A spinoff movie from the popular HBO horror series, we follow a drifter being chased by some sort of demon, trying to get a key that will lead to the destruction of the world. Now the drifter must protect a group of eccentric locals and fight demons in order to… Survive the night.
The movie starts and ends with little vignettes of the Crypt Keeper talking to the audience, as he does in the show, and these segments are fun and cute, and you can tell the filmmakers are having a laugh at their own expense, which is always nice to see—people having a sense of humor about themselves.
One of my favorite actors (William Sadler) plays the lead, Brayker, and off the bat it’s nice to see him playing a hero for once lol, but he brings a vulnerable nervousness while retaining a stone-cold bad-ass factor that makes the character both mysterious and intriguing.
But the biggest show stealer is definitely Billy Zane as the demon known only as The Collector. He plays the role very charismatically and relaxed, always feeling like he’s in control and just having fun until he gets what he needs, making them both threatening and entertaining to watch. Not to mention you can tell Zane is having the time of his life chewing as much scenery as possible.
lol.
An underrated performance in this film definitely comes from CCH Pounder. He always brings a strength and sly humor to her roles, but I was also impressed with how much energy she put into this. Like there’s one scene where she’s injured and the camera is not even focused on her; her character is like on the side, but you can tell she’s putting all her energy and effort into looking in pain. Like, it’s pretty impressive and shows how professional and talented she is.
Dick Miller is in this, and you can never go wrong with Dick Miller; the guy is the cinematic equivalent of “your favorite cooky uncle.”
The rest of the cast (Jada Pinkett, Thomas Hayne Church, Brenda Bakke, Gary Farmer, and Charles Fleischer) give very solid performances and bring a unique energy to each of their characters, which leads to some interesting interactions.
I will say, this is a kind of broad movie, not in a bad way, but there definitely is an excessive amount of gore, blood, boobies, and bad language, and some of it can come off as a little bit much at times, like eating too much sugar and getting a tummy ache, but there is awareness of this factor that is played with knowingly that the filmmakers have fun with it, not to mention since this is based on the old EC comics of the 50s, whose popularity was how grotesque and eccentric they could get, the over-the-top nature fits the comics and is an accurate representation of the source material. So I guess it’s really a matter of taste more than anything, so whatever your opinion on gooey explosions is will determine how much you enjoy this movie lol.
Ernest Dickerson (who got his start as Spike Lee's cinematographer on his early films) directs, and given his lighting background, the movie looks fantastic. And for someone who started his career in a different department, Dickerson gets some interesting and unique shots.
But overall, the movie is basically an under-siege film, where a group of heroes have to fight and survive in a location against an imposing threat, and sometimes you can tell that the writers weren’t sure what to do with certain characters, so they just kind of disappear for a little while and then reappear when they’re needed, and some of the editing can be a bit frantic at times, but there’s enough creativity with the action and believability with the performances that it makes up for any of the shortcomings.
I like the backstory of why the demon was chasing Brayker; it was a fairly unique concept and led to some interesting imagery and cool mythology that I could always see being expanded upon in further works… If people wanted
The special effects on the demons were quite good, granted most of the time they’re in the dark, so that certainly helped lol, but the design of their demons and their overall vibe and just gooey look I thought was a nice touch.
That being said, not all of the CGI holds up to the test of time; there’s one floating head shot at the beginning that was pretty rough—it was shaking more and having a seizure on a roller coaster, lol—but it is 1995, so for the time, it is fine.
Like I said, the movie for about 90% of it takes place in one building, and I have to give props because not only do they shake up the location so you never get bored of being in the same place, but there are also some interesting flashbacks and dream sequences that lead to some interesting and striking visuals.
I liked the ending; it’s sort of left itself open to a sequel but also could be seen as a self-contained story, kind of the best of both worlds, and I appreciate that.
If I were to describe this movie in one word, it would be… fun. It may not be the deepest film, it may not be a perfect film, and it may have its silly moments, but there is a level of fun to this movie that I would equate to a fun ride at an amusement park; while you’re on it, you’re having the time of your life. Now if I’m being honest, this is a four-star film ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, but for me, on my own personal Dylan Scale, it’s a low five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. William Sadler and Billy Zane really pushed it over for me.
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