Here's a guide to Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's cast and characters. George A Romero and Stephen King collaborated several times, with the most notable being 1982 anthology Creepshow. This was a gleeful, over-the-top homage to the EC horror comics both men grew up loving, and told five tales of terror featuring all manner of monsters and ironic comeuppances. Tales From The Darkside was a TV series that arrived in the aftermath of Creepshow's success, though since Warner Bros owned certain elements of that movie, Tales From The Darkside became a separate entity.
Tales From The Darkside had some scary episodes and ran for four seasons while adapting works by King, Clive Barker and Psycho author Robert Bloch. A film adaptation arrived in 1990, with Tales From The Darkside: The Movie being a modest success. It has since become a cult favorite and features three stories and a wraparound. The latter sees a boy named Timmy reading the tales to a witch who plans to eat him. The first tale "Lot 249" adapts an Arthur Conan Doyle short story that sees a twisted college student use a mummy to exact brutal revenge, "Cat From Hell" finds a hitman hired to kill an "evil" cat while "Lovers Vow" finds an artist keeping a dark secret from his wife about the night they met.
Fans of Romero and King consider Tales From The Darkside: The Movie to be the real Creepshow 3, even though - like every anthology - some stories are better than others. Here's a guide to Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's cast and characters.
Tales From The Darkside's Cast of Characters
"Wraparound"
Debbie Harry as Betty
Singer Deborah Harry (Videodrome) plays the icy witch Betty in Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's wraparound. She plans to cook a young boy for an upcoming dinner party but is distracted by the eerie tales he reads her.
Matthew Lawrence as Timmy
Poor Timmy is going to be Betty's main course and reads from the Tales From The Darkside book to delay the inevitable. While none of the tales have happy endings, Matthew Lawrence's (Planes, Trains and Automobiles) Timmy plans his story to have a better outcome.
"Lot 249"
Steve Buscemi as Bellingham
Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's "Lot 249" has the most impressive cast, fronted by a young Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire). After being cheated out of a scholarship by rivals, Buscemi's Bellingham summons a mummy to make things right.
Christian Slater as Andy
Christian Slater (Mister Robot) plays Andy, the brother of Susan who becomes aware of Bellingham's evil scheme. His attempts to thwart the latter's plan come undone in the twist ending.
Julianne Moore as Susan
Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's cast and characters for "Lot 249" are rounded out by Julianne Moore as Susan. The Hannibal actress plays Andy's sister, who evokes the wrath of Bellingham and meets a gruesome demise.
"Cat From Hell"
William Hickey as Drogan
Famed character actor William Hickey (The Nightmare Before Christmas) plays Drogan in Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's "Cat From Hell." Drogan is the wealthy owner of a pharmaceutical company that killed thousands of cats for medical research, and he believes the black cat stalking his mansion is seeking revenge.
David Johansen as Halston
Singer/actor David Johansen (Richard Donner's Scrooged) plays hitman Halston in "Cat From Hell," who doesn't believe Drogan's supernatural cat story but accepts the job. Halston comes to find the cat very hard to kill, and the truth hard to swallow - literally.
"Lover's Vow"
James Remar as Preston
Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's cast and characters' guide is rounded out by "Lover's Vow," which is considered the best tale. James Remar (Dexter) plays Preston, an artist who witnesses a gargoyle murder his friend; in exchange for lifelong silence, the creature doesn't kill him. A decade on Preston is happily married, but he wants to tell his wife the truth.
Rae Dawn Chong as Carola
Commando's Rae Dawn Chong plays Tales From The Darkside: The Movie's Carola, Preston's wife. The two met the night of the murder, and Preston's breaking of his vow has unexpected consequences for their marriage in a heartbreaking ending.