Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Tim S

  
  Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (also known as the unofficial Creepshow 3 by its creators) is a worthy anthology film with both class and style. The stories aren't perfect (especially the last one) and they don't really cut together all that well, but the tone and style… More
  Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (also known as the unofficial Creepshow 3 by its creators) is a worthy anthology film with both class and style. The stories aren't perfect (especially the last one) and they don't really cut together all that well, but the tone and style are pitch-perfect. It's great to see old school mechanical and special effects being used before CGI mostly took over the industry. It's also great to see the work of four masters, George Romero, Stephen King, Michael Mcdowell and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, being used as the basis for the the three stories and the wrap-around segment. It's definitely not a perfect horror movie, but it has a lot of substance and doesn't fail to entertain.

• Phil H

  
  The alternative to the Twilight Zone movie but not quite in the same league in my opinion, the film consists of three stories within a wrap around story told by a boy who is going to eaten by a witch of all things haha. First tale see's a man use a 3000 year old mummy to kill… More
  The alternative to the Twilight Zone movie but not quite in the same league in my opinion, the film consists of three stories within a wrap around story told by a boy who is going to eaten by a witch of all things haha. First tale see's a man use a 3000 year old mummy to kill afew select people, an adaptation of a Arthur Conan Doyle short, not a bad story and handled reasonably well with good makeup on the mummy and some bloody deaths dealt out. Big cast names in this story with Buscemi and Christian Slater and a nice ending make this tale the second best of the three. Second tale is an adaptation of a Stephen King story and the weakest of the three, an old man is sure he is cursed by a cat which is trying to kill him after it supposedly killed his sister, the reason is because the old mans pharmaceutical company killed many thousands of cats in testing a new drug. Pretty lame story really which isn't really spooky in the slightest, the cat is obviously some sort of demon which is cool and this is shown in the way it kills the hitman who has been hired to get rid of the cat, I just think it could of been more scary simply. Third and final tale stars James Remar and is about a guy who witnesses the death of a man by a gargoyle type creature, the creature lets the witness live if he promises not to tell anyone of what he saw. Easily the best story even though its not explained too well and leaves you asking why by the end, some great makeup and effects in the finale as we see a transformation similar to finale in 'The Fly' with Jeff Goldblum, really nicely done without the use of cgi, no surprise with Dick Smith being involved. Overall not as good as Twilight Zone the movie and abit more adult in content with much blood n gore on show but still it has two good stories which if you like 'the Zone' you will I'm sure like these.

• Jeff "

  
  Tales from the Dark side: The Movie is according to Tom Savini, the real sequel to Creepshow. I read that somewhere can't be sure. The result of Tales from the Dark side is a film filled with mediocre stories, that don't deliver anything really interesting. Some cast members… More
  Tales from the Dark side: The Movie is according to Tom Savini, the real sequel to Creepshow. I read that somewhere can't be sure. The result of Tales from the Dark side is a film filled with mediocre stories, that don't deliver anything really interesting. Some cast members were interesting, yes, but overall, the film was a pretty big miss. I felt they could've done something a lot better, and what's really sad is that at least one story was fairly good. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough to redeem this horrible anthology of horror stories. I felt that the filmmakers didn't care for the film at all, and made this film in a rush. The results show on screen, and it's almost embarrassing. Tales from the Dark side could've been a better film, but it fails as a whole, and is one of the worst horror anthologies that I have seen. This is a poorly made, poorly written film with a decent enough cast that couldn't even save the film. Tales from the Dark side is a missed opportunity and could have been much better.

• AJ V

  
  In the tradition of movies like Twilight Zone the movie and Creepshow, comes another anthology horror movie based on the TV show Tales from the Dark Side. This movie has a bunch of good actors, just like the show did, and the stories are as good as well. The story that links them… More
  In the tradition of movies like Twilight Zone the movie and Creepshow, comes another anthology horror movie based on the TV show Tales from the Dark Side. This movie has a bunch of good actors, just like the show did, and the stories are as good as well. The story that links them all is the best, though. Overall, a good movie.

