I had never heard of Alone in the Dark until it was added to Shudder a few years ago. I didn’t get to see it that time before it left the service. It had been added back every now and then but during those times I didn’t have the service. It was just added back, and I wanted to make sure that I watched it. Alone in the Dark almost feels like a lost horror movie from the 80s. It was one of the first movies produced by New Line Cinema, which makes it pretty important but its barely talked about.
Alone in the Dark was directed by Jack Sholder and written by Robert Shaye, Michael Harrpster, and Sholder. This was Sholder’s directorial debut, and he would go on to direct entries in two other franchises. The pacing of the movie fantastic, even when the pace is slow it doesn’t drag. The story is interesting and is only helped along by the performances.
Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, Martin Landau, Dwight Schultz, Erland Van Lidth, Phillip Clark, Deborah Hedwall, and Lee Taylor-Allan star. I’ve never been more terrified of Martin Landau than in this movie. Even when he was playing an unhinged character in Without Warning I wasn’t flat-out terrified of him, but his performance in Alone in the Dark is something else. His performance presences stands up to Jack Palance’s performance. Donald Pleasence plays an even more unhinged variation of Dr. Loomis, even compared to what he would do in parts 4 and 5 of the Halloween franchise. Those are the three most outstanding performances, but they are not the only good performances.
The stunts in Alone in the Dark are pretty crazy. I was surprised by how much was shown on camera. I was also really surprised at some of the effects in the movie. I wasn’t surprised at how good they look but what they did with the effects. The music is fantastic. That goes for the score from Renato Serio as well as the band called the Sic F*cks, who appear in the movie.
Alone in the Dark is a hell of a movie that doesn’t get talked about a lot even though it’s a pretty important movie in terms of movie history. I think it might be safe to say that Alone in the Dark is an underrated classic. There are some crazy visuals spread throughout the movie. I’m really glad that it keeps getting added to Shudder periodically so more people can discover it. I give Alone in the Dark 8 hatchets out of 10.