31 Days of Horror: Tales from the Darkside: The Movie

For both film and television, anthologies hold a special place in the horror genre. In both film and television, collective stories have long provided us with spine-tingling and unnervingly joyous terror. Creepshow, Tales from The Crypt, Black Mirror, and V/H/S, are just a few of the horror-centric anthologies that stand out. But if you want to indulge this October with a fun one, try John Harrison’s 1990 anthology film Tales from the Darkside: The Movie.

An adaptation of the 1980s anthology show created by George A. Romero, who also wrote the film’s script, Tales from the Darkside is widely considered by many ( including Tom Savini) to be “the real Creepshow III.” Romero wrote the first two Creepshow films with Stephen King, and one segment in Tales from the Darkside—“The Cat from Hell”—was originally going to appear in second film.

The overarching narrative centers on a suburban witch named Betty (Deborah Harry) who’s keeping a paper boy named Timmy (Matthew Lawrence) locked in her pantry to be cooked for a dinner party later. To delay his fate, Timmy reads Betty three stories from a book in the pantry—“Lot 249,” “The Cat From Hell,” and “Lover’s Vow.”

“Lot 249” features a graduate student named Edward Bellingham (Steve Buscemi) who obtains an Egyptian mummy that he resurrects to exact revenge on students who cheated him out of a scholarship. “The Cat from Hell” centers on a hitman named Halston (David Johansen) who’s hired by wealthy pharmaceutical executive Drogan (William Hickey) to kill a mischievous black cat that’s been terrorizing the house. “Lover’s Vow” is about a struggling artist named Preston (James Remar) and the aftermath from witnesses a gargoyle kill someone in an alley. 

My favorite anthologies are those that use an overarching story, and Tales from the Darkside does that beautifully. The segments feature excellent early 1990s practical effects that carry the same tone and pulp charm as the Creepshow movies.

The cast list also features some heavy names for the time, including Christian Slater and Julianne Moore (in her feature film debut). 

Despite the pulpy nature of the stories, they do carry substance, primarily “Lover’s Vow.” It was adapted from a segment from the 1964 Japanese horror anthology Kwaidan, an adaptation of a 1904 book of Japanese ghost stories. While only a segment rather than a feature-length film, “Lover’s Vow” marks the first US remake of a Japanese horror film, a tradition that would later follow with films such as The Ring and The Grudge. 

With a genre that's never in short supply in October, it’s easy to spoil ourselves. If you want a four-course visual meal at the end of the night, you can get full with Tales from the Darkside. But be cautious about getting too full, you may look appetizing to a hungry witch.