Tales from the Darkside: The Movie

An anthology featuring stories adapted by George Romero and Michael McDowell. The latter also wrote the neat 'wraparound story', in which a housewife (Harry) is distracted from roasting and eating a young boy (Lawrence) by his reading of stories from a favourite anthology. In the '40s-style 'Lot 249', a boffin (Buscemi) tricked out of a scholarship revives a 3,000-year-old mummy to exact his revenge. Hickey takes the honours for 'Cat from Hell' - in which cat's eye view shots add suspense - as a mad millionaire who hires a killer (Johansen) to rid him of a homicidal puss. Though it relies on the same flip irony and black humour, 'Lover's Vow' comes closest to succeeding in its own right. After seeing a winged monster tear off a man's head, a struggling New York artist (Remar) is spared on condition that he never reveals the creature's hideous appearance. Fame, fortune and romance (with Chong) ensue, but can he keep a secret forever? Definitely an improvement on the lamentable Creepshow or Cat's Eye, but Harrison never quite transcends the inherently limited format.