Frequently Asked Questions

What's the movie about?

Prince of Darkness is a unique blend of horror and science fiction which attempts to map metaphysics and quantum theory onto Christian beliefs. In a nutshell, a cannister containing an evil entity is found in the basement of an old church in Los Angeles. An Catholic priest learns that a secret sect within the Catholic Church called The Brotherhood of Sleep has kept watch over this cannister for almost 2,000 years.

The last surviving member of the sect dies and leaves behind a diary which details exactly what the entity is and what its release will mean for mankind. Fr. Loomis visits the church and to his horror sees that the entity is slowly but surely starting to break out of its ancient prison. He enlists the help of the physics department at the local University to determine if the entity can be contained and if not, to scientifically prove to the outside world what is about to happen.

Who wrote and directed it?

Don't let the opening credits fool you. Martin Quatermass is in fact a pseudonym for John Carpenter, the man who also gave us Halloween, The Fog and Big Trouble in Little China to name but a few. The name Quatermass is almost certainly a nod to a character from the Quatermass movies, written by Nigel Kneale. In Quatermass and the Pit (1965), a Martian spaceship is unearthed in London and begins to extert a psychic influence over anyone in close proximity. Ring a bell? See Trivia for more information.

How scary is it?

Scary's a relative thing. Some people find it truly terrifying while others don't. It's really a question of what you find scary. When I first saw the movie (aged 12 I must admit) it scared the daylights out of me. Carpenter is one of the most technically gifted directors of his generation and an expert at creating a sense of dread and foreboding. The dream sequence is surely one of the most original and genuinely unsettling sequences in horror movie history and its grainy images and static-filled voice-over will linger in your head long after the credits close.

Is the movie really an allegory for AIDS?

Movie scholars have written many in-depth essays on Carpenter's work and some suggest that Prince of Darkness expresses the public's fear of the AIDS virus (characters "infect" each other with the deadly liquid). The fact remains that you can make just about anything an allegory for something else if you look hard enough. Personally we don't think Carpenter intended the movie to be an allegory about AIDS or anything else. It's just a good old-fashioned horror/science-fiction movie.

Was it a box office success?

No, sadly audiences just didn't get the movie. Some felt its word-heavy style and scientific jargon may have been too sophisticated for general movie-going audiences. Those who went expecting a thrill packed zombie fest with buckets of gore and nubile students going down to the basement to "check that strange noise" would certainly be disappointed. The students all seem to be over 30 and fully clothed.

However, despite its poor box-office performance it's worth noting that the movie was made for an incredibly small amount of money, even by mid-'80's standards, at just $3 million dollars. Examining the movie's box office takings at iMDB reveals that its U.S. take alone was just over $14 million dollars. Low-budget, independent movies like Prince of Darkness are rarely expected to to clean up at the box office and many go on to lose millions for their studios. Prince of Darkness made a modest profit of $11 million dollars dmoestically. Not a resounding success but hardly a commercial disaster either.

What exactly is in the cannister

The cannister contains a malignant force placed in the cannister eons ago by a powerful anti-god who had walked the earth before mankind. The anti-god was banished to another dimension but managed to place his "son", as the essence is called, into this cannister in the hope that one day it may be able to bring him back to our world to rule supreme. On the DVD commentary, Carpenter states that it's not the devil in the cannister but simply an evil entity.

What's the weird dream everyone keeps having?

In the movie, the members of the Brotherhood of Sleep, and indeed anyone in close proximity to the cannister, have a feverish dream about the front of the church and a strange, non-humanlike figure emerging from the building. A distorted voice tells the dreamer that it is actually not a dream but a message from the future warning of the events yet to come. Birack and the students conclude that this "dream" is in fact a message sent backwards through time from the year 1999, apparently a year in which the world is now under the dominion of this anti-god.

Who is sending these messages is never made clear but Brian hypothesises that it may be future scientists using tachyons (sub-atomic particles which can travel faster than light) to beam back warning messages to anyone near the cannister in an desperate attempt to avert this apocolyptic future.

What exactly is Schroedinger's Cat?

I'm no physicist but here goes...

In 1935 the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger proposed his now famous 'Cat' experiment in order to illustrate the quantum theory of superposition, a theory which suggests that when we don't know what state an object is in, it is perhaps in all possible states simultaneously, as long as we don't check by looking at the object. This really doesn't make much sense but as Birack tells his students, our logic and sense break down on the sub-atomic level.

Still with me?

