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Alice Cooper Goes to Hell

Our favourite shock rocker talks exorcism, the Devil and what it took to play the lethal, bike-wielding street schizo in Prince of Darkness

HIS ROLE IN THE FILM MAY BE SMALL, BUT ALICE COOPER HAS BECOME THE FACE OF PRINCE OF DARKNESS. When Universal released the film on DVD, the cover image was Cooper's gaunt, menacing mug, just daring you to come closer.

The legendary rocker found himself in the 1987 film after meeting director John Carpenter through his manager, Shep Gordon, who would go on to executive produce They Live (1988) and Village of the Damned (1995) for the filmmaker, as well as Shocker (1989) and The People Under The Stairs (1991) for Wes Craven. Carpenter invited Cooper on set to watch the filming, but soon had him putting on a grimy toque and trench coat.

"I'm standing there and I'm watching, and watching, and there are all these street people that looked like zombies, and he said, 'Hey, why don't you be one of them? It would be cool to pan across and people would see you,'" recalls Cooper of how he got roped into the movie. "I just kinda looked at people in downtown LA and said, 'I can do that.'"

But what began as a simple face in the crowd became so much more, as Cooper took on the role of "Street Schizo," leader of the small army of possessed homeless people why surround the church that our heroes are holed up in together with an ancient vial of green liquid purported to be evil itself.

In his most famous scene, Cooper's character murders one of the scientists researching the vial, stabbing the man in the chest with part of an old bicycle. The gag was inspired by the musician's own Grand Guigno-style concerts.

"[Carpenter] saw our show, and in it I put a mic stand through a guy's chest and it comes out the other side — it's a great trick, it looks real," notes Cooper. "He says, 'You know that mic stand thing you do? Could you do that with a bicycle?' Next thing you know, it's three days of shooting. I started off just in the crowd, and then I'm putting a bicycle through a guy's chest."

Though Cooper has plenty of praise for Carpenter, particularly for his depiction of a modern boogeyman in Halloween, he was left wanting by Prince of Darkness. As some film critics have also pointed out, a faceless container of liquid standing in for the Devil was difficult to get behind, and the only other glimpse viewers get of the Man Downstairs is the giant demonic arm that reaches through the mirror at the end of the movie.

"When you see that hand and you realize that it's the Devil trying to get through, well, I kinda wanted to see him," says Cooper. "I really wanted the thing at the end at comes through the mirror to scare the hell out of me, the way Barlow scared me in Salem's Lot. He's literally the face of evil. When I first saw Barlow, he took my breath. I wanted this thing to do that, and it never quite got there."

Being a born-again Christian, Cooper is well steeped in the mythology of good and evil. He has his own idea of what Satan should look like, and explains that the face of evil wouldn't be frightening at all.

"In Prince of Darkness, there's this Hollywood version of Satan that we've all bought into, that he's this scary character, whereas in reality he'd probably be more of a politician-type character. He'd be appealing, someone who would make you feel really good about yourself. He'd be your best buddy and he'd be very charming, rather than scary, because scary's not really what he wants to do. He wants to deceive, and to deceive you've got to be appealing."

Cooper adds that he also believes strongly in demonic possession, thanks to his grandfather.

"We worked with the Sioux Indians in the '30s, and they didn't call it 'exorcism,' they called it 'casting out demons.' My grandfather did that up on the reservation all the time. It wasn't like a Catholic ritual; it was more like walking in and simply casting out the demon. He told me stories that used to scare me to death, and they were true."

How did Alice Cooper land the role of "Street Schizo"?

John Carpenter: One of the guys involved with putting the film together [Shep Gordon] was Alice's manager and he offered up his services. Alice was such a nice guy, I said, "Sure," and cast him. He actually brought along the impaling bicycle gag with him from his stage show. We needed that! [Laughs] I'm not kidding. It was great, but it was also hilarious that he provided it.