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A Passion For Horror
DVDs
Trailer available at the bottom of this page |
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie has a run time of a little over one and a half hours and is an anthology of three short stories. Four if you count the Wraparound Story that binds them all together. In the Wraparound Story a young boy named Timmy is being held prisoner by a witch called Betty. Betty, who looks just like any other suburban housewife, is busy preparing for a dinner a party and Timmy, who is on the menu, is running out of time. In an effort to delay Betty, Timmy reads some stories to her from her favourite book: Tales from the Darkside. The first story is called Lot 249, was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and is about a Graduate Student called Bellingham. Bellingham buys an item at auction (Lot 249 ) and, just as the delivery men are making delivery (it is in rather a large box), two fellow students, Andy and Lee, arrive on the scene. Just in time to watch him open it up. It contains a sarcophagus. Inside the sarcophagus there is a mummy and it is one ugly looking dude. Andy lives in the same building as Bellingham and is on reasonably good terms with him. Lee, on the other hand, who also happens to be going out with Andy's sister Susan, is not on such good terms with Bellingham and there is more than a little animosity between the two of them. Bellingham is a big boy now, but he feels that he has been wronged and has no qualms about allowing his mummy handle the matter. Cat From Hell is based on a story by Stephen King. Mr Drogan, a wealthy but wheel-chair bound business man, hires a hit man named Halston. The hit? A black cat. Killing household pets is not in the killer's usual line of work, though, and as Drogan explains the job to him the angry hit-man thinks that Drogan is having a laugh at his expense. But when Drogan throws him an envelope full of money he sees that the expense is all Drogan's after all. Halston is obviously curious to know how the cat has offended enough to warrant such a bounty on its furry little head, and sits and listens as Drogan explains how the feline in question systematically went about killing the other members of the household. Now only Drogan remains and he plans on getting the cat before it gets him. After their chat Drogan leaves the house while Halston takes care of business. Halston has guns and knives at his disposal, and even a syringe full of poison. It should be an easy hit, but this cat really does seem to have nine lives while the hit-man has only the one. The final tale from the darkside is Lover's Vow, written by Michael McDowell. It is the story of a down-at-heel and down on his luck artist called Preston. Things really are going from bad to worse for the poor guy. First his agent dumps him, and then later the same night he witnesses one of his friends being murdered by a gargoyle. There seems little point to the murder, but Preston's friend quickly goes to pieces and finally loses his head entirely, while the amazed artist can only stand and watch in shock. Before Preston has a chance to escape the gargoyle is upon him and promises to spare his life if he keeps what he has seen a secret. Preston agrees, of course, he has a good head on his shoulders and wants to keep it that way. The gargoyle scratches a warning onto Preston's chest - a little something to remember to forget him by - and then flies off into the night. Strangely enough the encounter with the gargoyle seems to mark a turning point in Preston's life. He flees the crime-scene and runs into a beautiful girl called Carola. The dusky maiden accompanies him home, one thing leads to another, and they fall in love. Carola even puts in a good word for him with the owner of a major art gallery and Preston is suddenly a man on the up. As the years pass though, and now with two children, will Preston still manage to keep his promise to the gargoyle, and if not what will be the consequences be for his family? I enjoyed the Tales from the Darkside movie. There is a little blood and gore here and there in all of the stories, but the film was made in 1990 and so, when compared to the glorious techni-coloured splatter-fests available in more modern movies, perhaps it is not that bad. I felt no need to wretch anyway. Not even when I watched someone's brain being hooked out by a bent coat hanger (useful things coat hangers). The special effects in the film are very good, but again, nothing in comparison with today's CGI master pieces of technical trickery. I think, for a younger person who has grown up on a diet of modern movies and effects, Tales might be seen with a slightly critical eye. But for someone a little older, who can remember rubber monsters and the almost invisible strings that worked them? Nothing will matter but the stories. Oh... did you want to know what happened to
Timmy? Did that nasty witch Betty eat him? Sorry guys, I'm not saying:
mummy is the word, the cat has got my tongue and a mean old gargoyle
has sworn me to silence.
CAST Debbie
Harry ... Betty
(wraparound story) Christian Slater ...
Andy (Lot 249) James
Remar ...
Preston (Lover's Vow)
90 minutes (approx) Aspect Ratio 4:3 Full Screen Colour
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