Though he initially wanted to be a musician, Jack Sholder decided to switch career paths and become a writer. While attending the University of Edinburgh, Sholder took an interest in film and chose to pursue that further. Unfortunately, his college didn’t have a film department, so he had to train himself to operate various filmmaking equipment. Through some connections, Sholder got a job as an editor for New Line Cinema, a film distributor at the time. He became friends with founder Bob Shaye, who was impressed with how successful Friday the 13th was. After editing The Burning, Sholder came to Shaye with an idea for a slasher about escaped mental patients run amok. New Line Cinema wanted to start producing films rather than distributing them, so this would be their first. Despite some troubles during production, Sholder’s Alone in the Dark hit theaters in November 1982.
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Synopsis
Dr. Daniel Potter (Dwight Schultz) has accepted a job at an experimental psychiatric hospital under Dr. Leo Bain (Donald Pleasence). While most patients are free to wander the facility, the third-floor patients are contained behind an electric security door. One of these patients, war veteran Frank Hawkes (Jack Palance), believes that Potter killed the doctor before him. He recruits fellow patients Byron “Preacher” Sutcliff (Martin Landau) and Ronald “Fatty” Elster (Erland Van Lidth) to kill Potter. A freak power outage shuts off the hospital’s security system, allowing Hawkes, Preacher, and Fatty to escape into the night. They find their way to Potter’s house and stalk his wife Nell (Deborah Hedwall) and daughter Lyla (Elizabeth Ward). Soon enough, the patients start attacking, forcing the family to barricade themselves as they try to survive the night. They’ll quickly learn what happens when you’re alone in the dark.
Review
While it may not be as well-known as Halloween or Friday the 13th, Alone in the Dark is a gem. Jack Sholder shows a lot of promise for a first-time director, and it’s no surprise he had a successful career. He manages to create a real sense of dread and tension through the use of darkness and shadows. What helps to sell the fear is the cast, which includes some of the greatest character actors ever to live. Jack Palance dominates every scene he’s in as a hardened war veteran who will get his hands dirty if necessary. Martin Landau gives a wonderfully manic performance as a deranged former preacher who believes he’s doing God’s work. While he doesn’t say much, Erland Van Lidth also stands out as a lumbering creeper who seems to play dumb. These three make for some very effective slasher villains, especially Palance.
As always, Donald Pleasance delivers an excellent performance as a psychologist with some odd treatment methods for mental illness. Dwight Schultz makes for a likable lead as he tries to use rationality and logic to stop the psychopaths. Like any good slasher, there’s some gore and nudity, but not as much as your typical slasher film. The minimal gore usage makes the more gruesome scenes even more shocking, and nudity doesn’t equal a good slasher film. The movie also has some dark comedy, including a scene where the psychopaths kill a guy just for his hat. Without giving too much away, the ending is a brilliant twist that goes in a direction you’d never expect. Sure, the concept of escaped mental patients killing people was cliche by then, but Sholder manages to make something unique. Overall, Alone in the Dark may not be a classic, but it’s worth a watch.
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