Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

A collection of horror stories.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: MOORE/HARRY/SLATER/BUSCEMI/JOH
Title: TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE
Street Release Date: 09/25/2001
Domestic
Genre: HORROR Product Description

Great movie!

I was looking for this movie for a long time. I was thrilled when I finally found it on Amazon. I also remember watching the TV series back in the 80's. A young boy reads stories from a book to distract a witch who plans to eat him. This film has the very handsome, young Christian Slater; Deborah Harry from the 80's rock band Blonde; Steve Buscemi who played Mr. Pink in "Reservoir Dogs"; Rae Dawn Chong who also starred in "Quest for Fire"(another great film) and many other great actors. If you enjoyed "Twilight Zone: The Movie," you will definitely enjoy this film. August 7, 2008

A mixed body bag

Essentially "Creepshow 3" under the title of the successful television horror series, the production of this anthology flick inherited much of the crew of the prior movies, and like them, its quality varies from one segment to the next. While "Beetle Juice" scribe Michael McDowell adapted Arthur Conan Doyle's "Lot 249" to the screen and wrote the none-too-original "Lover's Vow," Stephen King's short story, "Cat From Hell," was adapted by zombie lord George Romero. One might assume that this collection of acclaimed talent would inevitably produce something satisfactory, but the result of this collaboration is ultimately disappointing.

The wraparound story that binds these segments together is an amusing modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel, starring Blondie herself as a lovely suburban witch and Matthew Lawrence as an unwilling feast-to-be who narrates the film in order to delay his seemingly inevitable demise.

While it's by no means distinguished in the genre, "Lot 249" tells a satisfying and tidy story of a college intellectual (Buscemi, looking dorkier than usual) who wreaks petty revenge on his antagonizers (Slater, Moore, Sedgwick) by means of a reanimated mummy. Though it's nothing to work yourself into a lather over, this story's twist ending delivers an enjoyable surprise.

With his Buster Poindexter days quick behind him, a dapper David Johansen plays a hitman hired by pharmaceutical magnate William Hickey (who looks less ancient here than he often does) to terminate the titular "Cat From Hell." While mostly routine in its execution, the penultimate scene of this gruesome portion is an extraordinary sight, the reputation of which brought this movie to my attention. Certain horror movies feature something that you have never seen before or since, and this one of of them.

"Lover's Vow" is just a charmless rip-off of Lafcadio Hearn's story of the Yuki-onna folklore. Though the visuals of this segment are highlighted by Rae Dawn Chong's sexy good looks and a handful of impressively gory effects, this uninspired recycling is made even more unbearable by James Remar's usual and thorough lack of charisma.

If any movie ever failed to utilize an enormous amount of talent, it's this one. A capable crew, novel stories and a fine cast (consisting of screen veterans, popular faces of the time and a few notable future stars) are squandered on a lightweight production that, while amusing, never even comes close to living up to its potential. April 9, 2008

Great movies, great memories...

Like me, do you sometimes finding yourself renting childhood favorites, only to realize after rewatching they they aren't near as good as you remember? This is NOT one of those movies!! The connecting story features a modern Hansel and a pretty evil witch. He reads her stories from a book she gave him to pass the time, to postpone his getting cooked and eaten. Love it! Lot 249 deals with a mummy curse, and three great actors before they hit it big, this is my second fave. The next involves an old man who had ran a drug company who had killed over 5000 cats for testing. The cat kills his whole family except for him, so he hires a professional hit man. Does he get the job done, or do the cat's 9 lives come into play? This is the one I like the least, and it's still pretty good. The third is a tale of a very strange love affair that begins on Halloween, and ends the same night 10 years later. This is the best!
If you haven't seen it, watch it. If you have and wonder if it still holds up, buy it! March 27, 2008

Thanks [...]

I'd looked all over for this movie and had no luck,I had originally seen this movie in 1990 I think,with two of my friends that had since moved away,and we loved it...well she planned to visit one weekend,and I thought it would be fun to find the movie if I could,so I tried you guys.I really didn't expect to get it as fast as I did,it came the weekend she arrived,we enjoyed it just as much as the first time we'd seen it,Thanks [...] February 8, 2008

another blast from the past

A classic ! Awesome movie! One of the top ten ever! This and the twilight zone the movie are incredible, especially for my generation (age 33) It is a must see!!! November 4, 2007

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