How to Watch the John Carpenter Horror Movie Described Once As “Pure Evil”
I’m not one for dramatics. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that actually feels like pure evil. I’ve watched gnarly stuff, bleak stuff, stuff that would make my friends question if they still want to be friends with me or not—but most horror doesn’t really get under my skin. I watch movies the same way I got through my MFA: I show up, participate, and go to bed. Perhaps this is what happens to all horror fans. One day, your tolerance becomes so high that you wonder if everyone else is being hysterical when they say that a movie is demonic.
So when I came across a thread on X asking users to name a film that genuinely shocked them, something really, truly evil, I wasn’t expecting much. The replies were predictable: Hereditary (2018), The Exorcist III (1990), Come and See (1985). I scrolled past them, bored. When did everyone become so lame and predictable? Perhaps all the seasoned horror fans have left the app. Thanks a lot, Elon Musk.
Then I saw the following tweets recommending John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987). I was intrigued. I was especially interested after the reviewer described it as “one of the most unnerving evocations of pure evil ever put to film.” So of course, I had to watch.
The setup is admittedly pulpy: a Catholic priest (Donald Pleasence, who does some of the most subtle yet effective expressions with just his eyes) recruits a quantum physicist (Victor Wong) and his students to investigate an ancient canister of swirling green liquid hidden in a church basement. Whatever is in that canister is beyond human comprehension. The scientists believe it’s some kind of unknown prebiotic substance. But everyone else—including Alice Cooper as one of the many possessed homeless people circling the church—seems to know its true power.
Watch the trailer for John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness:
Prince of Darkness starts goofy but gets dark fast. Mirrors become doorways to other dimensions. The students receive radio transmissions through their shared dreams. Worms squirm up windows. Angels (demons?) speak through unsolvable equations. And when Donald Pleasence begins praying for his life, you can see the exact moment he realizes his prayers are going unheard.
Now, let me make myself clear. I slept well after watching Prince of Darkness. But the following morning, while I was doing my makeup in front of the bathroom mirror, I thought about students’ dreams and the audio that accompanies them, and got an actual shiver down my spine.
You can stream Prince of Darkness on Shudder, AMC+, and Amazon Prime Video. Watch this late at night with the volume turned up so you can really enjoy the score by Carpenter and Alan Howarth. And then come back and tell me if you think this movie is evil or not: @ashjenexi on Instagram and X.
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