1980s Slasher Featuring Hollywood Heavyweights Desperately Needs Saving
Horror films that feature up-and-coming stars are pretty common. Fans will recall seeing a baby-faced Johnny Depp in the 1984 classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, a pre-Friends Jennifer Aniston in Leprechaun (1993), and a youthful Kevin Bacon being one of Mrs. Vorhees’ kill count in Friday the 13th (1980).
It’s not often that stars that are already well-established will appear in B-horror, let alone an entry that features multiple big names. But that was the case with the 1982 slasher film Alone in the Dark, an overlooked horror movie whose lack of presence on streaming services is quickly making it fade into obscurity.
Alone In The Dark
Alone in the Dark stars film and TV legend Jack Palance as Frank Hawkes, one of four criminally insane patients incarcerated behind an electronic door at an experimental psychiatric hospital.
Locked behind the door with Hawkes is a pyromaniac named Byron “Preacher” Sutcliff (played by Academy Award-winning actor Martin Landau), child molester Ronald Elster (Erland Van Lidth), and serial killer John Skaggs (Phillip Clark).
The quartet of madmen are angry at the departure of Dr. Merton, and conspire to kill his successor Dr. Dan Potter (Dwight Schultz).
Escaping Prisoners
A widespread power blackout happens one evening, disrupting the security system at the hospital and allowing Hawkes, Sutcliff, Elster, and Skaggs to escape.
They manage to retrieve Dr. Potter’s home address from the office of hospital administrator Dr. Bain (Donald Pleasance), and kill a security guard so they can make their way out. The quartet also kills a doctor in the parking lot so they can get his car.
Taking Advantage Of A Blackout
As Alone in the Dark unfolds further, the escaped psychiatric patients join looters at a local strip mall, who are taking full advantage of the blackout.
They manage to get their hands on a bevy of weapons and make their way to the home of Dr. Potter.
Cast Of A-Listers
Alone in the Dark is the directorial debut of Jack Sholder. Sholder later directed horror films A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies, but the finished product of his first feature film makes no hint at his rookie status at the helm.
Sholder takes full advantage of having a cast composed of A-list stars, bringing to the screen one of the most chilling performances of Palance’s career. Equally brilliant on screen is Landau, who plays an evangelical asylum inmate to perfection.
A Killer Slasher Film
Alone in the Dark is regarded as a slasher film, make no mistake about it. The kill scenes are reminiscent of others from that era, leading some critics at the time to accuse it of being a cheap Friday the 13th knock off.
But the film brings audiences more than just gory death scenes.
The storyline, though a bit contrived, is redeemed by the central characters. Alone in the Dark certainly didn’t have the potential to be anything more than a one-shot at its killers shocking audiences with their gruesome murder spree, but the film’s style and creativity make it worthy of a watch.
Watching Alone In The Dark?
REVIEW SCORE
Alone in the Dark gets 3.0/5.0 stars, mostly for the acting from Palance, Landau, and Pleasance.
The film was released to physical media several times, the first being Videodisc and VHS in 1982. There have been two DVD releases of Alone in the Dark, one in 2005 and another in 2007. A Blu-ray edition was released in 2021.
Aside from the occasional showing on late-night television, previous physical media releases are the only way to catch Alone in the Dark. The film is not streaming anywhere online, robbing a new generation of potential fans of a good entry in 1980s slasher films.