• Cassandra M

  
  Tales from the Darkside: The Movie starts with an ordinary looking woman named Betty (Deborah Harry) driving home, once there it is revealed that she is keeping a young boy named Timmy (Matthew Lawrence) locked in a cage in her kitchen & intends to kill, cook & eat him. To try… More
  Tales from the Darkside: The Movie starts with an ordinary looking woman named Betty (Deborah Harry) driving home, once there it is revealed that she is keeping a young boy named Timmy (Matthew Lawrence) locked in a cage in her kitchen & intends to kill, cook & eat him. To try & stall for time Timmy offers to read some stories from a book called 'Tales from the Darkside', Betty reveals that they have plenty of time & tells him to go ahead. Timmy's first story is called 'Lot 249'... Andy (Christian Slater) & Lee (Robert Sedgwick) are university students & best friends. They discover another student named Edward Bellingham (Steve Buscemi) has won an auction for 'Lot 249' which happens to be an Egyptian sarcophagus with it's Mummy still inside. Edward finds an ancient scroll stuffed inside the Mummy which when recited is able to bring the Mummy back to life... Betty liked 'Lot 247' so lets Timmy tell another one, this time called 'Cat from Hell'... A hit-man named Halsten (David Johansen) arrives at the large mansion owned by the billionaire owner of a pharmaceuticals company named Drogan (William Hickey) who offers to pay Halsten $100,000 to kill a mysterious black cat which he believes has been sent to kill him. Drogan thinks the cat has already killed three people & thinks he is next. Halsten thinks Drogan is crazy but accepts nevertheless, however he soon discovers that killing this particular cat isn't as easy as it first would appear... Betty also liked 'Cat from Hell' & says that Timmy can tell one more story, Timmy chooses 'Lover's Vow'... Preston (James Remar) is a failed New York artist whose apartment is overlooked by a stone Gargoyle. One night after he is told by his agent Wyatt (Robert Klein) that he is being dumped Preston gets so drunk the bartender Jer (Ashton Wise) has to take him home. While walking down some back alleyway Jer is decapitated by a large creature with wings & sharp claws, the creature goes up to Preston & says that it will spare his life if he never tells anyone about it. Not having much choice Preston agrees & the creature disappears in the New York night. Shortly after this unnerving encounter Preston meets & falls in love with a woman named Carola (Rae Dawn Chong) whom after being together for 10 years have two children, Margaret (Nicole Leach) & John (Daniel Harrison) but Preston is finding it harder to keep his secret but surely after all this time it wouldn't matter if he told his wife, would it...? Betty now decides enough is enough, there will be no more stories & it's time for Timmy to become dinner... Directed by John Harrison who also composed the score for the 'Lover's Vow' Segment, I thought Tales from the Darkside: The Movie was a good horror anthology that isn't the best this sub-genre has to offer but it is by no means the worst either. I like anthology films & I look for quick fast paced stories with a nice twist at they're end. Unfortunately Tales from the Darkside: The Movie didn't quite manage to surprise me with two of it's twists which were actually pretty obvious while the story that has the strongest ending is the slowest to sit through. 'Lot 247' was written by Micheal McDowell based on a story by Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & is a good opening story featuring the familiar faces of Christian Slater, Steve Buscemi & Julianne Moore but I found the ending of this segment weak & predictable which spoilt what had gone on before. The second story 'Cat from Hell' written by George A. Romero based on a short story by Stephen King (his name just had to be here somewhere didn't it?) is the weakest of the three stories but is the most stylishly filmed with some cool fades & transitions between shots, blue tinted flashbacks & the spacious, spooky darkly lit mansion provides some real atmosphere which is wasted on this segment as it's ending didn't do anything for me as it turned out exactly as I expected with the cat appearing to succeed in it's quest for revenge. The third story written by Micheal McDowall is generally considered the best & for good reason, although it's slower than the previous two it has impact & a good ending twist which I didn't actually see coming. I'm not saying the other two stories are bad, far from it but I was maybe hoping for a few more surprises. I won't bother commenting on the wraparound story as I found it very poor. The film as whole moves along nicely & since each story only runs 20 odd minutes none of them outstay their welcome. It's well made throughout with nice production values especially during the 'Cat from Hell' segment which looks very nice. The acting is good too with some familiar faces. One thing Tales from the Darkside: The Movie does have going for it are some wonderful special make-up effects by K.N.B effects with Dick Smith credited as a consultant. Each story seems to have it's own little special effects showpiece, 'Lot 249' has the Mummy being chopped up with an electric carving knife, 'Cat from Hell' has a cat bloodily enter someones body through their mouth & then exit the same way & 'Lover's Vow' has the excellent & totally cool looking Gargoyle transformation & just about any shot that it's in really. It's a little light on the actual blood & gore front though, we do get a gorily realistic cool looking severed hand & decapitation. Overall I liked Tales from the Darkside: The Movie but I can't help but feel the endings of both 'Lot 247' & 'Cat from Hell' let those segments down somewhat. Still the film as a whole is a great watch & is good all round entertainment.

• Dr Blood  

  
  The best of the three tales is Conan Doyle's "Lot 249" but all three are entertaining enough though not overly scary.

• Lafe F

  
  Three enjoyable tales. Sometimes thought of as "The un-official Creepshow 3", it had three quality stories, or four if you count the framing story with Deborah Harry and the little boy. The Mummy story was fun, original and suspenseful. The cat one I really liked. The… More
  Three enjoyable tales. Sometimes thought of as "The un-official Creepshow 3", it had three quality stories, or four if you count the framing story with Deborah Harry and the little boy. The Mummy story was fun, original and suspenseful. The cat one I really liked. The Gargoyle one seemed a bit too long, but had a great payoff. Top notch horror anthology with good special effects.

• Dean M

  
  Nicely gruesome set of horror stories. But the segment of "Cat from Hell" frightened me very seriously.

• Matthew Y

  
  Saw this years ago when I was a kid. I loved it then, I might revisit it someday but I'm afraid 20+ years of effects advancement will make me more critical of it. The story is essential a continuation of the Darkside television show and Creepshow films. It is an anthology… More
  Saw this years ago when I was a kid. I loved it then, I might revisit it someday but I'm afraid 20+ years of effects advancement will make me more critical of it. The story is essential a continuation of the Darkside television show and Creepshow films. It is an anthology series that tells three (kinda four) separate Horror stories. The first is mediocre at best where a college student resurrects a Mummy to seek revenge on some classmates. The second story is pretty strong with a black cat that kills at midnight. A wealthy old man has already had the cat kill his sister, her friend and their butler. He hires a hitman to kill the cat, but the hitman soon finds out why the old man fears the cat so much. The third short is the strongest. It is a recreation of a Lafcadio Hearn tale from his Kwaidan stories. The substitution of the Snow Queen with a Gargoyle makes the films twist more surprising and effective. I really enjoyed this collection of short Horror stories and am very disappointed about their incredibly low RT score.

• Leo L

  
  A favorite.

• Anthony V

  
  The last segment is best, even though it ripped off Kwaidan (1965) .

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