Tales from the Darkside: The Movie

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Theatrical poster.
Directed by	John Harrison
Produced by	Mitchell Galin Richard P. Rubinstein
Screenplay by	Michael McDowell (Lot 249 and Lover's Vow) George A. Romero (Cat from Hell)
Based on	Lot No. 249 by Arthur Conan Doyle The Cat from Hell by Stephen King
Starring	Deborah Harry Christian Slater David Johansen William Hickey James Remar Rae Dawn Chong
Music by	John Harrison (Lover's Vow) Chaz Jankel (Cat from Hell) Jim Manzie (Lot 249) Pat Regan (Lot 249) Donald Rubinstein (Wraparound Story)
Cinematography	Robert Draper
Editing by	Harry B. Miller III
Studio	Laurel Productions Darkside Movie
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	May 4, 1990 (1990-05-04)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3,500,000 (est.)
Box office	$16,324,573

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie is a 1990 movie directed by John Harrison based on the anthology television series Tales from the Darkside. The film, shot in anthology style, depicts a kidnapped paperboy who tells three stories of horror to the suburban witch who is preparing to eat him, à la Hansel and Gretel.

The film is sometimes confused to have been intended as Creepshow 3, a sequel to George A. Romero and Stephen King's popular horror anthology, Creepshow. However, this is not supported by any real evidence. However, Tom Savini has been quoted as saying that this film is the real "Creepshow 3" which may be the start of the rumor, though he may just be referring to the shared legacy of both properties and the involvement of both King and Romero.

Plot

The movie opens with Betty, a housewife (Deborah Harry) planning a dinner party. The main dish is to be Timmy (Matthew Lawrence), a young boy whom she had captured earlier and chained up in her pantry. To stall her from stuffing and roasting him, the boy tells her three horror stories from the book "Tales from the Darkside".

Lot 249

In the first segment, Michael McDowell adapts Arthur Conan Doyle's short story, "Lot No. 249". A graduate student, Bellingham (played by Steve Buscemi), reanimates a mummy and uses it to take revenge on a pair of crooked college students, Susan (played by Julianne Moore), and Lee (played by Robert Sedgwick) who conspired to cheat Bellingham out of a scholarship. Their actions 'framed' him for theft from a museum, which results in his expulsion from the college. In vengeance for his master, the reanimated corpse kills both in rather gruesome ways, each by a step of mummification (Lee has his brain removed through his nose, and Susan is killed after her body is stuffed with fragrant flowers). After discovering the cause, Susan's brother Andy (played by Christian Slater) kidnaps Bellingham, and burns the parchment and mummy that was the cause of it all. It is later discovered that Andy had burned the incorrect scroll, as the reanimated corpses of Susan and Lee, resurrected by Bellingham, close in on Andy in his dorm room.

Cat from Hell

In the second tale, George A. Romero adapts a Stephen King short story (of the same name). It is the story of Drogan, a wealthy elderly man who uses a wheelchair, (played by William Hickey), who hires a hitman, Halston (played by David Johansen), for one of the strangest jobs of his career: kill a black cat, which Drogan believes is murderously evil. Drogan explains that there were three other occupants of his house before the cat arrived: his sister, Amanda (played by Dolores Sutton), her friend Carolyn (played by Alice Drummond), and the family's butler, Richard Gage (played by Mark Margolis). The cat was adopted by Carolyn and Amanda, who ignore Drogan's claim that he can sense that the cat is evil. Drogan claims that one by one, the cat killed the other three: first it tripped Amanda, causing her to fall down a flight of stairs; then it clamped on to Carolyn's face until she suffocated; and finally, after Gage managed to capture the beast and tried to drive it to the vet to have it put down, it scratched his face, causing Gage to get into a fatal car crash. And each death committed by the cat occurred at midnight.

Drogan believes that he is being punished because his pharmaceutical company killed 5,000 cats while testing a new drug. Halston doesn't believe the story, but is more than willing to eliminate the cat since Drogan is offering $100,000. Halston soon discovers that the cat is extremely difficult to kill after he tries to kill it several times. Armed with a gun he tries shooting the cat, but instead shoots the clock when startled by the chime. Eventually the cat kills the hitman, forcing itself down his throat and into his stomach. Drogan returns and finds the hitman's body on the floor. The clock that was shot by Halston is able to start ticking again, striking midnight. Awakened by the chime, the cat climbs out of the hitman's mouth and jumps at Drogan, which causes him to have a fatal heart attack.

Lover's Vow

The third and final segment is written by Michael McDowell and based on yuki-onna, a spirit or yōkai in Japanese folklore or more specifically Lafcadio Hearn's version in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. In the story, a despondent artist named Preston (played by James Remar) witnesses a gruesome murder by a gargoyle-like monster. The monster gets Preston to swear to never speak of what he saw in exchange for a promise to spare his life. After making the promise, Preston meets a beautiful woman named Carola (played by Rae Dawn Chong). Preston marries Carola, they have two kids, and Preston has a revival of his art career. But Preston was still tormented by guilt about his silence, and started reconsidering the promise he made to the monster.

Preston then tells Carola about that night ten years ago when they met after he had witnessed the killing of a man by a monster which he sculpted to show her. After releasing a heartbroken screech, Carola reveals herself to be the very same creature he made the promise with, lamenting that the promise Preston made to the monster had been broken. As such, she reverts to her previous form, and their children transform into similar monsters as well. Within the shock and despair of such revelations, Preston is killed at 'her' hands, and she escapes through a skylight with their children. The final scene shows that the gargoyle and children have turned to stone upon a building ledge, staring down at Preston's body in remorse.

The Epilogue

As Betty makes preparations to cook Timmy he trips her by throwing some marbles on the floor. Betty slips and falls on her butcher's equipment, stabbing herself in the back. Timmy releases himself and pushes her into her own oven. The film ends with Timmy helping himself to a cookie and breaking the fourth wall by asking us: "Don't you just love happy endings?"

Cast

Wraparound Story

• Deborah Harry as Betty
• Matthew Lawrence as Timmy

Lot 249

• Steve Buscemi as Bellingham
• Julianne Moore as Susan
• Christian Slater as Andy
• Robert Sedgwick as Lee
• Donald Van Horn as Moving Man
• Michael Deak as Mummy
• George Guidall as Museum Director
• Kathleen Chalfant as Dean
• Ralph Marrero as Cabbie

Cat from Hell

• William Hickey as Drogan
• David Johansen as Halston
• Paul Greeno as Cabbie
• Alice Drummond as Carolyn
• Dolores Sutton as Amanda
• Mark Margolis as Gage

Lover's Vow

• James Remar as Preston
• Rae Dawn Chong as Carola
• Robert Klein as Wyatt
• Ashton Wise as Jer
• Philip Lenkowsky as Maddox
• Joe Dabenigno as Cop #1
• Larry Silvestri as Cop #2
• Donna Davidge as Gallery Patron
• Nicole Rochelle as Margaret
• Daniel Harrison as John

Reception

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie was a modest box office success for Paramount. The film was released May 3, 1990 in the United States, opening in third place that weekend. It grossed a total of $16,324,573 domestically.

The film was given a rating of 38% on the ratings aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, while receiving an overall grade of "C" at Box Office Mojo.

External links

• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie at AllRovi
• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie at Box Office Mojo
• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie at Rotten Tomatoes