Tales from the Darkside: The Movie

1990 "Four Ghoulish Fables In One Modern Nightmare!"
6.2| 1h33m| R| en| More Info
Released: 04 May 1990 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.

Watch Online

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990) is now streaming with subscription on Prime Video

Director

John Harrison

Production Companies

Paramount

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

Stream on any device, 30-day free trial
Watch Now
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie Videos and Images
View All
  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie Audience Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Rick-34 Tales from the Darkside mixes together three individual stories, all "narrated" by a kid in a "wraparound" story he's telling to a woman (Deborah Harry) preparing to cook him. As with Arabian Nights, Timmy is trying to stay alive by telling stories. The first story is the best of the three: "Lot 249" features Christian Slater as well as pre-fame Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore in a mummy story. The pacing is good, the story works, and the acting is well above what one expects in a cheap horror story. The second story, "Cat From Hell" is an adaptation of a Stephen King short story about a cat that has killed its way through most of a family. An old man (William Hickey) hires a hit man (David Johansen) to kill his cat and the story goes from there. This is yet another example of a Stephen King story that works very well on paper but has gotten mangled horribly in translation to screen. Part of the problem is the special effects involving the cat look dreadful now - but I don't think they were even state of the art in 1990. Regardless, I don't quite know how you could film a fight between a man and a cat and not have the result end up looking ridiculous. "Cat From Hell" didn't really try very hard. The third story, "Lover's Vow", concerns a man who witnesses a friend murdered by some kind of gargoyle-type creature. The gargoyle promises to spare him his life in return for the man's pledge to never tell anybody about the encounter. It's an interesting premise that is tested when the man later hooks up with a young woman played by Rae Dawn Chong. Ultimately the story doesn't make all that much sense, and again the story is hurt by relatively weak special effects. The wraparound story works very well, as does "Lot 249", but ultimately that doesn't feel like enough to redeem the weakness of the other two segments. "Cat From Hell" in particular is a failure. But I would recommend watching the movie if only to see early-career work from Buscemi and Moore in "Lot 249".
Phil Hubbs The alternative (competitor?) 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.First tale see's a man use a 3000 year old mummy to kill a few 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 behind this being the old mans pharmaceutical company killed many thousands of cats in testing a new drug. Pretty lame story really which isn't particularly 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 hit- man who has been hired to get rid of the cat, I just think it could of been more scary or eerie basically.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 various questions 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 a bit more adult with its content, more blood 'n' gore on show and some creepy monsters lend itself to some light scares. Still two of the stories are solid and quite sinister which I'm sure fans will enjoy if you like these type of horror anthologies. The overall quality just doesn't quite match the Twilight Zone standard that raised the bar originally.6/10
Claudio Carvalho Little Timmy (Matthew Lawrence) is arrested in the kitchen of Betty (Deborah Harry) that is preparing a dinner party for eight guests where Timmy is the main dish. Timmy tells three horror stories to buy time and try to escape:"Lot 249" – The riches Andy (Christian Slater) and his best friend Lee (Robert Sedgwick) use Andy's sister Susan (Julianne Moore) to trick the nerd Bellingham (Steve Buscemi) and get his place in the university. Bellingham brings a Mummy (Michael Deak) to his room and uses a scroll to revive him and to take revenge against Lee and Susan and later against Andy. "Cat from Hell" – The millionaire Drogan (William Hickey) hires the hit- man Halston (David Johansen) to kill a cat that has murdered the three other people that lived with him in his mansion. But soon Halston learns that the cat is from hell."Lover's Vow" – The washed up artist Preston (James Remar) goes to the bar of his friend Jer to meet his agent Wyatt (Robert Klein) that tells him that does not want to be his agent anymore. Preston drinks booze until Jer closes the bar and they walk through a dark alley. Out of the blue, Jer is attacked and decapitated by a gargoyle and when Preston is going to be attacked, he promises to the gargoyle that he will never tell what has happened that night in the alley. The gargoyle flies away and when Preston is walking back home, he sees a woman, Carola (Rae Dawn Chong), near to the place where Jer was murdered. Preston invites Carola to go to his flat to call a cab and they begin a romance. Ten years later, they are happily married with two children and Preston decides to disclose his secret to his wife with tragic consequences for his family and him."Tales from the Darkside: The Movie" follows the format of "Creepshow", with a wraparound story and three segments. The wraparound story is funny with the fate of Timmy. "Lot 249" and "Cat from Hell" are good segments with the debut of Julianne Moore in a feature. But the unforgettable and heartbreaking "Lover's Vow" is among the best horror stories that I have ever seen with the surprising conclusion. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Contos da Escuridão" ("Tales from the Darkside")
atinder .... one of the best , I have seen in recent weeks, I loved it! The movie start with A witch who ready to Cook boy but want to read some scary stories from the book called Tales from the DarksideFrist story Lot 249Is about student, Bellingham who whats Revenge after being framed from two people in Class and at he finds A mummy which he bring to life to kill them The mummy didn't look too bad at all, I did not expect the Kills to be a bloodily as they were. some really decent Kills scenes in this parts. This segment flowed really well and The twist, I did not see coming at all, loved that twist of the story, also found it really funny.8 out of 10 first story! The second Story Cat from Hell Which I think was the best out of 3 Old man in wheel chair hires a Hit-man to Kill a Evil Cat. The cats scenes were really well done, They did make the Black Cat look evil with the hissing sound and the attacks were not to bad at all, yeah, they may look a little bit dated now. Some of effect this story were great, I love the cat come out body, gross, I am sure that be stuck in head for few days after this movie. 10/10 Lover's Vow Weakest one This started of really well, the creature was very strange but it didn't look scary at all but Kill scenes were really well gory and bloody again, which i really liked Then the story got a little predictable and new twist, 10 years before it happened, I could hide it a bit more. I liked how the twist came out, very nasty gory scenes, really well made .7 out 10 The ending of the movie, I find that ending very cheesy, it kind of felt out of place a little This as got to be my favourite anthology so far I give this one 9 out of 10 , one of the best , I have seen in recent weeks, I loved it!