Alone in the Dark (1982)

Find Movie Theaters & Showtimes

for
near
in

We didn't find this title in your area

Browse Local Theaters

Videos & Photos

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Jack Sholder

Writer:

Robert Shaye, Michael Harrpster

Release Date:

Nov 12, 1982

Runtime:

1hr 32m

Synopsis

A few dangerous and delusional mental patients break out of a mental asylum during a power blackout, and lay siege to their new doctor's house, who, they believe, killed their previous doctor.

Cast

  • Jack Palance
  • Donald Pleasence
  • Martin Landau
  • Dwight Schultz
  • Erland van Lidth
  • Deborah Hedwall
  • Lee Taylor-Allan
  • Phillip Clark
  • Elizabeth Ward
  • Brent Jennings

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.1
17.5K
12.9K
4.0K
RATINGS 11 FANS
3.1
  • Aug 19, 2026

    "I guess I just prefer psychopaths!" Four men in a psychiatric hospital get it in their mad heads that the new doctor only got the job by killing the last doctor (well that's how I get work!) and decide to off him! Also the hospital's run by Donald Pleasence ... so how…

    212 Likes
    VIVE_le_FILTH
    VIVE_le_FILTH
    Jan 11, 2022

    Add this to the list of Oscar winners in horror movies. If you've ever wanted to watch a bunch of veteran actors act insane, this is for you. I should have liked it more, but I was pretty bored despite its awesome cast. However the ending climax and last scene totally…

    195 Likes
    Kat
    Kat
    May 6, 2026

    A Film Caught Between Decades — And Crushed By Both. A work mutating from 70s paranoia to 80s chaos, never settling, always slipping. Alone in the Dark isn’t a slasher. It’s a mutation — a transitional organism caught in the wrong cinematic era. It carries the…

    149 Likes
    DoctorBlack
    DoctorBlack
  •
    Oct 7, 2017

    I had seen this before and knew I liked it but really couldn’t remember any of it. Now that I have revisited it, I totally remember why. It’s a really well done movie. It gets put in the slasher category but really, I think this is more of a home invasion movie with slasher…

    139 Likes
    Tony the Terror
    Tony the Terror
    Jan 27, 2022

    Surprisingly goofy, oddball slasher about escaped mental patient(s) seeking revenge on their dorky doctor and his family that might not have worked without its stacked cast of old-timers (cannot accuse Jack Parlance, Donland Pleasance or Martin Landau of phoning it in) and…

    129 Likes
    Josh Lewis
    Josh Lewis
    Sep 10, 2022

    #SlasherSaturday I may have set my expectations a bit too high for this one. But with a cast that includes Loomis himself Donald Pleasance, Martin Landau and Jack Palance, how could I not have lofty expectations? Despite a stellar poster and a (literally) crazy plot…

    133 Likes
    Kevflix And Chill
    Kevflix And Chill
  •
    Oct 21, 2022

    A bunch of criminally insane psychopaths escape from a maximum security asylum to avenge a murder that never happened but they get sidetracked by punk rock venues.

    134 Likes
    CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️
    CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️
    Sep 21, 2016

    Totally a top tier Jack Shoulder “golden era” home invasion escaped maniacs slasher jam as far as I’m concerned—Martin Landau and that hat!

    110 Likes
    Ian West
    Ian West
    Sep 27, 2021

    Somehow Alone in the Dark manages to feel cut from the same cloth as all my childhood slasher staples while also entirely unique and unlike anything I've ever seen before. Yup... just what I thought... B.A.N.G.E.R. A thorough home-invasion nightmare that starts…

    97 Likes
    Bob McCully
    Bob McCully

Queue Community Reviews

71%
Community 195
❤️ LOVE
12%
👍 LIKE
59%
😐 MEH
24%
👎 DISLIKE
6%
Top Reviews
  • HHREVIEW
    HHREVIEW is "meh" on
    Alone in the Dark

    It’s a decent slasher, kinda boring

    2Y

Atom Users Reviews

No one has posted a user review yet.

Metacritic

63
metacritic
Based on 4 Critics
6.4

USER SCORE (5)

Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Reviews
70

Unobjectionable even when it doesn't work, and certainly amusing when it does.

Metacritic review by Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
The New York Times

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Alone in the Dark (1982) (1982) family-friendly?
The movie has been rated as R, meaning that Under 17 requires an adult accompaniment.
How long is Alone in the Dark (1982) (1982)?
The movie is 1hr 32min long.
What's Alone in the Dark (1982) (1982) about?
A few dangerous and delusional mental patients break out of a mental asylum during a power blackout, and lay siege to their new doctor's house, who, they believe, killed their previous doctor.
Who's the cast of Alone in the Dark (1982) (1982)?
  • Jack Palance as Frank Hawkes
  • Donald Pleasence as Dr. Leo Bain
  • Martin Landau as Byron 'Preacher' Sutcliff
  • Dwight Schultz as Dr. Dan Potter
  • Erland van Lidth as Ronald 'Fatty' Elster
  • Deborah Hedwall as Nell Potter
  • Lee Taylor-Allan as Toni Potter
  • Phillip Clark as Tom Smith, Skaggs
  • Elizabeth Ward as Lyla Potter
  • Brent Jennings as Ray Curtis
Who's the director behind Alone in the Dark (1982) (1982)?
Jack Sholder directed Alone in the Dark (1982) (1982).