thesar-2 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.

TheBlueHairedLawyer I was blown-away by the acting in this low-budget film. Jack Palance and Martin Landau steal the show in every scene they're in, just like the other film they starred together in, 'Without Warning' (1980). Whereas many slasher films are hokey and predictable, this one is actually filled with odd plot twists and intense scenes that keep you at the edge of your seat. Instead of just striving to be scary, it's filled with hilarious scenes as well that make it one heck of a great film to watch.The group of crazy "voyagers" were all very different: there's Ronald 'Fatty' Elster, a pedophile who thank god didn't actually do any on-screen child molesting (he made paper birds instead). There's Byron 'Preacher' Sutcliff, a pyromaniac and a sharp dresser who sets a number of traps throughout the film. There's Frank Hawkes, who's more depressed and paranoid than crazy and who I kind of felt sorry for. And there's the enigmatic and creepy "bleeder", a man who hates to show his face and who ends up being the most scary of the group.Of course, Potter's family is just as quirky and well-acted too, especially Lee Taylor Allan with the punk new wave look and the wild colors in her hair. As they're pursued by creeps from all directions, this film becomes an unforgettable experience.

morganmpoet Striking visuals, excellent character actors allowed to chew large chunks of scenery, good music & atmospheric, finally a nice 80's time capsule of cultural references make this one a keeper.Donald Pleasance, Martin Landau, Jack Palance all present wonderful characterizations. Between Landau & Palance these two great actors really pull out the stops with some amazing performances & I have to give the nod to Martin Landau as the crazed 'Preacher' Byron, he really gives an amazing performance although Palance is just a nose length behind in terms of off the wall performances! Some great some great shock cuts, nicely scripted thriller with I will admit some implausible plot twists but who cares? This is classic on almost every level & it's a personal favorite of mine. Very quotable lines, amazing performances, these guys (Pleasance, Palance & Landau)could act the socks of any of todays thespians on their worst day & in this film one gets the feeling they R really enjoying themselves with these characters & it shows. Worth finding & highly recommended.

kclipper Jack Sholder constructed this ambitious addition to the slasher genre with such a wonderfully demented sense of humor by combining off-beat dialog with the standard body count formula. Donald Pleasence runs a liberal home for the insane where the patients are "free" to walk about with very little restraint except for the walls and doors themselves. Dr. Dan Potter (Dwight Shultz) is a new doctor who's hired as a replacement for the last head-shrinker who moved to Philadelphia. The patients of the 3rd floor (Martin Landau in a hilarious performance as Boyd The Preacher, who set fire to churches, Jack Palance as a paranoid schizophrenic ex-colonel, and Erland van Lidth as an obese child molester), believe that Potter murdered his predecessor, and after a full-scale power-outage ensues, the wackos take advantage of their opportunity to escape and launch an assault on Potter's family. The first half of this twisted tale is played out for laughs as we're introduced to the patients at the institute by Donald Pleasence (who's character is as crazy as they are). Landau, Palance and Lidth are great as the murderous band of nut cases, but then this becomes just another "trapped-in-the-house" slasher film that effortlessly lags, at least until the power comes back on, and then the film meets an unsatisfying and abrupt cut-off ending. Nonetheless, this is funny and entertaining for genre fans as well as Landau and Palance completists.