Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight [DVD]

DAY 25

Ernest Dickerson really created something special with this movie. When it was released in 1995, I thought it would be heavy on the humor, as the Tales from the Crypt stories often were.

There's humor but there's plenty of scares and suspense! William Sadler and Jada Pinkett are forces to be reckoned with and Billy Zane is both so charismatic and such a bastard, I found myself ambivalent as to whether I wanted him obliterated or, as Morticia Addams once put it, "...seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade". Well, Zane's character, The Collector's crusade, at least.

The story takes place in an former church turned boarding house in New Mexico, so, it falls under one of my favorite subgenres: desert horror. The ending really completes that spooky, isolated desert feel.

And the music! Pantera's "Cemetery Gates" (soooo appropriate!), "Hey Man, Nice Shot" by Filter, some Megadeth, Sepultra, Melvins, and Gravediggaz with none other than The RZA AKA RZArector (Best. Name. Ever)in the group.

Ernest Dickerson has mentioned he sees his film as a story of cosmic horror and I think that really adds to the depth, dread, and high stakes felt throughout this picture.