Alone in the Dark (1982 film)
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| Alone in the Dark | |
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 Promotional movie poster for the film |
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| Directed by | Jack Sholder |
| Produced by | Robert Shaye, Benni Korzen |
| Written by | Jack Sholder, Robert Shaye, Michael Harrpster |
| Starring | Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, Martin Landau |
| Music by | Renato Serio |
| Cinematography | Joseph Mangine |
| Editing by | Arline Garson |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | November 12, 1982 |
| Running time | 92 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Alone in the Dark is a 1982 horror film directed by Jack Sholder, not to be confused with the 2005 film Alone in the Dark by Uwe Boll, based on the video game of the same name. The film's tagline is: "They're out... for blood! Don't let them find you!"
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[edit] Plot
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
Dr. Dan Potter is the replacement for Dr. Harry Merton, a psychiatrist at Dr. Leo Bain's psychiatric haven. Dr. Bain operates the haven through very lenient methods. He calls the patients "voyagers" and treats them kindly; he keeps the most dangerous voyagers on the 3rd floor contained with electrically-activated security mechanisms instead of bars, and only keeps one guard on duty.
The aforementioned 3rd floor patients (paranoid former POW Frank Hawkes, pyromaniac preacher Byron Sutcliff, obese child molester Ronald Elster, and homicidal maniac John "Bleeder" Skaggs) initially treat Dr. Potter with mixed hostility. At their first meeting, Hawkes nearly explodes at Dr. Potter as he leaves, but calms down before giving a reason for his outburst.
At night, however, Hawkes states to the others that "the new doctor killed Harry Merton, and now he wants to kill us". The others believe him (aside from Skaggs, who hides his face throughout the film, this time burying his head in his pillow), and agree to help him kill Dr. Potter. They plan to do this on the outside.
Ray Curtis, the sole guard on the 3rd floor, overhears the foursome's scheme and tells Dr. Potter about it, but Dr. Potter dismisses Curtis' fears as unwarranted. However, Curtis remains convinced of the danger.
One day, in the hospital's courtyard where Dr. Bain is counseling his patients, Sutcliff sets his coat on fire (using matches Dr. Bain gave him during his treatment) and Dr. Bain manages to quell Sutcliff's fit by threatening to "split him down the middle."
Meanwhile, Dr. Potter tries to talk with Frank Hawkes about his connection to Dr. Harry Merton, and about the plan Ray Curtis overheard. Hawkes reminds Dr. Potter that he shouldn't take Curtis' warnings seriously.
Another day, while waiting in Dr. Potter's office, Elster looks through the Dr. Potter's unopened mail to find his home address and sees a picture of the doctor's young daughter.
At the Dr. Potter household, Dan Potter lives with his free-spirited wife Nell and their precocious daughter Lila, as well as his sister Toni, who comes to visit following a successful treatment for a mental breakdown.
Toni takes Dan and Nell to see The Sick F*cks at a nightclub, much to Dan's displeasure. As they play the city's power shuts down. Dan at the time is glad. Meanwhile, the men on the 4th floor wake up and begin to carry out their plan. Sutcliffe and Elster kill Curtis and the four escape in a night doctor's car. They drive to a store in the middle of a raid to pick up new clothes and weapons. Skaggs kills an innocent bystander and runs away, the others take the murdered man's van and drive off.
[edit] Cast
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To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (January 2008) |
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jack Palance | Frank Hawkes |
| Donald Pleasence | Dr. Leo Bain |
| Martin Landau | Byron 'Preacher' Sutcliff |
| Dwight Schultz | Dr. Dan Potter |
| Erland van Lidth | Ronald 'Fatty' Elster |
| Deborah Hedwall | Nell Potter |
| Lee Taylor-Allan | Toni Potter |
| Phillip Clark | Tom Smith/Skaggs |
| Elizabeth Ward | Lyla Potter |
| Brent Jennings | Ray Curtis |
| Frederick Coffin | Jim Gable |
