“Tales from the Darkside: The Film” is noteworthy for turning 35 this yr, being the most effective (if not the all-time biggest) horror anthology movies and showcasing the perfect efficiency from the chameleon-like David Johansen, who we simply misplaced final month.
Johansen’s profession started with fronting The New York Dolls earlier than turning into a mainstream success as Buster Poindexter, then a personality actor in movie and TV, and finally returning to music.
He was a real unique.
A dynamic performer on stage and a really magnetic character actor, Johnsen might be greatest referred to as the cab driving Ghost of Christmas Previous who blows smoke out of his ears within the yuletide Invoice Murray automobile, “Scrooged” (1988).
Nonetheless, cinephiles keen to take a deeper dive into Johansen’s transient however colourful film run ought to notice how nice he’s in “Tales from the Darkside,” an underestimated sleeper and an actual discover for horror followers.
Director John Harrison’s movie is tonally excellent from the beginning, opening in a small city the place Betty, a gorgeous socialite (Deborah Harry) is returning dwelling. She offers everybody she encounters on the drive dwelling a pleasant wave.
As soon as we see her behind closed doorways we see what’s actually up: inside Betty’s sprawling kitchen is a jail cell, the place she retains a younger boy named Timmy (Matthew Lawrence) hostage.
After days of fattening Timmy up with cookies, Betty is planning to cook dinner him. Timmy delays his execution by studying Betty tales from the huge tome bearing the title, “Tales from the Darkside,” which she tossed in his cell as a method of killing time.
Timmy reads Betty three tales:
The primary is “Lot 249” (up to date however faithfully primarily based on an Arthur Conan Doyle story), a few school scholar (Steve Buscemi) who is ready to reanimate a mummy to be able to do some soiled deeds.
The second story is Stephen King’s “The Cat from Hell,” during which Johansen performs a hitman employed to exterminate the cat of a rich geriatric (William Hickey), who believes his feline is evil. The previous man’s directions to the hitman: “Kill it, bury it, carry me its tail, so I can throw it within the fireplace and watch it burn.”
The third yarn is “Lover’s Vow” (from “Beetlejuice” screenwriter Michael McDowell) a few struggling artist (James Remar) who meets the love of his life (Rae Daybreak Chong) on the identical night time that he makes an important promise to a terrifying creature.
With each story he spins for Betty, Timmy entrances his captor. Is it sufficient to maintain her from cooking him?
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What’s the movie’s level of origin? It’s difficult, however right here’s the transient model: EC Comics, as soon as touted as “Instructional Comics” when everybody knew them to publish surprising, boundary-pushing and fiendishly humorous comedian guide tales, used to publish “Tales from the Crypt,” Bizarre Science” and “Vault of Horror” comedian books.
These controversial and groundbreaking comedian books impressed “Evening of the Dwelling Useless” director George A. Romero to make “Creepshow” (1981), his loving, passionately trendy tribute to EC Comics.
“Creepshow” was a sleeper hit, and Romero wished to do it as a TV sequence – due to rights points, he was unable to make use of the “Creepshow” title. Thus, the rechristened “Tales from the Darkside” aired in 1983 and ran for 4 seasons.
Romero was an government producer on the “Tales from the Darkside” sequence and the characteristic movie.
Finally, the equally formatted “Monsters” adopted (1988-1991), in addition to the 2019 “Creepshow” sequence on Shudder, occurring 4 seasons and the official, albeit belated, extension of Romero’s movie.
In the present day, there are ample streaming channels airing dozens of horror-themed sequence. Within the Nineteen Eighties-Nineteen Nineties, although, it was a shock to see the likes of “Tales from the Darkside,” “Darkroom,” “Freddy’s Nightmares,” “Monsters” and “Friday the thirteenth: The Sequence” on common TV. Their low budgets and affordable PG-rated content material had been countered by real scares.
I’d argue that essentially the most jolt-inducing of the bunch was “Tales from the Darkside,” with its sinister theme music (by Donald Rubinstein and Erica Lindsey) pulling you in.
