History Film / PrinceOfDarkness

''Prince of Darkness'' (1987) is Creator/JohnCarpenter's second film in his "Apocalypse Trilogy", after ''Film/{{The Thing|1982}}'' (1982) and before ''Film/InTheMouthOfMadness'' (1994). It is a slow-paced, atmospheric, creepy and [[MindScrew mindscrew]]-y little film that doesn't get mentioned very often but is nonetheless an important piece in Carpenter's filmography.

Not to be confused with [[{{Satan}} that other prince of darkness]]. Or [[Music/OzzyOsbourne that other one]]. Or [[UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson that other one]]. Or [[Creator/BillHicks that other one]]. Or [[Film/DraculaPrinceOfDarkness that one Dracula film]].

Not to be confused with [[{{Satan}} the other prince of darkness]]. Or [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the other one]]. Or [[UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson the other one]]. Or [[Creator/BillHicks the other one]]. Or [[Film/DraculaPrinceOfDarkness that one Dracula film]].

[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've got a message for you, and you're not going to like it. Pray for death."'']]

A Catholic priest dies and a strange canister with a green, swirling liquid in it is discovered in the basement of an abandoned church. Another priest (Creator/DonaldPleasence) asks an old acquaintance, quantum physicist Professor Birack (Victor Wong), to investigate the mystery of the canister. The priest claims that the liquid in the canister is in fact the corporeal form of an ancient evil, which is starting to reawaken and influence the world around itself. He wants Birack to prove this scientifically, so that they can warn the world. To this end, Birack brings several of his students and fellow scientists of various fields to the church to study the canister, and they discover that it is 7 million years old and can be opened only from the inside.

However, when the green liquid starts to come out of the canister and to possess the various scientists, and crazed homeless people surround the church and kill everyone who tries to leave, not only do Birack and company have to run for their lives, but also to try to avoid the oncoming apocalypse.

Not to be confused with [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the other prince of darkness]]. Or [[UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson the other one]]. Or [[Creator/BillHicks the other one]]. Or [[{{Satan}} this guy]]. Or [[Film/DraculaPrinceOfDarkness that one Dracula film]].

Not to be confused with [[Music/OzzyOsbourne the other prince of darkness]]. Or [[UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson the other one]]. Or [[Creator/BillHicks the other one]]. Or [[Film/DraculaPrinceOfDarkness that one Dracula film]].

[[caption-width-right:300:''"I have a message for you, and you're not going to like it. Pray for death."'']]

* IdiotBall: While hiding in a closet, Walter idly sits around snarking for hours while his friends try to bust down the wall and free him, instead of using his large, heavy flashlight to help by knocking the wall out from his end (the [=MagLite=] flashlight he's using is shock-resistant and can even function as a billy club, so it could handle the abuse). By the time is ''does'' occur to him to try it, his possessed cohorts are within moments of breaking into the closet and grabbing him.

* DaylightHorror: Many scenes take place in the span of a single day.

* AmbiguousEnding: Whether the heroes truly succeeded in sealing the evil in another realm is left unclear. Was the final dream really just a dream this time? Or did they [[spoiler: merely change the future to something just as vaguely apocalyptic]]? Even the final shot is ambiguous - is anything going to happen when he touches the mirror?

* AntagonistTitle: The "Prince of Darkness" aka {{Satan}} is a malevolent disembodied presence who starts a zombie plague against the human protagonists. However, it turns out that he is merely the foot soldier of an entity far more terrifying and a threat to reality itself--''[[EldritchAbomination the Anti-God]]''.

* BittersweetEnding: Our heroes [[spoiler:are successful in preventing the Anti-God from escaping its prison, thus stopping the inevitable apocalypse had he escape, but in the process many innocent lives were lost in order for it to be sealed back up. Plus it’s implied that the Anti-God may escape again in 1999. [[FromBadToWorse To add more insult to injury]], Cathrine is trapped inside the Anti-God’s prison and is the new vessel for it.]]

* DemonicPossession: Sort of. More specifically, Satan infects people with smaller particles of himself, and without him, [[spoiler:the smaller pieces can't live.]]

** While hiding in a closet, Walter idly sits around snarking for hours while his friends try to bust down the wall and free him, instead of using his large, heavy flashlight to help by knocking the wall out from his end. By the time is does occur to him to try it, his possessed cohorts are within moments of breaking into the closet and grabbing him.

* DoomedContrarian: Zig-zagged. Walter and Wyndham are the only members of the group to vocally, and repeatedly express disbelief for the story once Lisa translates it, while Lomax seems undecided but interested in finding out more. [[spoiler: Walter survives, Wyndham dies, and Lomax's fate is a bit ambiguous]].

* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler: The Anti-God, who is the father of Satan and the god of anti-matter who resides in a mirror universe. "Satan" in this film is pretty Eldritchy himself and mostly takes the form of green liquid.]]

* TrickedOutTime: What the broadcast is intending ("You are seeing what is actually occurring for the purpose of causality violation.")