Demon Knight - 4/5

The first "Tales From The Crypt" film to make it the silver screen is a hell of a fun ride. "Demon Knight" piles on great amounts of gore, nudity, dark humor, and great one liners onto a story that aptly brings the atmosphere of the TV show into a new realm. Not quite a perfect film by any means, "Demon Knight" gets the job done bringing the loved TV show to theatrical quality while retaining all the elements that made its original format great. Not to mention its a laugh a minute for those with darker senses of humor.

Brayker (Sadler) may have finally outrun the demon collector (Zane). He stops off at a small motel in the middle of nowhere to rest himself and figure out a plan of escape. When the collector shows up though, Brayker and the fine people of an old church turned motel are going to have one hell of a fight on their hands. For the key that he protects, if lost, will let the demons have control of darkness forever.

The interesting aspect about "Demon Knight" is how well it works. Honestly, the script is barely better than one of the episode scripts for the show and without the talented work of its collaborators, it could have easily fallen into B-movie grade garbage. It doesn't though. In fact, the chemistry at work on this film is palpable. Director Dickerson seems able enough to build the atmosphere of horror and the sly wit of its humor together as one slick piece of work and combined with great art design, clever dialogue, and a great cast and this film works remarkably well.

That being said, at times it can be a bit cheesy. The film knows it and embraces this fact though and it smooths over any fractures this may have caused. When the owner of the motel lifts the stump of what's left of her arm and tells the collector she's giving him the finger, its a riot. It should have been stupid, but it was hilarious with its timing and presentation. To this, its helpful that the cast was so greatly chosen. Particular nods go in the direction of "Tales" vet Sadler as our ruffled and weather beaten hero and Zane as a hilarious demon knight with charm up the ass. Their chemistry on this movie and opposite styles make for great horror/comedy cinema.

"Demon Knight" is both scary and funny at the same time. With great designs (the setting is fantastic, the demons are creepy as hell with their beady green eyes, and the odd dream/memory sequences work nicely) and a great vision from the director, the film really shines when it needs too. The cast helps immensely too to create a fun and campy feel to the film. If only the theatrical "Tales" would have done better later on ("Bordello Of Blood" is hit or miss) then perhaps we would have had more great films to add to this series. As is though, "Demon Knight" is a treat to watch to this day.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Bordello Of Blood - 2/5

Despite the success of "Demon Knight" with the "Tales From The Crypt" style finally hitting the film format, its the second film in the 'series' that seems to be just like one of the episodes. "Bordello Of Blood" might have lots of one liners, sex, and gore going for it...but that's all it has going for it. Rather than feeling like a more epic and stronger episode of the series, this entry might as well have been an episode of the series. The blend of horror and comedy just doesn't work here like it should (what horror?) and despite some valiant efforts, the film falls flat.

When her brother (Feldman) goes missing, Katherine (Eleniak) hires a somewhat sketchy personal investigator Guttman (Miller) to find him. What Guttman discovers is an underground world of sleaze and death as a bordello operating out of a funeral home takes in guests and kills them. This coven of female vampires is lead by the queen of the undead, Lilith (Everhart), and she seems to be controlled by a bigger force here. Now its up to Guttman and a handful of bad jokes to end this vampire nightmare and hopefully save the day.

"Tales From The Crypt" has always been able to blend the humor and the horror well. The cryptkeeper is full of bad puns and cheesy lines, but more often than not the stories actually have depth to them. Not this one. The cheese is in full fragrance here and someone definitely cut it when it comes to dialogue. Don't get me wrong, Dennis Miller can be funny, but his rapid fire jokes and word play gets real fucking repetitive by about 15 minutes in. It doesn't help that I could care less about any of the characters with their weak back stories and very cheesy plot developments (like our TV host on religion). We occasionally get some great over the top moments, like our eventual shoot out of holy water in the final act with exploding vampires left and right, but more or less the film just tries to be too funny too often and forgets its a horror film too.

In all honesty, I don't feel like this film really works too well. The casting is all hit and miss, the directing is pretty standard, and despite a nice crossover element concerning the key from "Demon Knight", the film feels like an average episode of the series. Miller gets annoying and the plot loves to twist in all the obvious directions. Unless you are a fan of random breasts that fill the screen in full shots or Miller's ceaseless jokes and bad acting, then this is one that is only a potential one time watch. Only for fans of the TV show really.

BONUS PRAISE: I actually enjoyed the final twist at the end. Of course, I won't give it away here for those who haven't seen it, but its rather fun and very much in the vein of the series. Not all that clever, but a nice way to finish off the film.

Written By Matt Reifschneider