StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

thesar-2 I just finished a review for 'Cruel Summer' in which I pointed out the movie's poster was utmost deceptive. 1982's Alone in the Dark's movie poster was just as misleading, but, oh so delicious.The difference is that this one's purely fiction and fun-horror whereas Cruel Summer was supposedly based on true events, dark and, well, cruel. Now, that all said, it's taken me nearly 40 years to finally get around to watching this "slasher" movie...and I'm a huge early 80s Slasher fan!Just to beat a dead horse, this poster, with the one jeaned-leg, bloody axe, moonlit night overlooking a cabin in the woods...brilliant and completely frightening. I love it. Unfortunately, as stated, it's completely deceptive. This incredible movie was nothing like the slasher movie poster leads you to believe.A new doctor replaces the old one at a free-for-all insane asylum run by Michael Myers' doctor. What separates us sane folk and these murderers is...electricity. So, what goes out in this semi-hippie, environmental messaged movie? Duh.The most dangerous patients, sorry "voyagers," are kept on the 3rd floor and once the said electricity goes out, they go to terrorize the new doctor for "killing their last doctor," or so they believe he did.Unbelievably, in an era (late 1970s to mid-1980s) of slasher movies, this movie had so many layers and surprises, good acting, interesting ideas, inventive gore and twists that I DID NOT SEE COMING even almost four decades later. I couldn't help but be impressed with how advanced this movie was when cookie-cutter slasher movies were produced and released almost weekly back then.I waited a long time to see this, but you shouldn't. If you are a fan of true horror and you haven't seen New Line Cinema's FIRST movie (a few years before Freddy put them on the map,) see this. NOW. In fact, enjoy the normal and YOUNG cameo of Lin Shaye, the mention of Freddy's hometown and actual scares, twists and gore you would NOT see coming here. I don't think I could recommend this more.***Final thoughts: THAT ALL SAID, again...what was with the Terminator ending? Sure, this was two years before the T-800 travelled back in time to the night club...but what was with the ending there? No spoilers...I'm legitimately confused.

MartinHafer When the story begins, Dr. Dan Potter (Dwight Schultz) arrives at a psychiatric hospital to begin his new job. The place is run by Dr. Bain (Donald Pleasance) and he seems, at times, to be as weird as the inmates. His relationship with the patients sure reminded me of the Poe story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" and the movie based on it, "Stonehurst Asylum". But the story goes a different direction. There is a huge power outage and the security system at the hospital goes out...and the inmates find the alarms and doors no longer function properly. Soon a group of dangerous psychotics leave to go on a killing spree...all the while Dr. Bain seems amazingly chill. What's next??This is a slasher film at heart, but it has more depth and more story to it than a Friday 13 or Halloween-type movie. It also helps that there was an impressive cast--with Jack Palance and Martin Landau playing two of the super-dangerous psychotic escapees. Now this does NOT mean the film is especially brilliant, as like other films in the genre, it has some cliches--such as the identity of the fourth slasher as well as how the psychotics all attack one at a time instead of at once (thus making them easier to beat). By the way, although Dwight Schultz is not a household name, Star Trek fans will likely recognize him as the extremely nervous and geeky Lt. Broccoli.

FlashCallahan Thanks to a major power cut, a gang of psychopaths break out of the Haven maximum security mental institute.Their plan is to lay siege the psychiatrists who have tormented them over the years with their bizarre theories...Speaking of Bizarre, this has to be one of the most random things I've seen in a very, very long time.We have a group of escaped psychopaths played by Jack Palance, Martin Landau, and Dynamo from The Running Man...Their new doctor? Howling Mad Murdock from The A Team.....His boss?Donald Pleasence as a marajiuana smoking nutcase who's ideals are more than questionable. All these ingredients add up to one of the most random slasher films I've seen, and it makes it all the more fantastic for it. It's a simple concept, but the fact that we have these very seasoned actors play totally against type makes the film almost Lynchian.To say that this film is an acquired taste is an understatement, it has a really strange feel to it, like the naughty little brother of The Ninth Configuration, and if you want a really bizarre double bill, try these two films.

Wizard-8 With a trash movie fan's dream cast - including Donald Pleasence, Jack Palance, and Martin Landau - it's a little odd that "Alone In The Dark" has remained still fairly unknown more than thirty years after it was first released. Actually, I think there is a reason why it hasn't found a substantial audience, and that reason is that the movie is admittedly quite slow. The movie really takes a long time to unfold from one main plot turn to another. And in the climatic sequence - the doctor and his family finding themselves under siege from the psychos in their home - it takes a long time to sink in for the protagonists that they are in serious trouble. Despite these major faults, the movie is still enjoyable. The aforementioned stars and the rest of the cast give pretty amusing performances (no one is taking things completely seriously), and while the core plot unfolds slowly, the movie moves from scene to scene at a brisk pace so things never get boring. Good production values and a sprinkling of black humor contribute further to making the movie in the end an enjoyable romp for horror fans with a sense of humor.