The TV show was a huge hit in syndication and so the team behind it decided to make a movie for the big screen where they were able to show things they could never do on TV.
There are three tales and a wrap around. The wrap around tale concerns a young boy held in a cage by a witch who plans on cooking him for dinner.
The young boy tempts the witch (Deborah Harry) with stories from her favorite book which happens to be "Tales From The Darkside". The first tale is entitled "Lot 249" based on a story by Arthur Conan Doyle. Steve Buscemi is a very poor college student who brings in a mummy for study, but actually ends up using it to destroy the rich students who cheated him out of his scholarship.
There are some pretty graphic scenes in this story and it works quite well. Christian Slater and Robert Sedgwick are the students who get a most vile comeuppance.
The second tale is called "Cat From Hell" and was written by George A. Romero who also produced the TV show by the way. David Johansen stars as Halston, a cold blooded hitman hired by a wealthy old man named Drogan (William Hickey). His mission is to kill a cat that Drogan believes has been responsible for for three deaths so far.
Halston spends the night in a mansion with the cat and he finds that the cat is much more than he ever imagined..
The third and final tale is by far the best, and it's called "Lover's Vow". In this tale a man Preston (James Remar) sees his friend killed in an alley by a hideous gargoyle monster. The creature lets him live as long as he promises to NEVER tell what he has witnessed.
he agrees and heads for home and that same night he meets a beautiful woman who seems to be lost. Her name is Carola (Rea Dawn Chong) and they soon fall in love.
the two are eventually married and Preston enjoys fame and fortune as an artist that he never had before he met Carola. They have two children, and ten years into their marriage Preston breaks down and tells Carola his long hidden secret. That is a mistake he lives to regret.
Remar and Chong play off of each other very well is this standout story. The payoff is something you'll never forget. I highly recommend this film as well as the TV show.
I am pleased that Paramount reissued it, but I have wondered why they also didn't reissue it on Blu-ray. Oh well, it's great to see this movie once again.
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