Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

A Masterpiece!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I first saw this on a vhs in the 90s. Found it to b scary n gory then. Revisited it recently on a dvd for nostalgic fun. It is a horror anthology film. The first segment deals with a mummy brought back to life. The best part about this segment was the star cast, Julianne Moore, Slater n Buscemi. Some off screen gore, inserting steel shirt hanger inside a nose n popping out the brain. The second segment is about a cat. This segment is scary with good effects. The last segment is about a man (James Remar) who witnesses a killing by a Gargoyle n promises the Gargoyle that in exchange for his life, he will never tell anyone about it. Some really good effects, especially the transformation scene.

Horror anthology movie spun-off from the Tales from the Darkside TV series. It features three stories plus a bookend piece. The first story is "Lot 249" about a nerd (Steve Buscemi) who is cheated out of a scholarship by an evil girl and her boyfriend (Julianne Moore, Robert Sedgwick ). He seeks revenge by using an ancient scroll to send a mummy after them. Christian Slater plays Moore's brother and is an inconsistently written character. Buscemi is enjoyable though and it's nice to see an old-school mummy.The second story is "Cat from Hell" about an elderly millionaire (Wiliam Hickey) who hires a hit-man (Buster Poindexter) to kill a cat. This is the weakest story of the bunch. Hickey and Poindexter are fine but it's kind of obnoxiously dark and I didn't really care what happened to anybody, including the cat. The third story is "Lover's Vow," about an artist (James Remar) whose life is spared by a gargoyle as long as he never reveals he saw the monster. He falls in love with a woman (Rae Dawn Chong) and after many years together the temptation to share his secret becomes too great. This story pretty much rips off the "Woman of the Snow" story from the superior horror anthology film Kwaidan (1964) but is still well done and probably the best story in the movie.The bookend linking story is a take-off on Hansel & Gretel, with a witch (Debbie Harry) preparing to cook a little boy (Matthew Lawrence). To stall for time, the boy tells her stories from his favorite book, which leads into the three other tales. This is an amusing and enjoyable part of the film, though nothing exceptional. Overall, it's a surprisingly enjoyable film, helped in large part by a good cast. The stories aren't particularly strong, but somehow it manages to keep you entertained. The acting, directing, and special effects are pretty good and make up for the writing as much as they can.

Tom Savini once famously stated that he considered Tales from the Darkside: The Movie to be the official second sequel to the Creepshow franchise. This view reflects that of the majority of fans, even to this day. The reception of the first Creepshow film categorised it as being a box office success which resulted in Laurel Entertainment, the production company behind the first two Creepshow films, toying with the concept of creating a Creepshow horror anthology television series. Following a period of negotiations and changes due to complications with the holder of the rights, a decision was agreed to change the series title from Creepshow to Tales from the Darkside. The series was well received by its audience and three years following the commercial release of Creepshow 2, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie was released in 1990, sharing many of Creepshow's production team, making it the successor of Creepshow and its first sequel.The film in question follows three individual stories; Lot 249, Cat from Hell, and Lover's Vow. These three segments are all orientated around a wraparound story which focuses on a little boy being held captive by a middle aged woman who intends on roasting and serving him at a dinner party. In order to prolong the wait for him being put in the oven, young Timmy reads short horror stories to Betty, the woman who has imprisoned him. This is where the individual stories are incorporated into the film.The first segment, Lot 249, focuses on an ancient mummy being resurrected from the dead and participating in a killing spree. Initially, this story is rather slow but once the resurrection takes place, some considerably grisly killings occur that you can't help but cringe at. This is followed by an interesting series of events which ultimately leads to a rather bleak ending, in a typical horror anthology fashion. Lot 249 has a strong cast in the form of Christian Slater, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi in which the slow opening can be forgiven through their performances. The atmosphere present throughout this piece is significantly unnerving which makes the conclusion come across as being even more chilling.The second segment, Cat from Hell, focuses on the assassination of an evil cat with a mysteriously murderous past. This story was written by Stephen King and adapted for screen by George A Romero, the two minds behind the original concept for Creepshow. This story was initially going to be featured in Creepshow 2 but due to issues with financing and the budget of the film, it was scrapped. Although this piece has a slow, nonlinear structure, an interesting eerie atmosphere is featured throughout and has a similar feel to film noir, only a killer cat is featured as opposed to a femme fatale with a pistol. In comparison to the cast of Lot 249, Cat from Hell mainly focuses on the characters portrayed by David Johansen and William Hickey. Halston, played by Johansen, has an irritating factor to his character which makes him somewhat unlikeable and therefore, partially ruins this segment. Like with Halston, William Hickey's character, Drogan, also has an irritating factor to his character which also makes him somewhat unlikeable. Combining these two characters together into one episode results in the whole piece not being as strong as potential would allow. However, the reoccurring bleak endings throughout the film make this particular story worth watching.The third and final segment, Lover's Vow, is by far the most powerful story featured in the film. The storyline focuses on a man falling in love with a woman who isn't what she seems. The beginning and the end of the segment presents itself as being of the horror genre but throughout the middle of this piece, it's a romantic drama. The codes and conventions of the romance genre make this piece somewhat addictive to watch as you feel compelled to follow the relationship of the characters of Preston and Carola. However, this makes the conclusion of the segment all the more heart-breaking. Whilst Tales from the Darkside: The Movie doesn't always take itself seriously, Lover's Vow is definitely the darkest piece as explores the deepest of human emotion. Not only this, but the ending is genuinely creepy and is enough to send shivers down your spine.Overall, I feel that Tales from the Darkside: The Movie is a highly underrated horror film that's due more credit than it receives. Although it isn't as mainstream as the original Creepshow films, it could be argued that Tales from the Darkside is a stronger film in terms of narrative and acting in comparison to the second Creepshow film.

.... one of the best , I have seen in recent weeks, I loved it! The movie start with A witch who ready to Cook boy but want to read some scary stories from the book called Tales from the DarksideFrist story Lot 249Is about student, Bellingham who whats Revenge after being framed from two people in Class and at he finds A mummy which he bring to life to kill them The mummy didn't look too bad at all, I did not expect the Kills to be a bloodily as they were. some really decent Kills scenes in this parts. This segment flowed really well and The twist, I did not see coming at all, loved that twist of the story, also found it really funny.8 out of 10 first story! The second Story Cat from Hell Which I think was the best out of 3 Old man in wheel chair hires a Hit-man to Kill a Evil Cat. The cats scenes were really well done, They did make the Black Cat look evil with the hissing sound and the attacks were not to bad at all, yeah, they may look a little bit dated now. Some of effect this story were great, I love the cat come out body, gross, I am sure that be stuck in head for few days after this movie. 10/10 Lover's Vow Weakest one This started of really well, the creature was very strange but it didn't look scary at all but Kill scenes were really well gory and bloody again, which i really liked Then the story got a little predictable and new twist, 10 years before it happened, I could hide it a bit more. I liked how the twist came out, very nasty gory scenes, really well made .7 out 10 The ending of the movie, I find that ending very cheesy, it kind of felt out of place a little This as got to be my favourite anthology so far I give this one 9 out of 10 , one of the best , I have seen in recent weeks, I loved it!