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''Alone in the Dark'' is a 1982 American
slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...
co-written and directed by
Jack Sholder Jack Sholder (born June 8, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired American director, best known for his work in the horror film genre, notably '' Alone in the Dark'', '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', '' The Hidden'', ...
in his
directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
, and starring
Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...
,
Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's '' Nort ...
,
Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...
, Dwight Schultz, and Erland Van Lidth. The plot tells about a psychiatrist's family who are besieged by four escaped mental patients during a
power blackout A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricity ...
. Following '' Stunts'' and '' Polyester'', it was one of the first films produced by
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
.


Plot

Psychiatrist Dan Potter is appointed on the staff of Dr. Leo Bain's experimental
psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...
, known as the Haven, in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
. His predecessor, Dr. Merton, has taken a new position in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Dan, his wife Nell, and their daughter Lyla, move into a rural home in the area. At Haven, Dr. Bain uses lenient security methods, except with the third-floor patients, whom he keeps contained with an electric security door. Among them are former POW Frank Hawkes,
pyromania Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...
c evangelist Byron "Preacher" Sutcliff, obese child molester Ronald Elster, and a shy
serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
John "the Bleeder" Skagg, who refuses to show his face. Angered by Dr. Merton's departure, the third-floor patients irrationally blame Dan, believing he has murdered Merton and taken his place. The four men make plans to kill Dan, and retrieve his address from Dr. Bain's office. Dan's younger sister, Toni, who has recently suffered a
nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
, arrives to visit. Dan, Nell, and Toni go to a local rock club, while Lyla is left with babysitter Bunky. A regional
power outage A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electrici ...
occurs. The security system at Haven fails, and the four men on the third floor escape, killing security guard Ray in the process, before killing another doctor and stealing his car. They stop by a local strip mall that is being looted during the blackout and arm themselves with weapons from a sporting goods store. They leave Skagg behind after he kills an innocent bystander. The next morning, Preacher arrives at the Potter residence, pretending to be delivering a
telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
, but Dan is not home. While Lyla is at school, Nell accompanies Toni to a
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
protest, where the women are arrested. Lyla arrives home from school and finds Ronald in the house, claiming to be a babysitter. After Nell phones Dan from jail explaining what has happened, Dan calls Bunky, who goes to check on Lyla. She finds Lyla asleep in her room, and invites her boyfriend Billy there to have sex. Preacher kills Billy by dragging him beneath the bed and stabbing him, while Ronald strangles Bunky. Lyla later awakens unharmed, but Ronald has vanished. Dan arrives home with Nell, Toni, and Tom, a fellow protester Nell and Toni met in jail, whom Toni is attracted to. They find police at the house, and Detective Barnett interviewing Lyla about the missing Bunky and Billy. Lyla explains that a man named Ronald babysat her; Dan recognizes him as one of the Haven patients. Dan and Nell invite Detective Barnett to stay for dinner. While investigating a noise outside, Barnett is killed with a
crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fir ...
by Frank, which is witnessed by the entire family. Finding the phone lines cut, the family barricade themselves in the house. Meanwhile, Dr. Bain arrives after unsuccessfully attempting to reach Dan by phone, but is hacked to death by Preacher with an axe. Dan attempts to reason with the men, assuring them he has not killed Dr. Merton. Ronald throws Barnett's body through a window, and Preacher manages to infiltrate the basement, where he starts a fire. Dan bludgeons Preacher with an extinguisher canister before putting out the fire, locking the basement door behind him. Ronald enters the kitchen and attempts to kill the family, but they work together to disarm him, before Tom kills him with a cleaver. Dan flees outside to retrieve Leo's car. While he does, Tom's nose begins bleeding profusely, revealing his identity as Skagg, the fourth patient. Skagg attempts to kill Toni, but Nell stabs him to death. Hearing the screams, Dan flees back into the house. Moments later, Preacher bursts out of the basement, but Dan stabs him to death. Frank appears with his crossbow, proclaiming, "It's not just us crazy ones who kill." Dan pleads Frank to spare his family. Suddenly, the electricity is restored, and Frank witnesses Dr. Merton being interviewed on a local news station about the missing patients. Hysterical, Frank smashes the television and flees into the night. A short time later, Frank arrives at the local rock club. A drunken woman approaches him inside. He pulls out a pistol, pointing it to her neck. Assuming he is playing a joke, the woman laughs, and so does Frank.


Cast


Production

''Alone in the Dark'' was the first film produced by
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
, which had previously been exclusively a film distribution company. According to director Jack Sholder, he had listened to New Line founder
Robert Shaye Robert Kenneth Shaye (born March 4, 1939) is an American businessman, film producer, actor, director, and writer. He is the founder of New Line Cinema, a film production studio that distributed films such as ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', ''Tee ...
mull over the idea of getting into production of low-budget horror films, and pitched the idea of "a group of criminally insane guys escaping from a mental hospital during a blackout in NYC and creating mayhem and then getting rounded up by the mafia", citing a New York City blackout he had experienced several years prior as an inspiration. The script was considered too expensive to produce, so it was re-written as a home-invasion thriller (without the "mafia" angle). While New Line raised money for the film, Sholder worked as the editor of the 1981 slasher '' The Burning'', which he credits with helping him learn about "building scares and how to build suspense and tension". Sholder has said that the character of Dr. Leo Bain is based on Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, who espoused a similar philosophy regarding the treatment of mentally ill patients.


Release

''Alone in the Dark'' premiered in the United States on November 19, 1982. It was later screened at the 16th Annual
Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear ...
in October 1983, where Elizabeth Ward received an award for Best Actress for her work in the film.


Reception

On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, ''Alone in the Dark'' holds a 69% approval rating based on 13 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. Brett Gallman from ''Oh, the Horror'' gave the film a positive review, commending the film for its tense atmosphere, dark humor, and Pleasence's performance. Felix Vasquez from ''Cinema Crazed'' offered similar praise, commending its unique style, gradual building of tension, performances, and twist ending. Vasquez concluded his review by writing, "Sholder succeeds in building the sense of isolation and dread in the climax, and sure, the plot twist with our characters is completely telegraphed minutes in advance, but it's still a fantastic revelation nonetheless". Dennis Schwartz from ''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'' rated the film a grade B: "Though the plot is hokey and its message is crazy, the maniacs- on -the -loose thriller is chilling". ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...
'' awarded the film a negative 2/5 stars, calling it "a cut above the average maniacs-on-the-loose entry".


Home media

''Alone in the Dark'' was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
by
Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...
on September 13, 2005. Image would later re-release the film on June 5, 2007, as a part of a two-disk four movie pack. It was released for the first time on
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
by
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
on September 14, 2021.


See also

* '' Blackout'' - 2008 American horror film featuring a similar premise. *
List of films featuring home invasions There is a body of films that feature home invasions. Paula Marantz Cohen says, "Such films reflect an increased fear of the erosion of distinctions between private and public space... These films also reflect a sense that the outside world is mo ...


References


External links

* * * * * {{Jack Sholder 1982 films 1982 horror films 1982 thriller films 1980s slasher films American horror thriller films American independent films American serial killer films American slasher films 1980s English-language films Films about psychiatry Films directed by Jack Sholder Films set in New Jersey Home invasions in film New Line Cinema films Backwoods slasher films 1982 directorial debut films 1980s American films