Alone in the Dark

Directed by Jack Sholder, Alone in the Dark follows murderous psychopaths, including Jack Palance’s Frank and Martin Landau’s Preacher, as they escape from a mental hospital during a blackout and subsequently terrorize their doctor (Dwight Schultz’s Dan Potter) and his family. It’s a rather foolproof setup that’s employed to predominantly (and distressingly) hit-and-miss effect by Sholder, as the first-time filmmaker, working from his own screenplay, kicks Alone in the Dark off with an almost stunningly misguided opening half hour devoted to the chatty, tedious exploits of the various characters – with the sluggish and uneventful atmosphere proving a test to one’s patience and rendering the movie’s positive attributes, especially the better-than-average performances, moot. The picture does improve once the aforementioned escape occurs, however, as Sholder delivers a series of slasher-movie-like sequences in which the insane antagonists kill several periphery characters – including a tense interlude wherein the family babysitter and her boyfriend are knocked off. And although the prolonged climax admittedly contains a handful of similarly compelling moments, Alone in the Dark‘s relentlessly erratic sensibilities diminish the third act’s overall impact and, in the end, cement the picture’s place as an unfortunate (and disappointing) misfire.

** out of ****