Add This Hidden John Carpenter Gem to Your Spooky Season Watchlist

John Carpenter hasn’t made a movie since 2010. I ain’t mad at him for it. The dude does whatever he wants now, and what he wants is to smoke weed, play video games, and make music with his son. We should all be so lucky! After the career he has had, he deserves the rest, especially since he was often not given the respect he should have while he was an active filmmaker.

Halloween is an undeniable smash hit. It became a staple of the season and launched an enormous franchise, one that continues to fuel Carpenter’s current lifestyle. He had more hits. The Fog and Escape from New York made money and found even more success on home video. But The Thing, one of the greatest horror movies ever made, was a massive critical and commercial failure upon release.

The Thing has also found its place in pop culture, thanks, as well, to home media, but it was far from Carpenter’s last “failure.” Most of his films would go on to be, at best, modest box office successes, even when they were critical darlings. They would find their audiences, though, as most of his movies do. Sometimes, it takes longer than others, as is the case with his 1987 horror flick Prince of Darkness.

Blending elements from many of his movies, Prince of Darkness tells the story of college students who are enlisted to help a priest study … Devil juice. That isn’t what it’s called, but it’s a mysterious green liquid found hidden in an old church, and it turns out to be pure, uncut, bottled Satan. I won’t spoil it for you here, but Carpenter’s backstory for Jesus and the Devil in this movie is wild as can be.

There is so much tension at play, as the students discover that the liquid holds secrets to the end of the world, which is also being hauntingly communicated to the characters through strange, vivid dreams. The green goo can also “infect” people in the film, while Satan attempts to cross dimensions and be reunited with his Anti-God father. That’s just scratching the surface, y’all!

Prince of Darkness is the second outing in Carpenter’s self-titled Apocalypse Trilogy (which includes The Thing and In The Mouth of Madness, which also slaps). So, of course, the ending is bleak as hell. But, with a cast that includes Donald Pleasence, Victor Wong, and Lisa Blount, and scares that will stick to you for days, it’s well worth a watch.

Its release was successful when compared to its budget, but recent years have been kinder to this hidden gem. The movie is currently streaming on Shudder, and usually makes its way to Peacock come October, so keep an eye out for it. It may become your new favorite Carpenter.