What can be scarier than being stuck Alone In The Shadowy with Martin Landau and Jack Palance? This film attempts to reply that demand and does a aesthetic job. I’m a mountainous nut for any B fright relate, and it’s nice sometimes to actually study some loyal star power in them. Granted, Landau and Palance weren’t at the highest point in their careers when they did this. The film has Dwight Schultz, who you may remember as Murdock in the A-Team, as a current therapist at an asylum bustle by Psychiatrist, Donald Pleasance(who smokes pot in his office) . “The men on the 3rd floor” are the extremely perilous lunatics who choose to raze Murdock coz they contain he has murdered their old-fashioned therapist. There are 4 central killers-First is Marin Landau as “Preacher”, a bible quoting psycho. He’s improbable in this share. Palance is the paranoid Vietnam vet named Hawkes, who is basically the ringleader. He doesn’t have alot of lines, but since it’s Jack Palance, he’s wonderfully creepy and convincing. The third is played by Erland van Lidth as a child molester who is childlike himself. You may remember Erland as the opera singing Roman Stalker in The Running Man(“Chop! Reduce! Go to commercial!!”) . The fourth is rarely seen and this makes him appealing. Since his face is always off camera, a name actor isn’t famous. He’s called The Bleeder, and comes off as the most unsafe of the 4 coz he doesn’t vow and at one point pre-dates Jason Voorhees by wearing a hockey camouflage. Donald Pleasance is awfully nutty and comical in his role of the doctor. In fact, you inaugurate to wonder if he’s actually a mental patient himself. Schultz is decent as the straight man, a far yowl from his Murdock character. This film starts and builds up wonderfully. It has a amazing buildup to the point where it becomes like Night Of The Living Lifeless with Schultz and his family trapped inside their home during a blackout with the band of crazies outside. Unfortunately the film falls kinda flat here. With such a capable buildup and collection of characters, you request alot more out of this confrontation than you glean. It’s actually kinda wearisome and not very intense at all. Despite this shortcoming, the film is well worth watching for the performances.

Not to be confused with the 2005 Uwe Boll film of the same name (of which I haven’t seen yet, but heard nothing but terrible things about), Alone in the Dusky (1982) is a amazing miniature nugget of cinematic nastiness that came out in the early 80s, unfairly lost in a morass of mediocre slasher films that were so very accepted at the time. While it does have many of the trappings of movies within that genre, escaped psychopaths, keen implements of death, a ample, mature house, a family in apprehension, it doesn’t really fit within the genre as it has some things a lot of those films didn’t, like an spellbinding anecdote, strong script, and a talented and experienced cast. Co-written and directed by Jack Sholder (A Nightmare On Elm Street Portion 2: Freddy’s Revenge, The Hidden), the film features Jack Palance and Martin Landau, both of whom would later to go on to obtain Academy Awards for their roles in the films City Slickers (1991) and Ed Wood (1994), respectively. Also appearing is Donald Pleasence (Halloween, Race from Fresh York), Dwight `”Howling Angry” Murdock’ Schultz (“The A-Team”, Pudgy Man and Limited Boy), carry out opera performer Erland van Lidth (Jog Crazy, The Running Man), Deborah Hedwall (“As the World Turns”), Lee Taylor-Allan (Stargate), Phillip Clark (“Another World”), Brent Jennings (Glimpse, Red Heat), and Carol Levy (The Princess and the Call Girl), as Bunky, the ill fated babysitter with the nice rack.

