Shout Factory continues to bring the horror classics to the fans with their Scream Factory brand. Its been interesting to see what titles make the cut and I give them props for continuing to dig deep into the archive. The latest is the 1990 flick Tales From The Darkside from Dune and Tales From the Darkside TV series director John Harrison. Does this horror anthology hold up or will it be a story that should have never been told?

 

Tales From the Darkside follows a young paperboy who weaves three twisted stories to distract her to keep from being eaten by a modern-day witch. In "Lot 249," a vengeful college student resuscitates an evil mummy to teach unsuspecting student bodies a lesson in terror. Then, "The Cat From Hell" is a furry black feline who cannot be killed ... he may have nine lives, but those who cross his path are not so lucky. Finally, in "Lover's Vow," a stone gargoyle comes to life ... to commit murder. In this classic cult favorite, fear comes in threes.

 

I honestly thought I had seen this film, but I was clearly wrong. It was refreshing to dive into this film and not only thinking I had seen it, but also the surprise of the cast involved. If you’ve never seen it it features Christian Slater, Deborah Harry, James Remar, Rae Dawn Chong, Matthew Lawrence, Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore in her first feature role. Much like the Creepshow flicks which this was supposed to be a part or, it offers up a book end story that ties the rest together. Throughout the rest of the film we are taken on a crazed journey filled with blood, scares and fun.

​

I always love seeing films like this that get to see so many actors that are house hould names now early in their career. Each story here brings its own vibe and style that works complete with some great practical effects and creativity despite some of the creature designs being a bit silly looking. For those that don’t know this was a film version based off the TV series of the same name that ran for 4 seasons and fully capture the same magic of it all.

 

I had a ton of fun with this flick and not sure why I never checked it out, but I am glad that problem has been resolved. Grab your copy of Tales From The Darkside: The Movie collector’s Edition available now on Blu-ray for the first time from Shout Factory.

 

For more information head over to www.shoutfactory.com