Universal
1987 Color
102 mins.
Horror/Thriller
Donald Pleasence, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Jameson Parker, Lisa Blount, Susan Blanchard, Anne Marie Howard, Aice Cooper and Ann Yen star.
Written and Directed by John Carpenter
Rated R for language violence and gore.
It's been a while since I've seen this film. And had I remembered it being this damn good I would have revisited it long ago. Carpenter's under rated horror flick about the birth of the devil's son and end of the world ranks with the best of his work. It's a complex horror/thriller with tinges of sci/fi through out. But most of all it's just really unique, there was no film like it at the time and there still hasn't been one. The film centers on a group of college students who go on assignment at a church in the middle of the ghetto. Upon entering they begin to feel something different in the air. Sitting in the basement in a liquid filled ancient relic that seems to have a life all it's own. But things begin to change as they translate the ancient markings coming to realize that there is something far more sinister going on. The birth of the devil's child unto the world and the beginning of the end of times.It may all seem fairly familiar but the way it's approached and executed is completely original. It's sort of a slow burn with explosions of horror like Carpenter's masterpiece Halloween. It all culminates to a disturbing finale that stays with you. Not just because of the disturbing visuals but the psychological implications it leaves behind. The characters are well developed and the performances solid. It's awesome to see Wong and Dun together again after the amazing Big Trouble in Little China. Dun even supplies some of the film's comic relief through some intense sequences.And as always in that time period Carpenter's direction is inspired. The film is packed with haunting visuals and a killer spine tingling score. I know the film has amassed a cult following but it deserves to be a much bigger deal than it is. It's one of the best Horror films of it's time and maybe ever. ****.75/5
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