Geschichten aus der Schattenwelt (1990)

Geschichten aus der Schattenwelt: Directed by John Harrison. With Debbie Harry, David Forrester, Matthew Lawrence, Christian Slater. A young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.

“In director John Harrisonu0026#39;s adaptation from the 80s TV series, four horror stories are told (one of them as a wraparound story) with different results, although the movie leaves the audience with a feeling of pure worthy entertainment.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe wraparound story stars ex-Blondie singer Deborah Harry as Betty, the typical next door woman, the only difference is that she hides her cannibalistic habits a a secret. Matthew Lawrence is Timmy, a kid who was kidnapped by Betty in order to be her dinner tonight. Timmy begins to tell her stories from the u0026quot;Tales from the Darksideu0026quot; book in order to gain time while he plans his escape. The stories Timmy tells are the other three stories in the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFirst one, u0026quot;Lot 249u0026quot;, stars Steve Buscemi as Bellingham, a misfit in a yuppie university. Bullied by Andy (Christian Slater), Lee (Robert Sedgwick) and Susan (Julianne Moore), he works as assistant in the Museum. When he receives Lot 249, troubles will begin as he revives an ancient mummy to do his will.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSecond one stars William Hickey and David Johansen in a tale of a devilish cat that seems to haunt Hickeyu0026#39;s character. Johansen plays a professional assassin hired to kill the feline.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn last one, writer Michael McDowell develops a love story loosely based on a Japanese tale. James Remar stars as Preston, a failed artist who is having the worst day of his life, as he watches his best friend being brutally killed by a mysterious beast who makes him promise that he wonu0026#39;t tell anyone about it; everything looks worse until he meets Carola (Rae Dawn Chong), and his life changes for good. What would happen if he reveal the secret of the monster? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe four stories have very good performances, particularly those of Buscemi and Hickey. The downside is that while the three main stories present a very adult horror style with very gory scenes, brief nudity and foul language, the wraparound story looks tame and more similar to kidu0026#39;s horror like u0026quot;Goosebumpsu0026quot;. That doesnu0026#39;t mean that itu0026#39;s a bad tale, is just that it seems out of place in the film, but still the movie is good enough to keep the attention of the viewer.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVery good movie that itu0026#39;s almost forgotten today. The very good acting and the good SFX (although outdated for todayu0026#39;s standards) create a very rewarding movie that surely will give entertainment. 7/10”