BLOOD WORK: HALLOWEEN HORROR DAYS ~ DAY 9: ALONE IN THE DARK (1982)

After Halloween and Friday the 13th showed that it didn't take much money nor resources to create a horror film that could make a killing at the box office, almost everybody with a camera made their own horror movie in the 1980's. Many of these films were merely "copy & paste" repeats of the slasher formula, but not all. This led New Line Cinema, primarily a distribution company up to that point, to make their first horror film. ALONE IN THE DARK is a slasher film born from the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th but it is far from another of the endless imitators.

Directed by Jack Sholder and showcasing performances by industry and genre legends Donald Pleasence, Jack Palance, and Martin Landau, Alone In The Dark features an atypical plot for the era, high tension levels, and inventive uses of genre troupes and plot devices. The film mixes slasher film elements with home invasion and psychological thriller themes creating a standout 80's horror experience.

I discovered this film relatively recently, rather late in my fandom career, and was pleasantly surprised and impressed by what I found.

There's also a story element that may suggest that this film takes place in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET universe.

THE PLOT

Dr. Leo Bain's psychiatric refuge is a progressive hospital for the criminally insane. With completely automated and electronic locks, the hospital boasts state of the art security without the use of prison-like bars or cells. Equally progressive are Dr. Bain's techniques with the patients, opting for humane treatment and understanding as opposed to drugs, restraints, or electro-shock therapy. Dr. Dan Potter is taken aback by this radically different hospital upon his arrival as the new resident doctor. As the new and unfamiliar doctor many of the patients see Dan as a threat or an enemy, especially the most dangerous patients in the maximum security wing. When a power surge in town deactivates all the electronic locks, the patients escape, a single thought in their minds: kill Dr. Dan Potter.

WHAT I LIKED

Acting Pedigree. This movie has a great cast consisting of one of my favorites, Donald Pleasence, the primary reason why I wanted to see this film to begin with. Jack Palance and Martin Landau also appear in the film playing the central patients. Donald Pleasence plays the new age doctor Leo Bain and brings an almost aloof quirky persona to his character, quite different from any other character he's portrayed. Jack Palance brings reality and sympathy to his character, seemingly less fanatical and over the top than his costars. It is Martin Landau who really shines in this film though. Landau is utterly terrifying, evocative of Jim Siedow's demented performance from Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

Top Shelf Tension & Suspense. The film takes its time getting going but once it does, it is relentless. The film becomes a mix of a slasher horror and a home invasion thriller as the patients lay siege to Dr. Potter's home, Potter's wife, daughter, sister, and others being terrorized. Palance hunts them down from the surrounding trees while Landau lurks in the basement and a third patient, a huge child molester/murderer, waits for them upstairs. The film also sets up a forth deranged patient by cleverly concealing the patient's face from the audience, keeping you guessing who among them is secretly a homicidal maniac (at one point this mystery psycho dons a hockey mask to cover his face ((only three months after Jason Voorhees first donned his hockey mask!))). All this creates a rather lengthy final act of intense horror thrills.

One of my favorite horror films of recent years, YOU'RE NEXT (2013), seems to have drawn a lot of inspiration from this movie.

NITPICKS

"That escalated fast!" The film maintains a decent degree of realism for nearly the entire picture save for one sequence. When the mass power outage occurs the residents of the town immediately descend into anarchy and mayhem, looting and pillaging their own town. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it merely seems like a radical escalation of events. It didn't work for me particularly but it didn't necessarily hurt the movie all that much. It just seems a little more fantastic than the rest of the film.

A PART OF A BIGGER UNIVERSE?

The town of Springwood is name dropped in this film. As many of you horror aficionados know, Springwood is the primary setting for the A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET franchise, also produced by New Line Cinema and Robert Shaye (as was Alone In The Dark). Also, psychiatric hospitals in nearby communities have appeared or been mentioned in the Nightmare series as well. One could theorize that both stories take place in the same universe and that Alone In The Dark is a prequel to A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984). Regardless if it is or not, this adds another level of enjoyment to the film (at least it did for me).

THE VERDICT

Alone In The Dark mixes slasher and home invasion elements creating a tense and suspenseful horror thriller that stands out among its peers. Donald Pleasence (playing a strikingly different psychiatrist from his iconic Dr. Loomis), Jack Palance, and a genuinely terrifying Martin Landau headline a wonderful cast of characters. At certain points the film feels like a product of its time and at other points it feels ahead of its time, still inspiring horror films today, thanks to some truly inspired direction by Jack Sholder. If you're a fan of 80's horror this is one not to be missed.

Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10

Nude O Meter: 2 out of 10