Vengeance Is Mine Sayeth The Lord!

So, what to say about this one? I got a "used" disc in mint condition of Alone In The Dark (1982) at a very reasonable price, and since it seems to be a forgotten gem among many aficionados I thought it would be a good thing to have this item in my humble collection. I can say that the prospect of having the very potent triad of Donald Pleasance, Jack Palance and Martin Landau in the same film was the major reason for having this fick in the first place. On the other hand, I guess there could have been a risk that these three dynamic and individually unique actors would squander each other's performances, should the script, plot etc. be too thin or incomplete or be otherwise faulty. But all three play their own characters with great talent and bravery and complement one another greatly -- Pleasance as the curious, pipe-smoking head of the secluded mental institution; Landau as the deranged, malevolent priest with a God complex; and last (but not least) Palance as the leader of the asylum's lunatic pack that escape the complex during a power outage that leaves the town in darkness and panic. Now the crazies are out in hunt of the new doctor Potter (Dwight Schultz) that they suppose murdered their former therapist -- and Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord!



I liked the movie for its own take on the current slasher film theme of the era; it contains quite a few bloody and grisly scenes, but is aside from this dominated by a sense of foreboding and dread more than most of its peers. Foremost you wonder about the characters and the actors that portray them in such an incomparable way: How will they manage? Well, they do... until the totally baffling ending -- WTF! Maybe it's not that bad, only confusing... But I have to look at this film once again, at least, with the commentary on perhaps, before I can fully try to comprehend the complete film...