Trigger Warning: Though there is no rain, there’s a great deal of lightning in the film which may impact photosensitive viewers.
If you’re a person of a certain age, one only needs to hear a few notes of Danny Elfman’s theme to Tales from the Crypt to immediately feel a strange anticipation fall over them. Anyone familiar with the series, which ran on HBO from 1989 to 1996, knows that each story in the anthology series offers a different morality play with a different set of actors, each guaranteed to split your sides with laughter as the characters were split “for real.” The program, itself inspired by the EC Comics series of pulpy horror comics, hosted by the Cryptkeeper (voiced by John Kassir), offered those who lived and breathed horror or were just dipping their toes in an opportunity to consider any number of horrible situations from the safety of their couch. In 1995, roughly 30 years ago, Tales from the Crypt would make the leap into theatrical entertainment with director Ernest R. Dickerson’s Demon Knight. With The Overlook Film Festival 2025 having held an anniversary screening with Dickerson attending, now seems like a great time to revisit a film that’s been a small piece of the horror tapestry of this critic’s life.
On the run from a figure in hot pursuit, a stranger (William Sadler) takes shelter at a church-turned-motel. When the operator, Irene (CCH Pounder), mistakes the stranger for a criminal hiding from the police, her call to Sheriff Tupper (John Schuck) not only puts the stranger, Frank Brayker, in cuffs, but inadvertently places herself and all the others living and working at the motel in mortal jeopardy as the figure (Billy Zane) isn’t of this Earth. He’s a Collector intent on taking from Brayker a very special key and he’ll flay each of them to get it.
The Cryptkeeper (voiced by John Kassir) in TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT. Photo courtesy of The Overlook Film Festival.
When it comes to the Tales from the Crypt series, I was not a regular viewer (shocking no one who knew me then). Possessing a vivid imagination, near-sightedness, and often experiencing hypnagogia in the night, willingly subjecting myself to frights wasn’t high up on my entertainment list. But between finding intriguing box art while perusing shelves at movie stores (or Kroger near checkout) and a sibling who frequently rented things like Faces of Death (1978), checking out horror material started to feel less like something taboo and more like a challenge for myself. Of course, thanks to Army of Darkness (1992), I was able to discover that there are kinds of horror that I could handle as long as there existed a bit of humor (bonus points for slapstick and little gore). So, from time to time, I would indulge in Tales from the Crypt when I’d come across it, typically while riding solo as my siblings were licensed and out of the house as much as they could be. The 1993 episode “Death of Some Salesmen” will always be my first thought thanks to Tim Curry’s horrifying performance as all three members of the Brackett family. My second — Billy Zane (The Phantom; Tombstone) and Jada Pinkett Smith (Scream 2; The Matrix: Revolutions) in Demon Knight. The former for his zany performance which allowed me to stomach the violence his Collector and his demons unleashed; the latter because I’d loved her in A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) and it was great to see her walk away at the end. What I wouldn’t realize until much later is (a) this approach to horror (darkly comic) would become my favorite kind of horror which I would regularly seek out each year and (b) how groundbreaking at the time it was for Pinkett Smith’s Jeryline to be a Final Girl.
For the former, even now, the script from than Ethan Reiff (Bulletproof Monk), Cyrus Voris (Bulletproof Monk), and Mark Bishop (Escape from Safehaven) is a solid one. After the cold open and Cryptkeeper intro that ties the film to the anthology series, the audience is thrust into the action as the men we know as Brayker and The Collector race down a road until a car accident makes it a foot chase. We don’t know who is who and why there’s a chase going on, but the positioning of The Collector as a man on the hunt and therefore an authority that the sheriff and deputy should work with continues to work when we consider just how often a white man’s bravado can so easily open doors and create opportunities where a moral and just individual would not. The fact that Zane is able to make The Collector so damn charming, too, is a great deal of the appeal of the character. Unlike Sadler’s portrayal of Brayker which is straight-laced and serious, giving little room for anything other than devout intensity, Zane is allowed to get a little nuts, exuding charm that makes one understand why the more selfish humans would give in to his requests for aid in gathering the key (losing their souls in the process, of course). The audience given a brief breather as Brayker is led to the motel by a local with a relatively kind heart, which creates the opportunity to establish the setting for the rest of the film and its players. We learn who has a crooked heart, who has a broken heart, who’s trying to do the right thing by holding tightly to presumptions, and who’s trying to make amends for past discretions. Once complete, The Collector arrives with the law and, quite literally, all Hell begins to break loose and only lets up for The Collector to start toying with the residents in his bid to get the key. It’s a push-pull of tension without ever releasing the pressure of the threats that surround Brayker and the motel guests. There’re no flaws or loopholes in the plot, just realistic exposition use, smart flashbacks which help demonstrate the lore we’re embroiled with, and so much murder. The comedy? That’s just the delivery mechanism that softens you up before rending someone asunder.
Additionally, and it’s worth mentioning for the horror heads, the use of prosthetics and makeup for the various gags continues to hold up. While it’s a little easier now to see the makeup and patch on The Collector’s hand when he slices his palm for the green goo to come out and one can see where a prop system was used to create the illusion of demons rising from the dirt via pools of liquid/goo, it’s no less interesting to see. This was at a time when computer effects weren’t making creatures whole cloth from computers, when green screen wasn’t as clean as it can be now (ex., the humorously floating Cryptkeeper head in the cold open), so the fact that what we see is what’s happening on screen makes the horror feel far more real and possible. Whereas as an adult I can “see the strings of the puppets,” as a teen I could not and the loss of limb Irene suffers continues to make me uncomfortable and I can see now why. Horror films of today that rely too much on VFX just lack the tangibility to generate lasting tension where even the somewhat comedic beasts in Demon Knight can.
For the latter, it’s important to recognize that in the history of cinema, when it comes to Black actors, women especially, they are more likely to play the friend or support for a lead and, in horror, rarely ever make it out alive. As someone who grew up on the work of Keenan Ivory Wayans (I’m Gonna Git You Sucka; In Living Color), Richard Pryor (Harlem Nights; Brewster’s Millions), and other performers/creators/comedians, seeing Black actors on stage and screen was as common as any other, and, at the time, being less knowledgeable about horror meant that I didn’t know what to expect for Jeryline. Looking back, however, it’s a massive deal played naturally that not only does Jeryline survive, she does so by knowing who she is, what she wants, and what’s fair. As the one on work release for committing a crime, one might presume she’s a criminal and would, therefore, be of small morals, yet, she tries to save as many of the motel guests as possible, she tries to save Brayker when attacked by a possessed Danny (Ryan O’Donohue), and she never once succumbs to The Collector’s temptations. This is a character of strength and fortitude that we could acknowledge then and can still see now. It makes sense why Jeryline would join the ranks of horror Final Girls (not Scream Queens, that’s a different thing altogether) and, given the way the film ends, one almost wishes that a sequel would be made so that Jeryline would pass the torch to a new custodian of the key.
Demon Knight is likely not on the top of everyone’s horror Mt. Olympus, but it is no less a significant work with a lasting legacy. At 30 years old, it ages well, absent dialogue that trades in racial tropes or actions that demean for the pleasure of it. It’s not a mean film, even if it’s not quite as morally exploratory or as offering a dark twist as the series, but it’s still entertaining as hell. It has one of the best Zane performances in his career, delivers a simply pulpy horror tale, and breaks new ground in the process. New ground which is now carried forward by a strong line of actors and actresses who survive through the credits. That’s a proud legacy to leave behind if there ever was one.
Screened during The Overlook Film Festival 2025.
For more information, head to the official Universal Pictures Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
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