Tales from the Darkside: Season One (V)
| release date | February 10 2009 |
| studio | Paramount Home Entertainment |
| director | Bob Balaban, Bruce Dolin, Timna Ranon |
| writer | Franco Amurri, George A. Romero, Scott D. Jackson |
| starring | Paul Sparer, Catherine Battistone, John Marzilli, Karen Shallo, Neil Kinsella |
2 Comments
I picked this up the day it came out. I remember watching these back when I was about 9 or 10 (Im 25 now) back on the Sci-Fi channel. They would have marathons of this, and I was always creeped out by these shows. They arnt the kind of ‘scary’ that make you curl up and be scared out of your pants, but they are filmed to give you this sort of grim feeling, kind of hard to explain. The theme/intro track is enough to get me creeped out.
I will have to say these did a lot more for me when I was young, but I still hold a torch to these. If you havent seen these or heard of this series, Tales from the Darkside was the equivalent of Tales From the Crypt for the early 80′s, but made for television without any gore or nudity. But dont be turned off, these stories have the same mentallity and style of the later Tales From the Crypt series, stories that just seem off the wall and creepy beyond your imagination. The majority of these short stories always leave me with either a wicked smile or evil grin at the end. I recommend these to any fan of Tales From the Crypt or the Friday the 13th television series. They quality of the dvd is decent, nothing special, but the quality wasnt anything to talk about back when it was aired. There is only one special feature, and that is a commentary track by producer George Romero (who I forgot to mention produced the entire series). And on one final note, these were all directed by different directors, so you dont get the same story ideas or filming styles in every episode. I recommend these be given a try.
I’m gonna have to side with Ryan Daley on this one. The title sequence of this series still gives me the creeps (despite it’s crappy 80′s effects) but the episodes all fall pretty flat.
I see these on sci fi all the time! Of course The old twilight zones are a million times better, but every time i watch one of these i get a kick out of it, most of the time they’re pretty good and scary. Sometimes they’re even funny. Great show.
This show was leaps and bounds better than that crappy show Monsters. The effects in that show were atrocious.
Perfect show!
This may be a knock off of the Twilight Zone, but it can certainly hold its own against it. It is in most ways cheesier than TZ, in that fact it makes this a creepy watch. There is one episode, Im not sure which season about a Ghost Photographer. I was nodding off while watching this episode one late night and I woke up with one of the most ominous feeling that something was there. I dont find this feeling often, especially from a TV show. This gets an A+.
Too hard on this one, BD. Yes, while a great deal of these “Tales” blow… there are certainly enough to pass the time that are quite awesome. If for nothing else, the nostalgia alone warrants three skulls.
I’m with GGoblin — when the show first aired, I stayed up every week to see what the next story would be, even though last week’s had been kinda stupid.
Darkside isn’t horror at its finest, but there’s just something appealing about this series. The hair, the clothes, the kitchy storytelling, and all the familiar faces are fun to revisit. And let’s face it, most of the stories are memorable, even if they’re not that good.
Now I know why I kept thinking about that stubborn grampa recently. Still my favourite episode.
Now pass me my All-Bran….
This series was always a fun watch.
Go ahead and pick up this season if you are considering it. I just bought it and have not been disappointed. Many of the episodes are very silly, but that just makes this cheese fest all the more fun.
Ep. 0- Trick or Treat- Love the witch at the end. All together fun episode that is over the top. 9/10
Ep. 1- The New Man- Stupid and pointless 3/10
Ep. 2- I’ll give You a Million- Fun banter between the two old men and a creepshow esque ending. 7/10
Ep. 3- Pain Killer- Decent episode, with a typical darkside ending. 5/10
Ep. 4- The Odds- Gotta love Tome Noonan. Good ending as well. 6/10
Ep. 5- Mookie and Pookie- Hilariously bad. 4/10
Ep. 6- Slippage- Didn’t much care for this one. 5/10
Ep. 7- Inside the Closet- Predicatable, but fun romp from Tom Savini. 7/10
Ep. 8- Word Processor of the Gods- Actually succeeds in decent character development. 7/10
Ep. 9- Case of the Stubborns- Very fun episode with a creepy old man and a very young Christian Slater. 8/10
Ep. 10- Djinn, No Chaser- Retarded. Absolutely retarded. 3/10
Ep. 11- All a Clone By the Telephone- Hilarious. 6/10
Ep. 12- In the Cards- I liked this one, but the ending kinda sucked. 6/10
Ep. 13- Anniversary Dinner- Predictable but fun. 7/10
Ep. 14- Snip Snip- Gotta love Bud Cort of Harold and Maude fame in this one. 6/10
Ep. 15- Answer Me- What is up with Tales from the Darkside’s obsession with phones? 6/10
Ep. 16- The Tear Collector- Pointless/stupid. Star Jessica Harper of Suspiria fame. 4/10
I haven’t watched the remaining 7 episodes yet, but if you enjoy 80s cheese or horror anthologies, this is probably for you.
Deccent show but not as good as Tales from the Crypt.