Alone in the Dark

11/12/19821h 33m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ When the lights go out, the terror begins. ~

Overview:

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

Director:

Jack Sholder

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$1,000,000.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

escape
blackout
siege
revenge
murder
mental institution
slasher
maniac
mental illness
meat cleaver
escaped mental patient
mailman

Cast

Jack Palance

~ as ~

Frank Hawkes

Donald Pleasence

~ as ~

Leo Bain

Martin Landau

~ as ~

Byron "Preacher" Sutcliff

Dwight Schultz

~ as ~

Dan Potter

Erland van Lidth

~ as ~

Ronald "Fatty" Elster

Deborah Hedwall

~ as ~

Nell Potter

Lee Taylor-Allan

~ as ~

Toni Potter

Phillip Clark

~ as ~

Tom Smith / Skaggs

Elizabeth Ward

~ as ~

Lyla Potter

Brent Jennings

~ as ~

Ray Curtis

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

JPV852
Written 3 year(s) ago
8
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
Wuchak
Written 3 year(s) ago
6
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+