Prince of Darkness (Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

One of John Carpenter’s greatest creations looks and sounds fantastic in 4k. The story is genuinely scary, well acted, and expertly shot. One of my all time favorite Horror films, now in 4k, from my absolute favorite Master of Horror is a fantastic addition to my collection.

I'm old enough to have seen the movie in the theater when it was released. Scared the #$%^@ out of me, The plot is complicated but very interesting. Their early attempt to bring quantum mechanics into a movie was ambitious, and I think they did a great job. The 4K transfer is done very well, between the ultra-detail and the CC, it's like watching a whole new movie.

For the diehard fans out there of John Carpenter and of particularly PRINCE OF DARKNESS, this review is for you. Chances are, this is as good as it is going to get for this film. Germany and Japan have had their own blu-rays, and neither seem to actually stand up to this. Remembering that this was (As they themselves said) Scream!Factory's most requested title, let't take a look. VIDEO: There has been some talk of edge enhancement. It doesn't seem that bad. Definitely not noticible to me anyway, and I've been watching the Universal DVD for the past eight years. What is noticible is that the increased color range and sharpening make a difference. Details are great, even if the anamorphic lenses used on the film blurred the edges of the frame a bit. But it does effect things like Alice Cooper's make up in the film. He's no longer a pasty white anylonger, more natural fleshtones are apparent. No one has heard, nor did Shout - mention that Carpenter or Gary B. Kibbe supervised this transfer so I guess it's really up to the consumer as to what they want. But such details. Audio: It's great. Noticible differences from previous DVD copies - the scene where the Priest is talking to his superiors in the court yard at the beginning has more audiable sprinkler sounds. Just great stuff. The soundtrack pops well. Extras This is what we've all come for, right? I really wish I knew what the making of this disc was like. Before this, if you wanted a really good disc of PRINCE OF DARKNESS, you either got the British DVD or if you really wanted the creme de la creme, the Caheirs du Cinema DVD of the film. Not every special feature in the world is included on this blu-ray. Maybe that's a good thing. The introduction and scene analysis features from the French DVD have been said to be lackluster. What Scream! self produced is great. Interestingly enough, Carpenter looks better than he did in other Scream! produced featurettes. And though some of what he says is repeated in the audio commentary (Taken from the European/Studio Cannal release), the repetition comes with greater details to his anecdotes. The Alice Cooper interview kind of sucks, certain questions didn't seem to have been answered, such as his song PRINCE OF DARKNESS - was it written for the film? We hear it in the film and it wasn't released officially on an album until 1988. The Robert Grasmere interview is full of great stuff. He remembers the film fondly and vividly, even bringing with him some props to show. Alan Howarths' interview plays more like an overview of his time working with Carpenter than about the POD score specifically. To bring this up, the alternate for TV edit of the begining. Yes, it comes with everything that the fabled TV edit is supposed to come with. They don't include things like Donald Pleasance actually reading the diary via ADR over the footage that is already there in the theatrical cut, but it's great stuff. Great stuff. A trailer is there, but it comes with two radio spots as well. Sweet. A TV spot has surfaced on youtube, but eh, make your own second disc for this release! Horror's haunted grounds is fun, though not really substantially. A fun piece. An obvious easter egg is a video from the 25th anniversary screening Q and A. It's okay. Nothing in depth. If you are a fan and want more, either wait for stuff to pop up on the internet to download or buy this release. And I do suggest you buy it. Sure, it doesn't have a booklet with some well written articles on the film (and they're out there), and it doesn't have the video of the premiere at Universal Studios (which could have been bought by Getty Images for $500), but it's great none the less. Buy it now. Don't need to be an alien from THEY LIVE to tell you that.

What can i say..i bought the movie because im a rabid fan of the Pleasance/Carpenter duo. Im filled with regret that Wilford Brimley got teh part they had pictured Donald Pleasance for in The Thing...so this is a bit of a consolation. Here we have a small group of virtually unarmed people,in a confined space,battling forces they are ill prepared for..nothing new for a carpenter film. But its a tried formula and it works again. The film has an aura about it...something set up fantastically by the TEN minute opening credits. The score has a living breathing pulse that permeates the whole movie..so much so that even the down moments-meant to let us catch out breath-dont really give us much time to do so. I cant say that many in the cast are well known..at least in The Thing,you were spoiled with recognizable faces that gave the story credibility and made the characters easy to sympathize with. Here we have,of course,Carpenter regular Donald Pleasance (Halloween,Escape From New York,-playing Father Loomis-get it) and Victor Wong/Dennis Dun - a duo from Big Trouble In Little China (a film that was too original for mainstream audiences..yeah,sad huh?) and future Carpenter mainstay Peter Jason. The rest however,arent names or faces that you can really place anywhere else. A silly move perhaps...there's a romantic couple-and you might not care about both partners. But what kind of "meet-cute" is 'lets save the world from Satanic green goo' anyway? Which brings me back to the story..sure its no oscar contender...but its what its meant to be: a fun,chilling,dark ride into the halloween of our minds. It has atmosphere,building action,and a cool vibe thats all trademark Carpenter. Theres some gore,Alice Cooper,science lectures and theological conundrums...and the creepiest 'found footage' type scenes from the year 1999. Dont laugh,its scarier than all 4 & 1/2 hours of the Paranormal Activity sequels combined. Do i recommend? Well if you've already seen Halloween,The Thing,or a creeped out Donald Pleasence and want some more...yes,get yourself the Prince Of Darkness special edition. Youll be happy to have it in your colection.

