Synopsis
Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister Collector is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where — with the help of its residents — he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Billy ZaneThe Collector
- William SadlerFrank Brayker
- Jada Pinkett SmithJeryline
- CCH PounderIrene
- Brenda BakkeCordelia
- Dick MillerUncle Willy
- Thomas Haden ChurchRoach
- John SchuckSheriff Tupper
- Gary FarmerDeputy Bob Martel
- Charles FleischerWally Enfield
Recommendations
- 75
TV Guide Magazine
Good-humored gore, ably directed by Ernest Dickerson (JUICE), formerly Spike Lee's cinematographer. - 70
IGN
Zane is an absolute blast, whether doing a little dance or trying to steal his way into each character's soul, he's having too much fun. - 60
The New York Times
What "Tales From the Crypt" does best is sustain a look and tone that bring a comic-book's broad strokes into the realm of a live-action movie without seeming too mannered or arty. The film's gooey monsters with their electric green eyes and ferocious voracity are among the more convincing zombie demons to be found in a recent horror film. - 60
Variety
Mix "Night of the Living Dead" with Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" movies, then add a hefty dose of "Beavis and Butt-Head"-style silliness, and you have "Tales From the Crypt Presents Demon Knight," a fang-in-cheek horror thriller that likely will please fans and turn off non-devotees. - 50
Chicago Reader
The silly story is basically just an excuse for some thrills and goofy one-liners, but even if the more likable characters tended to get killed off too early for my taste, I wasn't bored. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
The movie isn't particularly well-paced, and I found it dull. But I've got to give credit to Todd Masters, who designed the special-effects makeup, to Gilbert Adler, who directed the Crypt Keeper sequences, and to Zane, who plays the Collector with style and wit. If I were 12, I might've loved it. - 40
Empire
Despite its aspirations to big-screen scares, this delivers more kitsch than a truckload of glow-in-the-dark skeletons. - 40
Time Out
Feels pedestrian and moribund.