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After an entirely bizarre sequence that would earn any male viewer cringe, we eye Dr. Dan Potter (Schultz) arriving at a nut farm known as `The Haven’. Apparently it’s his first day, and he and his family have honest recently re-located within the residence so that Dan could win the station. Hasten by an oddball named Dr. Leo Bain (Pleasence), Haven isn’t your typical loony bin, as the patients aren’t called `patients’, but voyagers, each `exploring their have space’, as Bain would achieve it…yeah, ok…anyway, the Haven features fair powerful your run-of-the-mill nuts, except for those housed on the third floor. These are the more uncertain ones, kept in check by a sophisticated security system, which Bain objects to, but the space requires. There’s Frank Hawkes (Palance), a once POW, now fulltime psychotic schizophrenic, Byron Sutcliff (Landau) aka Preacher, a scripture quoting (Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord!), ex-minister who likes to plot fires, a 400 pound child lover named Ronald Elster (van Lidth) aka Fatty, and Skaggs, a serial killer better known as `The Bleeder’ because of his tendency to gather nosebleeds prior to carving up his victims. After their initial meeting with their unique doctor (the previous one left to catch another residence), the boys on the third floor gain it in their heads that Dr. Potter killed their faded doctor, and now intends to destroy them, so they resolve to their only option is to extinguish him first…and soon regain the chance as the sophisticated security system keeping them from escaping has one, major flaw…it only works if the electricity is on…and wouldn’t you know it, the town suffers a blackout…oh yeah, the Haven’s backup generator conks out (magnificent convenient timing, if you ask me) . During the confusion, the boys grab themselves a car, hit the town, arm themselves at the local sporting goods store (looters are running rampant during the power outage), and then head over to the Potter area…

I really did luxuriate in this film a lot, as it was the first movie I’ve seen in awhile that actually gave me the creeps, and created a proper deal of loyal suspense. I have to say, Martin Landau makes an extremely convincing psychopath, with his penetrating glares and mammoth, toothy, menacing grin. He sold his character more than anyone else here, and left a lasting impression. As far as Palance, I’ve always view he be a shrimp (okay, a lot) nuts, so playing a role like this probably wasn’t powerful of a arrive for him. I concept he did well, but his shroud time and character felt microscopic and lacking…I notify this was to be expected, given the film features four homicidal maniacs. Pleasence was a riot in his role as the unconventional, easy-going, eternally optimistic, sullen feely, weed smoking Dr. Bain…there’s one scene, in particular, that highlights this…come the ruin, Dr, Bain shows up at Potter’s house (the crazies have been terrorizing the family during the blackout), learns his `voyagers’ are lurking about, and pleads with them to arrive out so they can `explore a few things together’. The film has a handful of these droll moments that I enjoyed primarily because I have a sick sense of humor. As far as Dwight Schultz, I notion he also did graceful well, and it must have been difficult playing against so many accomplished performers. I did catch his character to be a runt annoying, the consummate clinician trying to apply his skills in a rational matter even during time of severe inconvenience. Eventually he does resort to his more primal instincts, ones that we all part. I really got a strong sense of direction from this film, as tension is thick and almost always there, providing underlying aspect of uncertainty and uneasiness throughout, one of gleaming at any moment, something foul could happen…which is beautiful animated considering this is Sholder directorial debut, as normally one wouldn’t question someone to keep a film together as well as he did, but I do fill he started out as an editor, so perhaps he developed an examine for how sequences should play out and fit together as a whole. The pacing is strong, but really picks up after them men flee, and rarely slows down until the kill. There is a number of runt surprises throughout, punctuated by a titanic one, which I managed to figure out well before it was presented…which, in turn, made me a dinky proud of myself as I didn’t mediate it was entirely positive, but, I suspect the average viewer will probably rob up on it as there are a few, well placed clues. Regardless, even given what I suspected, the impart was classic and worth waiting for…as far as the ending goes, it was definitely unexpected, but piquant. Serious gore hounds may be disappointed by the lack of blood, but what this is in the movie is effective…one scene in particular features the brutal disposition of the ward attendant, played by Jennings, during the inmates hurry. All in all a creepy dread thriller, worth checking out if you’re alive to in something above and beyond the usual slasher relate.

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Image Entertainment provides a really good-looking widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1) print on this DVD release, along with three audio options, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, and Dolby Digital 2.0. As far as special features, there are quite a few including a commentary track with writer/director Jack Sholder, a video interview with Carol Levy (16:28) who plays the character of Bunky, the babysitter, a video interview with Modern York punk band The Sic F*cks and Adam Rockoff (16:28), who actually construct within the movie, an unusual theatrical trailer, extensive liner notes written by Fangoria’s bear Michael Gingold, and an extensive promotional art gallery.

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