Even though I grew up in the 80s, Jack Sholder’s 1982 first feature Alone in the Dark slipped past my horror radar, until last night, in the year of The Thing, Creepshow, Amityville Possession, Halloween III, The Entity and Poltergeist which I have all watched and enjoyed as a budding horror fan entering teenhood. I have been curious about the original key art of the 1982 movie, searched for the film and found a screener on Youtube. I believe Alone in the Dark was probably one of Bob Shaye’s first couple of original New Line Cinema productions.
The film is an original spin on the slasher horror format starring three genre heavyweights with Donald Pleasence playing a psychiatrist, and Jack Palance and Martin Landau playing two escaped “psychopaths.” The unexpected story involves a blackout in the asylum enabling four inmates escaping and terrorizing the family of the new incoming psychiatrist.
As a horror fan, I enjoyed the film and found it compelling yet I also realized why the film didn’t quite work for the mainstream audience. There are some distracting story points such as a mass looting of the mall during the blackout, multiple points-of-views and an unfocused timeline that deflates tension and suspense. I feel the film could have been better if it had just focused on the four asylum inmates escaping during the a blackout and terrorizing an innocent family in one night.
Nevertheless, I am happy to have seen this 1980s compelling and original horror flick.
