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Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (1990) - John Harrison


I have always been a big fan of Tales From the Darkside. I started watching it on Sci-Fi Channel when I was a kid and kept catching episodes for years. That was until I ran across this movie. Tales From the Darkside: The Movie is an anthology horror movie that presents three different tales with a wraparound story that ties it all together. Not bad. The movie has an all-star cast too. Debbie Harry, Matthew Lawrence, Steve Buscemi, Christian Slater, Julianne Moore, Robert Sedgwick, Alice Drummond, William Hickey, James Remar, and Rae Dawn Chong.

The movie suffers from a few dull points. The wrap-around story and the Lover's Vow are both incredibly boring. Matthew Lawrence does a good job as the young prisoner preparing to be baked into a pie by a witch played by Blondies own Debbie Harry. However, it loses steam during the intermission pieces in between tales. The last story Lover's Vow, just doesn't hold up well over time. It's boring and long. The effects are laughable and overall it is just a waste of time. Quite a yawner. I am not sure if at one time Rae Dawn Chong was considered to be good looking. To each his own.

The other two stories, Lot 249 and The Cat From Hell are amazing. Creepshow worthy in fact. Lot 249 has tons of great actors, churning out a passable attempt at a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short. A young scientist uses a reanimated mummy to boost his popularity and take out his competitors. The Cat From Hell has one of the old men from Christmas Vacation that hires a hit-man to kill a viscous black cat that haunts his home and killed his family. It was written by George Romero and Stephen King! Bonus! These two stories are the best. They are definitely worth watching this movie for. Well except for Lover's Vow that one was pretty stupid. I guess I am not a big fan of dumb-looking gargoyles. Ehh...

The effects in the movie are a victim of their time. They are cheap and you can see that. However, they do their job and keep you cringing. Small traces of gore are present here. We have limbs being cut off, flesh being ripped open, and a disgusting sequence with a cat and a mouth. The acting is just as good at the effects. The actors do their job when they need too, but nothing is really that spectacular.

Overall, this is a decent movie. The two good stories make up for the majority of the time. You can at least enjoy that while using the other parts for bathroom breaks or popcorn runs. Check out Tales from the Darkside: The Movie if you are a big horror movie fan or at least a big fan of old nineties movies. I always recommend these types of movies to people looking to add to their Halloween playlist. A marathon of anthology horror movies is a good way to pass the time of the 31st.

  • The Cat From Hell was intended for Creepshow 2 but was cut due to budget constraints.
  • Tom Savini hinted at this movie being the unofficial Creepshow 3.
  • Dawn of the Dead and Martin are shown in the movie. Both are George Romero movies. 


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