Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

Directed by: John Harrison

Written by: Michael McDowell, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen King, George A. Romero
Starring: Debbie Harry, Matthew Lawrence, Christian Slater
Release date: 4th May 1990
Runtime: 1:33
BBFC certificate: 18

Summary: To stall Betty (Harry), a witch, from eating him, Timmy (Lawrence) reads to her three stories of horror from an old book entitled Tales from the Darkside.

Review: This is an anthology horror movie, so I will write a bit about each of the individual segments.

"Wrap-around": Betty is preparing a dinner party, and has little Timmy chained up in her kitchen so she can cook him and serve him to her guests. To keep him occupied, she gives him a book entitled Tales from the Darkside, and he decides to read it to her to distract her.

"Lot 249": Bellingham (Steve Buscemi), a nerdy guy, collects antiques. He buys an ancient mummy and finds a scroll inside its casket. After he reads it, the mummy comes to life. It kills Lee (Robert Sedgwick) and Susan (Julianne Moore), who had wronged Bellingham. Andy (Slater) destroys the mummy and Bellingham leaves town, but not before leaving Andy a present to remember him by. This was probably my least favourite story; I didn't find it very interesting and the characters really annoyed me, whether or not that was intentional.

"Wrap-around": Betty tells Timmy it's time to go in the oven, but he begs her to let him read one more story first.

"Cat from Hell": Assassin Halston (David Johansen) is hired by Drogan (William Hickey) to kill a black cat. Drogan claims that the cat has killed three people and offers Halston $100,000 to do the job. Halston attempts to kill the cat, but it ends up crawling down his throat. Drogan finds his body and is understandably horrified. I liked this segment; some parts were actually kind of funny. It ended a bit abruptly, though.

"Wrap-around": Betty says her favourite stories in the book are the love ones, so Timmy offers to read her one.

"Lover's Vow": Unemployed artist Preston (James Remar) witnesses a gargoyle kill his friend, Jer (Ashton Wise). The gargoyle makes Preston promise not to tell anyone and he agrees. While walking home, he meets Carola (Rae Dawn Chong); they eventually marry and have kids. There's a neat little twist near the end. This was definitely the best of the three stories and I really liked the ending.

"Wrap-around": Timmy starts to tell Betty another story, saying this one has a happy ending. He says it's about a young boy named Timmy who is kidnapped by a cannibal woman, but manages to turn the tables on her and cook her instead. He proceeds to do just that. A tad predictable, but it was a nice way of wrapping up the film.

Trivia: This was Julianne Moore's first theatrical movie.