John Carpenter believesPrince of Darknessis his most underrated movie, and it’s also a spiritual sequel to a classic British horror franchise.Prince of Darknessarrived during the gloriousJohn Carpenter movierun of the 1980s, where he made back-to-back classics likeThe ThingandThey Live.
Prince of Darknessinvolves a team of scientists studying a mysterious cylinder in the basement of a church, which may or may not contain the essence of Satan. Spoiler alert: it totally contains Satan. The film was a modest success upon release, but it remains one of the more obscure Carpenter movies.
This is despite the factCarpenter himself feelsPrince of Darknessis underrated. The movie is loaded with Lovecraftian concepts too, from its feeling of cosmic dread, its blend of science and religion and the existence of ancient forces out to destroy mankind.
Prince Of Darkness Is A Spiritual Sequel To Quatermass And The Pit
Carpenter Nods To The Stone Tape Too
Carpenter madePrince of Darknesson a low budget following a bad experience with 20th Century FoxonBig Trouble in Little China. In the aftermath, he wanted to make something where he had total creative control whilst paying homage to the works of famed British writer Nigel Kneale.
Kneale is best known as the creator of theQuatermassTV serials and movies, in addition to 1972’s chilling ghost storyThe Stone Tape. In particular,Prince of Darknessfeels like a retooling of Kneale’sQuatermass and the Pit, where the titular scientist (played by Andrew Keir) uncovers an alien spaceship buried in the London underground. A study of the ship and the bodies inside reveals these creatures were responsible for intelligent life on Earth - and the source of humanity’s innate violence and religious concepts. Once the ship reawakens, events turn somewhat apocalyptic.
The originalQuatermassand the Pitseries and its laterHammer Horror movieadaptation are now considered sci-fi classics. Carpenter played with the same ingredients forPrince of Darkness, putting more emphasis on religion and quantum mechanics. The structure of both tales is quite similar too, including an ending where a noble sacrifice saves the day - or maybe not, ifPrince of Darkness' ambiguous final shot is anything to go by.
The Quatermass Franchise Was Hugely Influential On John Carpenter
There Is A Reason Carpenter Is Credited As “Martin Quatermass”
Carpenter grew up with a love of trashy B-movies and horror, and was a particular student of Kneale andQuatermass. Carpenter claimsThe Quatermass Xperiment- the first movie in the series - “blew my mind"when he saw it as a child (viaKino Lorber). The young Carpenter was hooked by its blend of horror and sci-fi, and its body horror elements clearly inspired parts ofThe Thing.The influence of Kneale is felt through much of Carpenter’s filmography, withPrince of DarknessandGhosts of Marsbeing prime examples.
Hammer Films called itThe Quatermass Xperimentto emphasize to viewers that it carried the then scandalous X rating in the UK. In the US, the movie was retitledThe Creeping Unknown.
Carpenter didn’t think much of 1979’sQuatermass, however, which was Kneale’s bleak finale that saw an aged Quatermass having to deal with another alien menace and, most terrifying of all, hippies. It should be noted thatnot only didQuatermass and the Pitinspire Carpenter onPrince of Darkness, but there’s someStone Tapeinfluence too. Namely, the experiments being run on the canister and the attempts to explain the supernatural through scientific means. In both cases, science is no protection against evil forces far older than mankind.
Quatermass' Creator Wasn’t A Fan Of Prince Of Darkness
After he made it big in Hollywood,Carpenter took the opportunity to approach Kneale, one of his icons, about writingHalloween III: Season of the Witch. This entry was intended to move away from Michael Myers, with the Kneale-conceived story following an ancient witch planning a mass sacrifice of children on Halloween night.
Kneale’s concept was outrageous and creepy, but while producer Carpenter liked it, he insisted on changes to up the scares and gore. Kneale refused to make changes and took his name offtheHalloweenmovieafter it was rewrittenby others.Kneale didn’t think kindly of Carpenter in the aftermath, and said ofPrince of Darkness(viaThe Observer/Vice):
With an homage like this, one might say, who needs insults?
Again,Prince of Darknessis steeped in Kneale’s influence, from the premise to a character wearing a “Kneale University” T-shirt. None of this inspired warm feelings from theQuatermasscreator, who had a reputation as something of a curmudgeon. In a 2014Vultureinterview,Carpenter revealed their bad working relationship didn’t alter his opinion of Kneale’s work, stating, “No, I really loved his original stuff. I just think he’s groundbreaking … but unpleasant to work with!”
Since Kneale had a poor relationship with Hollywood in general,Prince of Darknessis the closest thing to an AmericanQuatermassmovie. There actually was talk of a big-budgetQuatermassmovie starring Sean Connery happening in the early 2000s, though nothing came of it.
Prince Of Darkness Is The Second Part Of Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy
PoD Is Sandwiched Between The Thing And In the Mouth of Madness
Carpenter only helmed one direct sequel with 1996’sEscape from L.A.Outside of that, he steered clear of the variousHalloweensequels or other follow-ups since he preferred to focus on new material. He did helm a thematic series, however, withCarpenter’s"Apocalypse Trilogy"being made up ofThe Thing,Prince of DarknessandIn the Mouth of Madness.
Nigel Kneale’s influence can be felt in all three Carpenter movies, though there’s a strong undercurrent of H.P. Lovecraft to them too…
The movies feature no returning characters or plots, butall three deal with the end of the world in one form or another.The Thingis about the end of identity,Prince of Darknessis about the death of God andIn the Mouth of Madnessinvolves the end of reality itself. Kneale’s influence can be felt in all three, though there’s a strong undercurrent of H.P. Lovecraft to them too.
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The Thingfeels like a riff on Lovecraft’s most famous storyAt the Mountains of Madness, whileIn the Mouth of Madnessbasically asks, “What if Lovecraft was a prophet for the Old Ones?” It’s one of the best horror trilogies ever constructed, withPrince of Darknessstill being the most underrated of the bunch. While theQuatermassseries has fallen somewhat into obscurity in recent decades, the franchise is worth seeking out for horror fans interested in the genre’s history.
Prince of Darkness
Cast
Prince of Darkness is a 1987 horror film directed by John Carpenter. The film centers around a group of graduate students and scientists who uncover a mysterious cylinder containing an otherworldly liquid in an abandoned Los Angeles church. As they study the substance, they inadvertently unleash a malevolent force that begins to possess them, leading to a terrifying struggle for survival. The film stars Donald Pleasence and Jameson Parker.
Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit follows Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) as he investigates the discovery of a mysterious alien spaceship unearthed during a London subway excavation. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, the film blends elements of science fiction and horror, delving into themes of extraterrestrial influence on human evolution. It is a notable entry in the British Hammer Film Productions' series.
