it, he insisted on modifications to up the scares and gore. Kneale refused to make modifications and took his identify off the Halloween film after it was rewritten by others. Kneale did not suppose kindly of Carpenter within the aftermath, and stated of Prince of Darkness (by way of The Observer/Vice):
With an homage like this, one would possibly say, who wants insults?
Once more, Prince of Darkness is steeped in Kneale’s affect, from the premise to a personality sporting a “Kneale College” T-shirt. None of this impressed heat emotions from the Quatermass creator, who had a popularity as one thing of a curmudgeon.
In a 2014 Vulture interview, Carpenter revealed their dangerous working relationship did not alter his opinion of Kneale’s work, stating, “No, I actually beloved his unique stuff. I simply suppose he’s groundbreaking … however disagreeable to work with!“
Since Kneale had a poor relationship with Hollywood basically, Prince of Darkness is the closest factor to an American Quatermass film. There really was speak of a big-budget Quatermass film starring Sean Connery occurring within the early 2000s, although nothing got here of it.
Prince Of Darkness Is The Second Half Of Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy
PoD is sandwiched between The Factor and Within the Mouth of Insanity
Carpenter solely helmed one direct sequel with 1996’s Escape from L.A. Outdoors of that, he steered away from the assorted Halloween sequels or different follow-ups since he most well-liked to give attention to new materials. He did helm a thematic sequence, nonetheless, with Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy” being made up of The Factor, Prince of Darkness and Within the Mouth of Insanity.
Nigel Kneale’s affect may be felt in all three Carpenter films, although there is a sturdy undercurrent of H.P. Lovecraft to them too…
The flicks characteristic no returning characters or plots, however all three take care of the top of the world in a single kind or one other. The Factor is concerning the finish of id, Prince of Darkness is concerning the dying of God and Within the Mouth of Insanity entails the top of actuality itself.
Kneale’s affect may be felt in all three, although there is a sturdy undercurrent of H.P. Lovecraft to them too. The Factor seems like a riff on Lovecraft’s most well-known story On the Mountains of Insanity, whereas Within the Mouth of Insanity principally asks, “What if Lovecraft was a prophet for the Outdated Ones?“
It is among the best horror trilogies ever constructed, with Prince of Darkness nonetheless being probably the most underrated of the bunch. Whereas the Quatermass sequence has fallen considerably into obscurity in current a long time, the franchise is price looking for out for horror followers within the style’s historical past.
Supply: Kino Lorber, The Observer/Vice, Vulture