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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Tales
From The Darkside: The Movie
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Reviewed
by: |
Clare
Warmke |
| Genre: |
Horror |
| Video: |
Widescreen
version enhanced for 16:9 televisions |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English |
| Length: |
93 min. |
| Rating: |
R |
| Release
Date: |
9-25-01 |
| Studio: |
Paramount |
| Commentary:
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Yes, with
Director John Harrison and Screenwriter George A. Romero |
| Documentaries:
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None |
| Featurettes:
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None |
| Filmography/Biography:
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None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
One theatrical trailer
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| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
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None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Deborah Harry,
Christian Slater, David Johansen, William Hickey, James Remar,
Rae Dawn Chong, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore |
| Screenplay
by: |
Michael McDowell
(Lot 249, Lover's Vow), George A. Romero (Cat From Hell) |
| Produced
by: |
Richard P. Rubinstein,
Mitchell Galin |
| Directed
By: |
John Harrison |
| Music: |
Donald A.
Rubinstein (Wraparound Story), Jim Manzie and Pat Regan (Lot
249), Chaz Jankel (Cat From Hell), John Harrison (Lover's Vow) |
| The
Review: |
It's a good
thing that this 1990 movie actually contains three episodes
contained by one "wraparound story," because this film needs
all the variety it can to hold an audience's attention. The
edge of your seat will be completely unused when you watch this
particular Halloween horror collection. The weak and obvious
"wraparound story" takes a Hansel-without-the-Gretel approach,
showing a little boy being fattened up for a witch's tasty charbroiled
meal. To postpone his fate, the little boy (a baby Matt Lawrence)
entertains the witch (Deborah Harry of Blondie fame) with three
stories he reads from the Tales From The Darkside book. All
episodes are done in the same style as the old Tales From The
Darkside television show: monster plus blood plus some semblance
of plot equals mediocre entertainment. The first story, Lot
249, is a standard mummy-come-to-life tale starring Steve Buscemi
and Julianne Moore in some of their first on-screen performances;
the second, Cat From Hell, is a baffling story involving a cat
that is supposed to be the root of one aristocratic family's
troubles; the third, Lover's Vow, is a twisted gargoyle love
story that, of course, ends in murder and blood. |
| Image
and Sound |
Each
episode takes a very different approach to image and sound,
which is one of the only things that makes this disc interesting.
The lighting and use of color is extremely different in each.
Lot 249 makes use of deep shadows and rich red or brown tones,
giving everything an earthy, archeological feel that suits a
mummy story. The Cat From Hell segment is very stark, with hard
outlined edges and a nearly black-and-white feel, which emphasizes
the Halloween blackness of the cat and old-movie cheesiness
of the storytelling. The third episode is much more contemporary,
using more realistic tones that are occasionally softened to
enhance the relationships in the film. The music and sound treatment
for each is different as well, and is notably improved through
the digital format. Because of low budgets, much of the sound
for the original shoot had to be fabricated or added in to create
a sense of place (for example, adding car horns and police sirens
to make Lover's Vow sound like it was shot in an urban area
instead of a built set). With so much sound work done on an
originally low budget, remastered digital sound can only help.
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| The
Extras |
The
extras-including only a commentary and a theatrical trailer-don't
add much to the value of this disc. The commentary has the feel
of a boring conversation overheard in a second rate Hollywood
café. (See below.) One nice superstitious touch, though, is
that the scene selections are parceled out into 13 selections.
Oooo-OO. |
| Commentary |
Director
John Harrison and screenwriter George A. Romero spend a lot
of time during this film's commentary trumpeting their other
projects. Instead of giving some inside dish on the creation
of this film-and come on, we all know that low-budget horror
movies are just rife with fascinating no-money techniques and
impromptu actor ad libs-Harrison and Romero were content to
talk up their other exploits and laugh at their lack of experience
while making Tales From The Darkside: The Movie. In the beginning,
especially, the conversation often lags, which may not be a
bad thing, since the inane banter of the two men will have you
occasionally wishing they'd just shut up. They get better at
doing commentary by the last episode, where they start to give
more interesting information and speak a little more relevantly
about the horror genre and their experience making this particular
film, but it takes nearly and hour for them to get warmed up.
Frankly, the commentary is deadly dull. |
| Final
Words: |
All bad horror has its place-as
a rental on Halloween night, when you and your friends want
to settle in for an all-night scream-and-laugh party. This
film could be hilarious (though probably not scary-maybe it
could evoke at least a "Yuck") in the right circumstances.
But the truth is that the atmosphere will have to be cultivated
for this DVD to do its job of thrilling and chilling. Unless
you're a horror fanatic, who revels in disjointed plot elements,
second-rate special effects and overacting, then do not add
this DVD to your collection. A once-a-year rental is all you
should consider.
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