50
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrPrince of Darkness is a real tour de force, and a welcome return.
- 75Portland OregonianTed MaharPortland OregonianTed MaharThose who don't go for horror films, period, won't go for this, but those who do will find this one of the more intelligent, better produced outings of late, with a good, continuing stream of sarcastic humor. [30 Oct 1987, p. E13]
- 70The DissolveKeith PhippsThe DissolveKeith PhippsIt’s an endearingly odd, consistently creepy film that hearkens back to the director’s previous work.
- 70Tampa Bay TimesHal LipperTampa Bay TimesHal LipperCarpenter returns to his roots, which is to say he's gouging eyes and summoning demons. He's doing it in a wonderfully rough-hewn, low-budget style that fondly recalls Halloween, the granddaddy of slasher movies. [24 Oct 1987, p.1D]
- 60Los Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonLos Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonTo give the movie its due, it's been directed, at least on the visual level, with unusual elegance: filled with graceful, gliding tracking shots, and icily precise Hitchcockian setups of the bleak decor and scary effects.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJohn Carpenter's Prince of Darkness gets off to an intriguing start. But then the movie loses its way.
- 40The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyA surprisingly cheesy horror film to come from Mr. Carpenter (''Halloween,'' ''Escape From New York,'' among others), a director whose work is usually far more efficient and inventive.
- Carpenter being Carpenter, he vacillates between overexplanation -- his are the most verbose horror films -- and cheap shocks.
- 25Miami HeraldBill CosfordMiami HeraldBill CosfordThe sole mystery is the apparent collapse of Carpenter's skills as a storyteller. Prince of Darkness is shapeless and almost utterly lacking in rhythm, as if it had been slashed and then badly reassembled, like a Carpenter victim. [28 Oct 1987, p.D8]