Alone in the Dark 1982

When the lights go out, the terror begins.

5.9 / 10   136 vote(s)
R
Horror Thriller

A quartet of murderous psychopaths break out of a mental hospital during a power blackout and lay siege to their doctor's house.

Release Date 1982-11-12
Runtime 1h 33m
Directors Jack Sholder, Joseph Mangine, Jim Bigham, Dee Dee Wehle, Matthew Malach
Producers Robert Shaye, Sara Risher, Benni Korzen
Writers Robert Shaye, Jack Sholder, Jack Sholder, Michael Harrpster

Simple but entertaining suspense-thriller with a fun cast that includes Jack Palance, Martin Landau and Donald Pleasence. The horror element was decent and acting pretty solid for the most part. The one minor twist in the finale I had an inkling about yet was still effective. Would make for a great viewing on Halloween night. 3.75/5

JPV852

Inmates escape the loony bin with Pleasence, Palance and Landau

During a blackout, several violent patients break out of a progressive asylum in New Jersey (Jack Palance, Martin Landau & Erland Van Lidth) and threaten a new doctor and his family at their farmhouse (Dwight Schultz, Deborah Hedwall, etc.). Donald Pleasence is on hand as the eccentric head of the facility.

"Alone in the Dark" (1982) is a fairly obscure horror flick that borrows from “Silent Night, Bloody Night” (1972), “Halloween” (1978) and “Night of the Living Dead” (1968). Pleasence, Palance and Landau are a highlight; basically veteran actors making some extra cash in their twilight years and having a good time doing it.

Lee Taylor-Allan (Toni) and Carol Levy (Bunky, the babysitter) stand out on the feminine front. The latter is good-looking, but needed to eat some cheeseburgers.

While nothing spectacular, the movie has some welcome quirks and highlights, such as the idea of a “progressive” sanitarium, Toni’s situation (she’s recovering from a recent nervous breakdown), the contrasting of different levels of crazy whether inside or outside of mental institutions and the performance of The Sic F##ks at a local club. Speaking of the latter, a member of the band ran into Palance several years later and informed him who he was. Jack responded, “We were all sick f##ks in that movie.”

The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in New Jersey (Ridgewood, Newark, Hillsdale and Englewood).

GRADE: B-/C+

Wuchak