Prince of Darkness (1987) 4K UHD

[cfitzpatrick711]

Is there a non steelbook of this one like the other JC 4k releases?

[Davo92]

Originally Posted by cfitzpatrick711

Is there a non steelbook of this one like the other JC 4k releases?

No standard 4K edition has been announced so far, the steelbook is the only way to get it in 4K at the moment.

[private_joker]

Originally Posted by private_joker

Well, I guess my Prince of Darkness is faulty.

So, here's an interesting quirk. I received a replacement disc. Popped it in the player. Same result as before. So I decided to mess about to see if I could get the bugger to play. Selected the French version from the start menu. It plays fine. Very odd. Is anybody else playing this back on a Samsung K8500? If so have you had any issues. Will try it on my brother's Sony player when I get a chance.

[StingingVelvet]

My KS8000 is the same TV I think, just without the curve, so I'll let you know when it arrives. I find it hard to believe it would be a TV issue though, rather than a player or disc one.

I've tried like 7 Wonder Woman discs in my Sony X800 and it won't play any of them, but my backup player plays them just fine. UHD can be weird.

[private_joker]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

My KS8000 is the same TV I think, just without the curve, so I'll let you know when it arrives. I find it hard to believe it would be a TV issue though, rather than a player or disc one.

I've tried like 7 Wonder Woman discs in my Sony X800 and it won't play any of them, but my backup player plays them just fine. UHD can be weird.

Oh right, this is the first issue I've encoutered like this on any Blu-ray. Just to clarify, the k8500 is the 4k player. Full model is UBD-k8500.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by private_joker

Oh right, this is the first issue I've encoutered like this on any Blu-ray. Just to clarify, the k8500 is the 4k player. Full model is UBD-k8500.

Oh, dumb me. Very close numbers there! Anyway yeah, there seems to be more compatibility issues with UHD than with BD. It's probably still rare since most never seem to have trouble, but there's a lot of reports about it out there in the endless interweb tubes.

[Geoff D]

Watched this in Dolby last night. Man did I enjoy the movie this time! I last saw it on the Shout Blu-ray several years ago (and hadn't seen it in many years before that) and I dunno if it was just the shitty Shout transfer or what but I just couldn't get into it, I thought it was dull and derivative and one of Carpenter's poorer efforts. But boy oh boy, last night it spooked the shit out of me. Moody, atmospheric, doom-laden and without a neat happy ending - typical Carpenter then! And that dead-eyed look that Anne Marie Howard has on her possessed face is scarier than a hundred SFX-laden monsters.

The UHD is pretty dang nice. Some of the bright daylight exteriors look so sharp and clean it's like they were shot yesterday, obviously the movie takes place mostly in gloomier interior locations so they don't carry that same sense of sharpness but there's still oodles of fine detail here. You may well spot that typical anamorphic softness with wide angle lenses that smudges the top and bottom of the frame but leaves the centre portion sharp, this is entirely normal.

Colour is similarly bountiful in the exteriors, being very vivid, but is more subdued indoors, with skin tones that can veer towards more of a yellowy look though not distractingly so. As with the other Carpenter remasters the HDR doesn't seek to reimagine the movie, it's got good solid blacks and some very decent highlight retention.

Now then...da dreaded StudioCanal compression. The Dolby pass doesn't fully rectify the artefact-laden shots of the sun in the sky but they're passable at first glance, other than that it looks alright. Grain is extremely finely rendered, it looks a fraction more 'electronic' than I would like (more so than on The Fog DV or They Live) but that really is an ultra-picky Geoffy Vision observation.

All in all: very nice indeed.

[AllOuttaBubbleGum]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

But boy oh boy, last night it spooked the shit out of me. Moody, atmospheric, doom-laden and without a neat happy ending - typical Carpenter then! And that dead-eyed look that Anne Marie Howard has on her possessed face is scarier than a hundred SFX-laden monsters.

Most chilling, ominous...and cryptic ending of all time, fueling decades of speculation. Power Nihilism! In an old interview, Carpenter called POD a personal favorite, so it didn't surprise when he mused about the possibility of a TV series treatment a month or so ago. When a movie haunts the dreams like this one, not sure if it needs one. But if he were heavily involved, it'd be interesting to see what he had in mind. As with a lot of floated concepts, I doubt anything will come of it.

[Noremac Mij]

Great soundtrack. Great atmosphere. A fantastic Carpenter movie.

[Dailyan]

I wasn’t planning on getting “Prince of Darkness” but Geoff you’ve had me sold.

[ROSS.T.G.]

I’ve never seen this...

[Noremac Mij]

Originally Posted by ROSS.T.G.

I’ve never seen this...

What are you waiting for?

[Davo92]

Watched this earlier in the week for the very first time and loved all of it, the creepy atmosphere was excellent and PQ was amazing apart from the off compression during a couple of sky shots but overall way better looking at comparisons to older releases

[ROSS.T.G.]

Originally Posted by Noremac Mij

What are you waiting for?

Christmas, literally.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

And that dead-eyed look that Anne Marie Howard has on her possessed face is scarier than a hundred SFX-laden monsters.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

[tonylopez]

I've always loved this movie. A fantastic score by Carpenter. Atmospheric as hell. Glad to here these opinions of the UHD. I'll recieve mine on Monday. Never thought this would EVER come out in 4K! Fingers crossed for more Carpenter on the format.

[AllOuttaBubbleGum]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

Where did I read POD almost got slapped with an X-rating, given some of the suggestive, fluid based possession antics...such that someone had to go to bat for Carpenter with the MPAA and eventually secured an 'R'?

[MassiveMovieBuff]

I remember watching this for the first time when I was around 9 and it creeped me out so bad I couldn't even finish it and it kept me up all night feeling unsettled. Same exact thing with Halloween. It's my second favorite Carpenter film after Halloween. Still creepy as hell. Carpenter sure knows how to get under a viewer's skin.

[psicon]

Originally Posted by private_joker

So, here's an interesting quirk. I received a replacement disc. Popped it in the player. Same result as before. So I decided to mess about to see if I could get the bugger to play. Selected the French version from the start menu. It plays fine. Very odd. Is anybody else playing this back on a Samsung K8500? If so have you had any issues. Will try it on my brother's Sony player when I get a chance.

Just tried it on the same model. Exact same issue. Played fine after selecting French.