Regista, compositore, maestro del cinema, è stato definito in molti modi nel corso della sua lunga carriera. Di sicuro John Carpenter, nell'arco di 20 anni, ha contribuito a rifondare temi e stilemi del cinema horror e non, regalandoci cult, opere seminali e veri e propri capolavori come quelli ripubblicati in queste edizioni blu-ray doppio disco a dir poco straordinarie. Qualità video e audio al top e contenuti extra a go go! Manca il doppiaggio in italiano ma in questo caso ne faccio volentieri a meno.. Straconsigliato a tutti i veri fan! Amazon mi ha abituato alle consegne in anticipo, ha effettuato la consegna con ben 2 giorni di anticipo! Non 5 ma 10 STELLE!!

Coming in between "The Thing" and "In the Mouth of Madness" as John Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy, Prince of Darkness represents Carpenter's most thoughtful horror film, with creepy and interesting ideas to spare, shocking philosophically and viscerally in equal doses. The plot has it's own joys and if you're avoiding it because you dislike religious-based horror or expect an Exorcist knock-off, you have got it all wrong. This is science-fiction/religious horror and it bears little resemblance to the Judeo-Christian myth. Enough about that - you must see it. This Scream Factory disc includes amazing picture and sound (this score begged for 5.1 surround sound), the same John Carpenter/Peter Jason commentary (fairly average for Carpenter's tracks, which means it's a solid 3/5) that's on the UK Studio Canal DVD (missing the opening remark about the "Studio Canal Plus logo" which is irrelevant as said logo is replaced by the original Universal logo here), a good solid interview with Mr Carpenter, another with a effects guy who also acted in the film, another with Alice Cooper (who acts here and recorded a song for it, briefly heard in the film), one with Alan Howarth (who collaberated on most of John Carpenter's scores between Halloween II/The Fog to They Live), the trailer and radio spots, the alternate opening sequenced edited for American TV which hilariously speeds up the footage to fit it between commercial breaks and attempts to tone down severely anything that might be construed as anti-religious. There's also the customary "Horror's Hallowed Grounds", which is funnier than usual (I still kind of find the host annoying, but these are really fun features) and an easter egg from the 25th anniversary screening of the film which features some of Carp's funniest answers to questions. This is THE version of the film to own. I find it VERY unlikely it will be topped by anyone for years and years to come.

今回このアメリカ版ブルーレイセットは今までのスタジオ・カナル版DVDのマスターとは全く異なる高画質です！通常のブルーレイしか持っていないのでUHDの画質は確認出来ないのが残念です。それでも通常ブルーレイでも4Kマスターの様なのでとても良いです。WOWOWで放送された5.1サラウンドが貧弱な音だったのに比べ、今回の商品はどちらのディスクもドルビーアトモス収録されており音楽もパワーアップ！特典映像は2013年に発売されたアメリカ版ブルーレイとほぼ同じ様ですが、それでも日本版ブルーレイよりは多い筈。日本語字幕はないけど綺麗な映像と低音の響きを楽しめるのは今の所この商品だけです！カ－ペンタ－ファンの皆様はお見逃しなく。

Cuando estrenaba sus películas era muy criticado y tenía mala recepción del público, pero el tiempo le da la razón y se vuelven películas de culto, acostumbrado a su horror aunque en este caso no tan visceral como otras de sus grandes películas desde una perspectiva más "científica" esta película toma la lucha del bien contra el mal desde un punto más científico y de dimensiones alternas si eres fan de sus películas no te la debes perder

I have fond memories of this movie from yesteryear on VHS. The music is really evocative. Some of the acting really good but unfortunately some of it is also pretty bad. I still really like the movie and the 4k transfer is probably the best way to see this movie now days. If you're into Carpenter and classic horror I think this movie is worth it.