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Director Ernest Dickerson injects a hearty dose of dark humor in this stylish comic-book horror tale. Based on the campy cable horror series (which was inspired by the 1950s E.C. comic book series of the same name), this tight, modestly budgeted little thriller stars William Sadler as an intense stranger who arrives at a run-down boarding house in flight from the Collector (a cocky, droll Billy Zane). The Collector is after an item in the stranger's possession, which turns out to be a holy relic, and when his efforts end in failure he explodes in a demonic fury that reveals his evil origins, laying siege to the house with an army of zombies and infiltrating the minds of each the boarders with insidious fantasies. It's a seedy
Grand Hotel by way of
The Exorcist, cooked up with plenty of gore and a smattering of sex, and served with dry wit. Dickerson effectively balances the horror and the humor, maintaining a surprising intensity and an unforced mythic dimension within lurid B-movie conventions.
--Sean Axmaker
Review
The tension runs high and the blood runs EC Comics red in Tales From The Crypt's first feature Demon Knight. Mixing scares, humor, down and dirty gore, and a nifty style thanks to director Ernest R. Dickerson, this film succeeds in all the places it should. William Sadler and Jada Pinkett lead a great bunch of character actors through each and every turn in this romp -- though it's Billy Zane who really owns this movie! His devilish grin ends up stealing every scene as the ultimate charming minion of the underworld. Zane brings it all to the table in this one, creating one of the funniest and most wicked villains seen in years. With exceptional Pumpkinhead-esque demon FX to back him up, and groan-inducing Crypt Keeper scenes bookending the film, Tales From The Crypt hits a home run on the fun scale with Demon Knight... it's just too bad they couldn't keep the momentum going with the next installment -- the sad, plodding, Dennis Miller wise-cracking dud Bordello Of Blood. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
