Blu-Ray Review: Prince Of Darkness (Collector’s Edition)

By Brad Henderson

John Carpenter is almost a household name in my opinion. Unfortunately, it is mainly for Halloween and The Thing, which isn’t bad, but there are many other excellent Carpenter flicks that get buried below his “commercial” hits. Even among your common horror fans some of his greatest works are not discussed; they mostly speak about the Escape flicks and Big Trouble in Little China.

I consider myself a huge Carpenter fan in many ways and one of those ways is that I’m a fan of everything he has ever done. Yes, that goes for Ghosts of Mars and The Ward. I know that many people look down upon some of his flicks but I just try to find the Carpenterness in each flick and find my own inspiration. I’m a writer of reviews, but I’m also a screenwriter trying to make it and if it wasn’t for John Carpenter, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

Scream Factory has released another Carpenter flick on Blu-Ray and again, it is outstanding just like the rest. Prince of Darkness is a Carpenter film that I believe is forgotten about amongst the horror community. I know many would say that they know the flick but when is the last time you’ve actually seen it? I spoke my film friends and even they admitted they’ve forgotten the last time they watched it. I admit the film escaped me for a long time but I revisited it a couple years ago and fell in love all over again.

Apparently that wasn’t the case for Scream Factory because they released Prince Of Darkness in all its glory, including an amazing transfer and the ear-melting soundtrack that pretty much plays non-stop for over 30 minutes and then continues to haunt you even after to watch the flick. But seriously: the music plays nonstop for the first 30 minutes. It sets up the film so well because it makes it so nerve wracking. Carpenter has never done that before in any of his films and I’m sure most who have seen it know what I’m talking about.

To refresh your memory: Prince of Darkness is about how a bunch of college students and scientists unleash a satanic force in a church where they’ve discovered a canister containing an ancient evil. Just that small synopsis alone gives me a movie boner.

Scream Factory has put some new interviews and Carpenter’s legendary commentary on the disc, but that’s about it. That isn’t a bad thing because they are giving us an excellent transfer of Prince of freaking Darkness on Blu-Ray.

Of course, Carpenter fans will pick it up and it will eventually appear on the shelves of your common horror fan, but I really hope this film spreads even more after this release and finally gets the credit it deserves.

Prince Of Darkness was released on Blu-Ray on September 24, 2013 by Scream Factory.