Demon Knight
| Directed by: | Ernest R. Dickerson |
|---|---|
| Written by: | Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris, Mark Bishop |
| Cast: | John Kassir, Billy Zane, William Sadler, Jada Pinkett Smith |
| Studio: | Universal |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Official Site: |
You just feel like saying, “Whoaaaa, whoa, that’s heavy! Isn’t this ‘Tales from the Crypt?’ Very true, this is a movie based off the gruesome cable series that’s known not just for its’ bloody tone, but also for its campy, and often times dark, humor. The filmmakers must’ve felt they needed to kick it up a notch (BAM!) when taking the show to the big screen. But don’t let the plot fool you, there’s a lot of humor coming from every direction to lighten the mood when necessary. Most of the humor comes from the evil collector himself, Billy Zane, who seems to really enjoy chewing the scenery every chance he gets. As bad ass as he is, he’s just so non-chalant about the whole situation, he’s just fucking with the humans until he gets the key. The asshole of the bunch, Roach (Thomas Haden Church), also has a few good lines, even when confronted face to face by the demons. Throughout the seriousness of the movie, you’ll find yourself chuckling and laughing at what’s going on.
So now that the comedy is out of the way, let’s get the gruesome matters at hand. The movie is quite gory, especially for 1995. Not that there weren’t gory movies back then, but usually stuff like this would be cut down theatrically. The list of digust includes a punch through the head, eyeballs shot out/gouged out, limbs ripped off, people torn to shreds, beheaded, etc. It covers pretty much all the bases I think.
There’s very little I can think of that I don’t like that even matters. Maybe the pacing is off a little bit, maybe the story is a little out of whack, but honestly, in the end, it’s just nitpicking. The cast is great, all doing the job they were supposed to do and doing it well, it’s got more than enough gore, more than enough laughs. It’s a personal classic, I enjoy it every time I see it.
Story: 7 – You may have to connect some of the backstory dots, but the story just clicks.
Blood: 9 – It’s got everything a gorehound would look for.
Boobs: 7 – They even tossed a scene in with a ton of hot, topless women.
Overall: 9 – Well boils and ghouls, I went through the entire review without even mentioning the Cryptkeeper. The TFtC connection just adds to the awesome, if you haven’t seen it, seek it out!