In his cat experiment (which is purely hypothetical, cat-lovers) Schrödinger suggests placing a cat inside a steel chamber along with a device containing a a phial of acid. Inside the chamber, there is also a minute amount of radiation. If a single atom of the radiation decays during the experiment, a switch will be triggered which will swing a hammer and break the phial of acid, thus killing the cat. Now, since the observer can't possibly know the state of the radiation's atoms and consequently can't know whether the phial has been broken or not, he can't say whether the cat is alive or dead. So according to quantum law, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. It is in a superposition of states.

So, that's cleared that up.

How accurate is the science in the movie?

Again, it's important to realise that everything I know about quantum physics could be quickly scribbled on the back of a postage stamp. However, my understanding is that there are some elements of the movie which are accurate. But quantum science is a relatively new field and our understanding of it is constantly changing. Just when we think we've got it all sorted out, some bright spark realises that we forgot to carry the 1, and we're back where we started. The movie also assumes that some hypothetical elements are as real as rocks. The dream everyone keeps having at St. Godard's is credited to tachyon particles being beamed back through time but nobody is really sure whether tachyons actually exist. And unless Argos start selling tachyon detectors in the next few months (it's possible - they sell everything else) it's unlikely we'll discover them anytime soon.

Remember, at the end of the day it's only a movie. Carpenter has admitted that he wrote the script with only a layman's knowledge of quantum science. It's not intended to be an ultra-realistic depiction of quantum mechanics. Certain assumptions are made and liberties taken in order to make an entertaining movie and there's no law against that. Just ask Michael Bay.

Can I get it on DVD? If so, what extras are on the disc?

Yes, the movie is available on Regions 1 and 2 DVD. Region 1 owners only get the movie I'm afraid. Region 2 owners however also get a great commentary track with John Carpenter and Peter Jason, who played Dr. Leahy in the movie. The theatrical trailer is also on the Region 2 disc. Sadly there are no making-ofs, deleted scenes or bloopers. If you're in a Region 1 area but have any way of viewing Region 2 discs, it's well worth the purchase for the commentary alone. See the DVD section for more information.

Was there/is there any chance of a sequel?

It's highly unlikely, given the movie's box-office takings and Carpenter makes no mention of one at all on the movie's commentary. Another Carpenter favourite, Big Trouble in Little China (1986), was also poorly received at the box-office and Carpenter himself has cited this as a motivating reason that a sequel to that movie was never made, despite growing demand for one and even an online petition at one point.

Considering that Big Trouble is certainly more popular a Carpenter movie than Prince of Darkness, I think it's probably safe to say that we're not going to be seeing a sequel to it any time soon, or indeed, ever. Considering Hollwood's current obsession with remakes, you can never rule out a "re-imagining" at some point in the future, though given the quality of some other Carpenter re-makes such as The Fog or Halloween, we can only hope this never happens.

I don't get the ending. What's the last scene about exactly?

There's room for lots of debate on that one.

After Catherine pushes Kelly and the emerging anti-god through the mirror, Fr. Loomis flings the axe he was brandishing and shatters the mirror to pieces thereby sealing Catherine, Kelly and the anti-god on the other side. Brian is, naturally, distraught at losing the woman he loves and doesn't seem to find much consolation in Birack's claim that "she died for us". Even less comforting is the professor's assertion that "We're safe for now, but he's waiting on the other side".

As if to punctuate this, Brian has the same dream on returning home but this time the weird figure has been replaced by Catherine. She is seen emerging from the church with her arms outstretched. He awakes with a start and goes to the full length mirror at his bedside where he reaches out his hand to touch the surface. The closing credits start to roll just before his fingers reach it.

Many people maintain Brian's nightmare at the end of the movie means that Catherine is now a hearld of the anti-god and will eventually try to bring the prince of darkness, still trapped in the void, back into our world to bring about the apocolypse. Others claim it's just a feverish nightmare which Brian experiences, after a really bad weekend.

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News and Updates

March 12th 2012
Stacie Ponder illustration of Saint Godard's and Alice Cooper!
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January 31st 2012
Poll results for latest poll are in and new poll is uploaded.
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December 20th 2011
Interview with actor Peter Jason (Dr. Leahy) is up. read more

October 11th 2011
We've just uploaded a Q+A with Thom Bray who plays Etchinson! read more

August 16th 2011
The complete script (as it is in the movie) in now online
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June 5th 2011
Better picture quality version of Prince of Darkness?
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June 3rd 2011
New gallery layout uploaded... read more

May 13th 2011
Yikes, it's been a while since any updates! What's happening??? read more

March 15th 2011
New survey online. Get voting!
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January 8th 2011
R.I.P. Lisa Blount
We only recently learned of the sad passing of Lisa Blount last October... read more

December 11th - 2010
Interview with Sandy King Carpenter is now online... read more
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November 4th 2010
Just a quick status on updates - we're currently in the process of organising our first interview for the site... read more >>

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