MovieChat Forums > Prince of Darkness (1987) Discussion > Susan, the radiologist, glasses?

Susan, the radiologist, glasses?

posted 11 years ago by panjin79
8 replies | jump to latest

I think I've seen this movie at least 50 times since first watching it in the 80s. IMHO, this is John Carpenter's best written movie. Just getting that out of the way before anyone thinks I'm trolloololoing .

Did anyone find it odd that nobody could remember Susan except as "the radiologist, glasses"? Was this supposed to be some kind of running gag or an homage to something else? It's not an awesomely written one-liner, so it seems out of place in a JC script and makes me think there's some backstory.

-Pecs like melons and knees of fringe

[–] smitthhh 10 years ago

Yeah I noticed that too. I thought it was funny.

[–] Soodinum 10 years ago

Lol - it's a cheeky nod back to the way things would often play out in his favourite horror movies. In the original The Thing From Outer Space there was this subtle gimmick where characters were always opening and shutting doors, all over the place. It was like a motif, setting up something for later. And then of course that huge scare comes when they open that door and the Thing is standing right there. (George Romero comments on this in an interview).

The way Carpenter wrote it in is a bit obvious, os he must have done it tongue in cheek. All along she;s the chick 'with the glasses' but when she is sprayed with that goo, it knocks her glasses off. Then she wanders about killing people. HUGE 'heads up' ... no more glasses. Somethin' ain't right.

Kind of like an old horror Easter Egg. :)

'Then' and 'than' are different words - stop confusing them.

[–] dawnrunsamok 10 years ago

Ironically, I had a similar thought with regard to The Thing (1951)...and I have to ask, did you find Douglas Spencer, Scotty the reporter, as annoying as I did? The guy just would not shut up, and attempted to upstage his fellow actors in almost every scene. He acted as if his getting "the story" was the most important element of their discovery.
Perhaps I am biased? Because I must admit that he grated my nerves to no end. I've wondered how much of that manic attitude was direction, or pure ambition...

[–] flemos-adriana 9 years ago

I can't believe I have found someone in the world who just thinks exactly like me! I found it annoying the same way, wow! Fantastic!

[–] hgap2001 10 years ago

Susan is hot, but married. How married? Very. So everyone remembers the glasses only...

[–] zimbabwebob 10 years ago

it was stupid because she's hot and its not like all those guys would have not known who she was

[–] captnavenger 9 years ago

You're all thinking way too hard.

It's a running gag, nothing more or less.

Sometimes, when you're writing, you stumble upon a line that you think will sound funny recurring. That's all there is to the Susan bit.

[–] Boutros_Boutros_Sirhan_Sirhan 8 years ago

All but one of them didn't know her and only met her that first day, so it was easy to forget considering all the tests they were running and how mentally occupied they werewith all the bizarre things going on.