Horror History: Tales from the Crypt DEMON KNIGHT Is Now 16 Years Old
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, director Ernest Dickerson’s horror-comedy Demon Knight (aka Tales from the Crypt presents: Demon Knight) opened back in 1995.
Demon Knight is a feature-length film based on HBO’s Tales from the Crypt. It centers on an ex-soldier who is now the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, he finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico. There, with the help of its quirky residents, he plans to face off against a band of ghouls led by the sinister but charming Collector, a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse.
Stars Billy Zane and William Sadler are no strangers to Tales from the Crypt. Sadlers appeared in the pilot episode and Zane starred in “Well Cooked Hams”.
RELATED: Exhuming TALES FROM THE CRYPT: Demon Knight
Jada Pinkett (Set It Off) co-stars in Demon Knight along with Brenda Bakke (Hot Shots! Part Deux), C. C. H. Pounder (RoboCop 3), Dick Miller (Gremlins), and Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3). John Kassir voiced The Crypt Keeper.
Rated R for gore, horror violence, sexuality, and language, it snagged $10M opening weekend. Budgeted at $13M, the flick snagged a total of $21M here in the US.
After the end credits, The Cryptkeeper invites fans to see the next Tales From the Crypt movie Dead Easy (aka Fat Tuesday), a zombie story set in New Orleans. That film was eventually abandoned – along with a planned third film, Body Count. That said, the planned Tales from the Crypt trilogy was eventually completed, with Bordello of Blood in 1996 and Ritual in 2002. The VHS and DVD releases sport this post-credits scene. But the Laserdisc and Blu-Ray versions kicked it to the curb.
Do you dig Demon Knight?
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