DEMON KNIGHT (1995)

The first big screen effort from the 90s powerhouse anthology, Tales from the Crypt tells the story of a DEMON KNIGHT. If you’re at all familiar with the show, you should expect the same, but on a bigger, theatrical level. A crazy cast, great effects, and the story in this one is pretty wild. It concerns a battle between Billy Zane and William Sadler (both underrated) and an ancient key artifact. Blood in the key can protect humans from ‘demons’ that the Collector can summon and of course he wants the key itself for its powers. Notice I didn’t mention which character plays whom; they start the story off Terminator 2 style where you don’t know who’s the good or bad guy and what each one wants. Only once they rendezvous with the other passerbys who get swept up in the action is it obvious who is bent on domination. Billy Zane though, for his character, absolutely steals the show with his performance and is the wittiness to everyone else’s playing-it-straight. Compared to the second outing, Bordello of Blood (see review here), this one feels like a more complex story but isn’t quite as zany as the vampire sequel that followed. That will be up to interpretation which one you prefer but this is still worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series, or a fan of demon movies in general. 90’s nostalgia all the way.

SLASH SCENE: Dick Miller

SLASH SCORE: 4/5