Movie Review: Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

Synopsis: Kidnapped and imprisoned, a paperboy tells three stories of horror in an effort to distract the witch who is planning on serving him up for dinner.

Who's In It? The movie stars Debbie Harry, Matthew Lawrence, Christian Slater, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore and William Hickey.

Review: I came across this film on one of our movie channels a couple nights ago and, since it had been a long time since my wife and I had taken the time to watch it, I ended up recording it for later. We finally finished up the movie last night and, after seeing it again, I have to say it was better than I remembered it.

The wraparound story about the kidnapped paperboy (Lawrence) and the child-eating witch (Harry), was a little predictable and, at times, a little dumb. But, the stories the paperboy ends up telling her are what make this movie and are a big reason why the film is enjoyable.

My personal favorite was the second one, about the killer cat. That segment ended up being creepier than I was expecting it to be and my wife and I were on the edge of our seats while watching it (of course, the fact that cat looked a lot like our cat had a lot to do with that). However, the other two stories were also very entertaining, especially since their endings weren't as predictable as I thought they would be.

One thing, in particular, I liked about this movie was the way it managed to be somewhat creepy without going overboard in terms of blood and gore.

Yes, there were a couple somewhat gross scenes. But, I've seen a lot of movies that try to make that the emphasis of the movie. This one focused more on the story itself, something that made it much more watchable than it might have been if it was simply a three-story gore fest.

Final Opinion: I was a freshman in high school when this movie first hit the theaters and, even today, the movie is still entertaining. I'm glad my wife and I took the time to watch it again.

My Grade: A