It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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.

The slasher genre is quite a tiring genre with its endless sequels and clichés. But there are occasionally a few gems that might have gone under the radar. This movie is an example. It is also another movie which shows how good actors can really elevate a standard horror movie into a quality horror.Jack Palance and Martin Landau have both given excellent performances. I am surprised though since I would never expect these guys in such a low budget horror movie. But these guys seem to have had a lot of variety in their careers so it is understandable. They don't seem to go through the motions and they have really given a lot of effort for their roles in this movie. It was also interesting to see Lin shaye in a small role at the beginning. She looked so cute! But of course this is no character study or anything. It is as much fun as any other quality slasher. It takes a while to get going though. There is a sizable amount of humor in the lines. It is not particularly slapstick, it is mostly clever dialogue. Donald pleasance turns in a good performance as well. He almost seems delusional with his views and pretty much pays for it. There is a twist which I should have seen coming but didn't. There are some interesting gory scenes but nothing too gory. Maybe that is because of the veteran actors in the movie.Maybe they could have made the female characters a little more badass. We are used to seeing such characters in slashers but in this movie, the female characters are not really that tough. Maybe this is another way in which the movie subverts clichés but it was a little disheartening to see such weak female characters.When it gets into gear, it is full of action. But I liked the fact they spent some time in developing atmosphere. Even if the humor sometimes seems jarring, it still ends up as an effective slasher with superior performances.7/10

It's a shame that a slasher as smart as "Alone in the Dark" got lost in the tidal wave of similar films during this period. Indeed, debuting writer / director Jack Sholder has got more on his mind than mere titillation. Sex and nudity are kept to a minimum, and devising ingenious ways to murder people is never the order of the day. Instead, what Sholder does is look hard at the whole idea of insanity, and that thin dividing line between "normal" and "abnormal".It concerns Dan Potter (Dwight Schultz) who becomes the new psychiatrist at a pretty radical institution dubbed The Haven. He meets the most dangerous men in the place - former P.o.W. Frank Hawkes (Jack Palance), former preacher & arsonist Byron Sutcliff (Martin Landau), overweight child molester Ronald Elster (Erland Van Lidth), and a fourth psycho named The Bleeder because he gets nosebleeds while killing people. The man in charge of the place is Dr. Leo Bain (Donald Pleasence), who in an amusing turn of events is revealed to be even less connected to reality than these patients!It's great fun to watch this able cast of veterans at work, even if this period could have been considered a low point in their careers. Landau is particularly delicious, camping it up something fierce. It's of course ironic now to see Schultz play the rational one as, later on, he became well known for creating a whacked-out character of his own, "Howlin' Mad" Murdock on 'The A-Team'. Pleasence is delightful, as he plays a touchy-feely bloke who also likes to smoke marijuana. Deborah Hedwall as Potters' outgoing wife and Lee Taylor-Allan as his unstable sister have their moments. Also appearing are familiar character players such as Brent Jennings, Larry Pine, Frederick Coffin, and the always appealing Lin Shaye in a hilarious bit.The very first in-house production for New Line Cinema, which had previously been in the business of distribution, this is interesting as well as entertaining stuff. There are many fine scenes here, especially one that deserves to be iconic, as the horny blonde babysitter whimpers atop a bed while one of the maniacs thrusts his knife up through the mattress. Adding to the amusement is a wild performance by a band named the Sic *Beep*s.You know this is going to be a good time with the opening Freudian nightmare, and it continues to work all the way through the eventual "Night of the Living Dead" style siege situation. It's very well shot, by B movie pro Joseph Mangine ("Squirm", "Alligator") and given a catchy and melodic score by Renato Serio.All things considered, this is one film that deserves to be discovered or rediscovered by horror fans everywhere. Too bad it shares a title with a much derided video game adaptation of the 21st century.Keep an eye out for the very brief appearance of a Tom Savini-created zombie.Eight out of 10.

Four dangerous patients from a mental institution escape one evening and go after their doctor in "Alone in the Dark". Dr. Dan Potter is just starting his job at an high security/high-tech asylum, run by Donald Pleasence's character Dr. Bain. He is assigned to four of the most dangerous men at the asylum; "the preacher" who sets fires to churches with people in them, "the bleeder" who gets nosebleeds after each time he kills someone, "Fatty" who is a child molester and an interesting fellow named Frank Hawkes. They believe that Dan Potter murdered their old doctor, someone they trusted and valued very much. So they set out to murder Dan and anyone that gets in their way including his wife, sister and daughter. A city wide blackout gives the four men a perfect escape as they trap the Potter family inside of their new house in this early eighties chiller.I thoroughly enjoyed 'Alone in the Dark'. It is like a slasher film, but has a lot of smarts to it as well as a good story. There is tons of character development in this on as well, which only makes the viewers feel for the characters and want them to survive. Each character has their own personality, and the actors play it very well. Donald Pleasence plays the doctor who runs the asylum, but he appears to be just as deranged as some of the patients. It has a "Don't Look in the Basement" feel to it. The character Toni (Dan's sister) spent time in an institution recently, so it doesn't do her any good going through this attack by the escaped patients. Martin Landau, Jack Palance and Erland Van Lidth give brilliant performances as the patients. I also thought Deborah Hedwall (who played Dan's wife) was superb in the supporting role as well. There is also a subplot going on throughout the film; who and where is "the bleeder"? When the four men escape, he takes off from the group leaving us to wonder where he went. Well let me tell you, we find out all about the bleeder in one terrifying scene that left me shocked! Overall, 'Alone in the Dark' is a creepy little eighties horror flick with some good scares and interesting twists/turns. Check this out!8/10