Spun off from the popular HBO series, which in turn was spun off from the classic EC horror comics from the 1950s of the same name, the Tales From The Crypt films did a nice job of blending humor and horror. The two (so far) films in the franchise don't quite capture the feel of the EC comics the way that the TV series did, but they're still a fun ride and make for some good, mindless entertainment. Both films are introduced by everyone's favorite animatronic comic book horror host come to life, The Crypt Keeper, who lends his own unique insight to the proceedings as we all expect him to.

Demon Knight

William Sander plays Brayker, a man who holds the last key that is needed by a demon known as The Collector (Billy Zane of Titanic) so that he can unleash Hell on Earth. While on the run, Brayker's car runs out of gas so he holes up in a run down hotel for the night until he can figure out what to do. Unfortunately for Brayker, The Collector has tracked him to the hotel and is busy creating a small army of demons so that he can go in and take what he needs from him. Brayker and the odd assortment of occupants within the hotel will have to face down the demons to prevent Hell on Earth.

Demon Knight is a good, fast paced, exceptionally gory (at least compared to most Hollywood studio horror films) little movie with a great performance from Zane, who nails his role as the demonic Collector. He plays his part with enough cool and enough evil to really make it work. Sure, the plot isn't really anything to write home enough but the movie has enough limb severing, gratuitous nudity and smart mouthed minions from Hell to entertain even if it is on a fairly base level.

The film isn't without its cornier moments and a few of the effects set pieces haven't aged so gracefully (and neither has some of the mid-nineties alterna rock metal stuff on the soundtrack!) but it's got a nice comic book aesthetic that it works within and in that context the movie is quite effective. The finale of the film with everyone trapped in the hotel fighting for their lives does have well handled moments of legitimate tension and the movie has a couple of well placed jump scares as well. Jada Pinkett Smith has a fun supporting role in the film as well and is pretty decent in her small part and Sadler is a more than capable lead in the film, playing his part well and delivering on all accounts.

Bordello Of Blood

The second film puts the humor in front of the horror and isn't as good because of it, but it still has it's moments. The story begins with a midget explorer in the thick of a tropical jungle where he awakens a foxy vampire queen named Lilith (Angie Everheart).

A short time later, Caleb (Corey Feldman) is looking to sow his wild oats and hears word of a brothel being run in the local mortuary. Caleb's sister hears of this and hires a private detective named Rafe (Dennis Miller) to follow him and make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. When Rafe takes the case and follows Caleb in his quest for booty, they all discover that while the girls are all hot and willing, they also have a penchant for human blood – they're all vampires!

While not as over the top in the gore department as its predecessor, Bordello Of Blood still has a fair amount of grue for you, and tops it all off with a plethora of bare skin courtesy of the vampiric ladies of the evening. While the villain in the film isn't a cool or slick as The Collector, she sure is a lot more fun to look at and on a visual level, there's not much to complain about (especially if you like to look at the ladies). Story wise, eh, it's ok. Miller works his way through the film basically playing himself. He's never short of wit or one-liners and does a pretty decent job as the wisecracking PI. Overall, the film doesn't hit the high marks that Demon Knight does but it makes up for it with lovely ladies, and Corey Feldman (and an odd cameo from Whoopi Goldberg of all people).

Video:

Both Demon Knight and Bordello Of Blood are presented in sharp, clean 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen presentations. Black levels are nice and deep and don't break up or pixelate and the color depth on both transfers is life like and natural looking. Skin tones look like skin tones and aren't overly orange or pink and while there is some very minor edge enhancement present in a few spots here and there, you really do have to be looking for it. The same thing can be said about print damage, there is the odd speck that pops up from time to time but if you're not looking for it you won't likely notice it. Both movies look very nice.