31 Days of Horror: Prince of Darkness is a unique horror gem

John Carpenter clearly had a few ideas pinging around in his brain about how he figured the world could end. Would it be a shapeshifting parasite unearthed from the permafrost, would it be the Lovecraftian horrors finally breaking through the veil and consuming our reality, or perhaps would it be an ancient substance that exemplifies evil itself long guarded by religious bounds finally slipping through the cracks? Through these ideas, the Apocalypse Trilogy was born, each a bleaker and more horrifying world ending reality churned up by the horror master himself. Prince of Darkness was his second addition back in 1987 and follows a group of quantum physics students who are called in to assist a priest deep beneath a LA monastery who has uncovered an ancient cylinder filled with a mysterious liquid. As the research ensues, it becomes clear the liquid houses a great evil, and it could in fact be the liquid sentient embodiment of Satan himself.

Carpenter was fully in his bag when writing this trio of films. Many consider The Thing to be the greatest sci-fi horror film of all time and countless point to In the Mouth of Madness as one of the greatest Lovecraftian portrayals on the big screen. Prince of Darkness is a different creation all together. It really blends together science and religion in a way we had hardly seen up to this point.

Carpenter had been studying theoretical physics and atomic theory in detail, and he had the idea of filling in the gaps of some of these theories with religious framework. In mingling these scientific notions with religious subtext, he created the idea of an ultimate evil that exists in the subtext of scientific query. The idea is brilliant. These are two concepts the viewers can never be quite sure of because much of both lie in the unseen forces of the universe, and they also can quite often be at odds. However, the people that believe in each are both adamant and passionate about their forces. A juxtaposition between the two that mirror the fields much like the reflecting themes found throughout the film, as well as the subsets of characters (priests and scientists). There were even many lines drawn to the exploration of the modern anxieties of the time, with the liquid possessing people through contact and fluids, which reflects the AIDS epidemic that was rampant at the time.

The visuals of the film are striking; it is dark and brooding and directly inspired by Giallo. The themes are rebellious, with Carpenter tackling the surge of the Satanic Panic by reducing Christianity to a science fiction style idea, but the simplicity of the plot and setting really let Carpenter's massive ideas fully stretch out. Carpenter masterfully examines the situation, focusing on each character one by one as they meet their untimely ends. The subject matter can feel extremely heavy at times, and it can be dense to parse through. There is natural aversion when you hear characters discussing quantum physics on screen. However, the lift that Carpenter gives this idea is incredibly impressive. It doesn't always land perfectly, but it is a wild and fast-paced ride through the unexplored collision of science, religion, and ancient horror and we will likely never see anything else like it. It has grown over time as a cult classic and I truly believe it is a film that will be studied for years to come.

You can check Prince of Darkness out on VOD this Halloween season.