I used to observe the sequence at midnight, after “Saturday Evening Reside,” and would generally discover the theme music too scary to maintain watching. On different nights, once I’d see a whole episode, I’d be too afraid to return to sleep.
As a younger teen, the one factor scarier than watching “Tales from the Darkside” at midnight, with all of the lights in the home turned off, was seeing the trailer for “Tales from the Darkside – The Film.” It stays one of many solely coming points of interest previews to make me soar out of my seat.
Harrison’s pleasant, devious movie could not have the groundbreaker standing of “Useless of Evening” (1945), nor the continuing cult recognition of Romero’s “Creepshow” or Michael Dougherty’s “Trick r Deal with” (2007), nor the all-star lineup of the notorious however almost-great “Twilight Zone – The Film (1983).
Nonetheless, as a result of it strikes so briskly, doesn’t overstay its welcome and hits us with simply three tales, “Tales from the Darkside: The Film” succeeds for giving us most leisure worth in 93 minutes.
“Lot 249,” which options not solely a younger, already scene-stealing Buscemi but additionally a great Christian Slater and, in a memorable movie debut, Julianne Moore. The longer term Oscar winner already comes throughout like a significant film star (regardless of the indignity of her ultimate scene, although it’s a memorable bit).
Moore and Buscemi give sharp turns and the ultimate picture (which mirrors the conclusion of the “One thing to Tide You Over” section of “Creepshow”) is a keeper, although the setup is overly difficult. Like the mother itself, “Lot 249” is clumsy however at all times amusing. I really like how the mother is a sufferer of circumstances since his skill to kill is imposed on him.
Who knew one may weaponize a mummy?
“The Cat from Hell” installment is so good, the film ought to have concluded with it. The make-up results by KNB EFX are particularly gag-inducing right here. Johansen, solid in opposition to sort as a slick killer for rent, does an ideal sluggish burn and has a strong give-and-take with Hickey, a beautiful actor with a voice as distinct as Johansen’s.
“The Cat from Hell” is essentially the most trendy of the episodes, with intelligent, theatrical lighting designs, shade schemes and intelligent “cat imaginative and prescient” POV pictures. By the point the cat slashes the crotch of Johansen’s pants, we all know he’s been outmatched by the feline.
The fade out on this section is hilarious and completely disgusting.
“Lover’s Vow” is an effective automobile for Remar and Chong and will get the interval setting proper (notice that there’s a poster for “Star Trek – The Movement Image” within the 1979-based opening act). Anybody who fondly remembers Masaki Kobayashi’s “Kwaidan” (1965) will likely be a step forward of this story, an adaptation of “The Lady within the Snow.”
Harrison’s movie and Kobayashi’s masterpiece would make a killer double characteristic. “Lover’s Vow” fades to the ultimate confrontation between Timmy and Betty, in an appropriately nasty conclusion that couldn’t be extra satisfying.
Whereas “Creepshow” is the extra well-known anthology movie, I choose Harrison’s strategy to conveying horror comics as cinema, versus Romero’s work on “Creepshow,” which is intelligent however busy and on-the-nose. To be honest, “Creepshow” is about horror comedian guide storytelling, whereas Harrison’s movie is about books and storytelling as a literal technique of escape.
Harrison himself offers the movie a great rating, with every section having its personal theme (a equally profitable contact utilized by Jerry Goldsmith in his rating for “Twilight Zone – The Film”). Of the three segments, solely “Lover’s Vow” is barely overlong. Reportedly, the three segments was once reversed, with “The Cat From Hell” at all times the center story, whereas “Lover’s Vow” was once first and “Lot 249” was as soon as the nearer.
The ultimate line-up is ideal, although “The Cat from Hell” is the principle attraction right here, as is Johansen’s efficiency. In the event you’re a fan of Buster Poindexter, Blondie, Stephen King and cats, you’re gonna love this one.
