Alone in the Dark (1982)

Directed by Jack Sholder

AllMovie Rating
6
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Synopsis by Robert Firsching

This is a very enjoyable tongue-in-cheek horror film about some homicidal maniacs who break out of an asylum and terrorize a psychiatrist's family on a dark and stormy night. Martin Landau and Jack Palance are particularly funny, but there are some genuine scares as well. One scene, in which a frightened woman is menaced on her bed by a maniac thrusting a butcher-knife up through the mattress, is a clever send-up that will nevertheless linger in the memory. The coda, in which the crazy Palance has a bizarre encounter with a spaced-out punk chick in a nightclub, is a real gem. Recommended.

Characteristics

Moods

Blood and Gore | Nail-biters

Themes

Hostage Situations | Out For Revenge

Keywords

asylum [mental hospital], escape, family-in-danger, psychiatrist, psychopath, blackout [power loss], family, homicidal-maniac, mental-institution, rampage, revenge, sanitarium, killing-spree, nightclub, punk-rock