Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

A young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.

Director:

John Harrison

Writers:

Michael McDowell, Arthur Conan Doyle (short story "Lot 249")

Stars:

Debbie Harry, Matthew Lawrence, Christian Slater

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Debbie Harry	...	Betty (wraparound story) (as Deborah Harry)
David Forrester	...	Priest (wraparound story)
Matthew Lawrence	...	Timmy (wraparound story)
Christian Slater	...	Andy (segment "Lot 249")
Robert Sedgwick	...	Lee (segment "Lot 249")
Steve Buscemi	...	Bellingham (segment "Lot 249")
Donald Van Horn	...	Moving Man (segment "Lot 249")
Michael Deak	...	Mummy (segment "Lot 249")
Julianne Moore	...	Susan (segment "Lot 249")
George Guidall	...	Museum Director (segment "Lot 249")
Kathleen Chalfant	...	Dean (segment "Lot 249")
Ralph Marrero	...	Cabbie (segment "Lot 249")
David Johansen	...	Halston (segment "Cat From Hell")
Paul Greeno	...	Cabbie (segment "Cat From Hell")
William Hickey	...	Drogan (segment "Cat From Hell")

Storyline

This is really three shorter movies, bound together by a fourth tale in which the other three stories are read. The first segment features an animated mummy stalking selected student victims; the second tale tells the story of a "cat from Hell" who cannot be killed and leaves a trail of victims behind it; the third story is about a man who witnesses a bizarre killing and promises never to tell what he saw, and the "in-between" bit is the story of a woman preparing to cook her newspaper boy for supper.

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Plot Keywords:

child in peril | anthology | woman wearing only a man's shirt | witch | revenge | 

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Taglines:

Four Ghoulish Fables in One Modern Nightmare

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 May 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cat from Hell

Filming Locations:

Bronxville, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$16,324,573

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Laurel Productions, Darkside Movie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Halston, played by David Johansen, is in the kitchen after his first battle with the cat and chides himself saying, "Can't get hot. Can't let yourself get hot, ever. You make mistakes when you're hot." David Johansen is also known as Buster Poindexter, a musician with many famous songs, among them the very successful "Hot! Hot! Hot!" in which the singer professes how "hot, hot, hot" he is.

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Goofs

The position of the groceries in Betty's bag change between shots in the first segment of the wraparound story.

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Quotes

Bellingham: [tied to a chair watching his manuscript get dumped] My master's thesis! What're you doing?
Andy: [ripping up a page] Well, I'm going to start a little fire under your chair and roast your nuts.

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Connections

Spun-off from Creepshow (1982)

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Soundtracks

Tales from the Darkside (Original Theme)
Composed by Donald Rubinstein (as Donald A. Rubinstein) and Erica Lindsay

User Reviews

Pretty good.

This is really three shorter movies, bound together by a fourth tale in which the other three stories are read. The first segment features an animated mummy stalking selected student victims; the second tale tells the story of a "cat from hell" who cannot be killed and leaves a trail of victims behind it; the third story is about a man who witnesses a bizarre killing and promises never to tell what he saw and the "in-between" bit is the story of a woman preparing to cook her newspaper boy for supper. Not the best king adaption, but hey, it ain't bad either. A good cast and some nice special effects. The Gargoyle was nasty! Plenty of gore here, but used in just enough moderation to be effective. A couple of tense moments, some god scares (Especially in the story about involving an elusive, seemingly immortal cat.) and pretty good music. Pretty good movie, just nothing really spectacular or life-changing. My rating for "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie"--6/10.