I consider myself a fair-weather fan of Carpenter. "Assault on Precinct 13", "Halloween" and "The Thing" are all classics.
But "Prince of Darkness"? Too much of it comes over half-baked. The script feels fake and forced. Some of the performances are sub-standard. The special effects are pretty tepid, with the some of the least scary, most laughable possessed and/or zombies I've seen (with one or two notable exceptions).
The plot is interesting but never explored to its full potential - for example, at one point Satan possesses a computer but the Prince of Darkness types nothing but the most banal nonsense on it.
Given the number of zombies and bugs in it, the movie feels to me like a Lucio Fulci movie, only without the full-on bonkers conviction of Fulci. And I found myself wondering what the Italian would have done with it.
I guarantee you this; it wouldn't have been dull. Unfortunately, Carpenter seems to be holding back for most of this film. He seems to prefer to have the characters explain the plot to each other. Sadly, this prevents the real horror from being unleashed. Which is sort of odd, considering the subject matter.
But "Prince of Darkness"? Too much of it comes over half-baked. The script feels fake and forced. Some of the performances are sub-standard. The special effects are pretty tepid, with the some of the least scary, most laughable possessed and/or zombies I've seen (with one or two notable exceptions).
The plot is interesting but never explored to its full potential - for example, at one point Satan possesses a computer but the Prince of Darkness types nothing but the most banal nonsense on it.
Given the number of zombies and bugs in it, the movie feels to me like a Lucio Fulci movie, only without the full-on bonkers conviction of Fulci. And I found myself wondering what the Italian would have done with it.
I guarantee you this; it wouldn't have been dull. Unfortunately, Carpenter seems to be holding back for most of this film. He seems to prefer to have the characters explain the plot to each other. Sadly, this prevents the real horror from being unleashed. Which is sort of odd, considering the subject matter.