The tyranist's thoughts
For having a bunch of big names, this movie sure doesn't make the grade. Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, Martin Landau, Dwight Schultz all appear, but none of them can help what was a really bad idea in the first place.
Dwight Schultz character is a psychiatrist who has come to work at a place called the Haven, which is run by Donald Pleasence's character. Four psychopaths decide that Schultz must have killed their last doctor and they're going to kill him. A convenient shortage at the nuclear power plant knocks out the juice for a couple days and they come hunting.
I found the movie to be somewhat slow and stupid. I never really understood why things were happening and there were a number of inexplicable events including most of the ending. This was just a bad idea that someone neglected to kill because they picked up some names. And one more thing, the title. No one was ever "alone in the dark" in this movie. Ever. Save your dollar and rent something better.

Rish's Reviews
Though I won't be as harsh as tyranist here, I can't be altogether complimentary of the film. I didn't find the premise to be flawed (during a blackout, a group of escaped inmates come after the new doctor at their mental institution), rather the execution. A great deal of the time, we knew what was going to happen, but we had to sit around waiting for it to happen. There was also a great deal of posturing and psychiatric mumbo-jumbo, with at least two of the not-officially-crazy characters acting a bit insane to varying degrees throughout the film. It seemed to be saying that the people in the outside world are just as messed up as those in the sanitarium. Again, not a terrible concept, just a poor way of carrying it out.
The film was intellectual and much higher brow than your average Slasher, and that actually worked against it, making it dull and causing it to drag on and on. Writer/Director Jack Sholder, who I'll never forget (or forgive) saying that he doesn't like horror films, seemed to be trying to make something more talky and substantive, but really all he accomplished was taking the fun out my favourite genre.
There was one nice twist toward the end that was really quite clever, even if it made absolutely no logical sense. Perhaps I should give it away, just to be the sort of bastard who would. Okay, you twisted my arm. Of the four psychopaths that escape the institution, there is one who hides his face from Dwight Schultz's character because he is ashamed of the crimes he committed. We don't actually see what he looks like, and as soon as he gets out, he puts a goalie (hockey) mask on to cover himself and separates from the other three. I sort of forgot about him for a while, figuring he'd pop up at the finale, wearing the mask and giving us an ultimate scare before the credits rolled. But somebody somewhere outdid that by having him turn out to be one of the characters our heroes think they know and trust, surprising me as much as them. Unfortunately, even this neat twist isn't carried off so well, greatly undermining its shock value. Too bad.
Shot in a very cold-looking New Jersey, Alone in the Dark was made in the early '80s, when New Line Cinema was just a baby, and was just a hair's breadth away from a cheapy independent film. Though I like Dwight Schultz and Martin Landau, and especially Donald Pleasence, this isn't the best showcase of their work. Palance is actually quite good, and for once, his over-the-top intensity helped sell the mentally unstable character. But the ending is quite awful, just like tyranist said. And also, as he said, the film isn't nearly entertaining enough to merit a recommendation.