[6]

After a city-wide blackout allows their escape, four criminal psychotics terrorize a new doctor and his family. The script is wobbly well into act three, and I’m not all too happy with how the escapees are characterized, but Alone in the Dark still pulls out a few decent horror sequences. The scene where the babysitter is terrorized by a knife through the mattress is a stand-out. The climactic siege sequence offers a few pleasant surprises, too. The cast includes Oscar-winners Jack Palance and Martin Landau as two of the homicidal patients, Donald Pleasence as their benevolent doctor, and Dwight Schultz in the lead role. Written and directed by Jack Sholder (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2).