MovieChat Forums > Tales from the Darkside (1983) Discussion > Not sure how I feel (it miss something? ...

Not sure how I feel (it miss something? or was it going for different?)

posted 13 years ago by zorasguitar
2 replies | jump to latest

I watched this show a few times in reruns on Sci-fi, but I was young then, and didn't get a lot of them. So, I was looking for some horror to watch, and I figured, eh, why not? So I started watching this show again and I'm not sure if it's good or bad.

See, almost every other anthology seems to have some kind of sense of balance (Karma if you will, cause and affect). In this show, a lot of the episodes seem to lack this. Not all of them, but when it does happen, it's just weird. Is it intentional? I mean, in twilight zone there was always a moral or philosophical tidbit (yeah, I used the word tidbit) thrown in. In this series, I'm often just confused at the end. Like the episode in season two where the hippie artist woman realizes reality is kept real by human experience. Then she proceeds to be punished for no reason, and with no explanation ever given. This is just an example, it seems like at least half the episodes are like this.

My question is: Was it intentional? or is it just bad writing? :The fact I have to ask would imply bad writing. Also, there are times where things in the plot just annoy the crap out of me (the episode where the alien wants the director to finish a show that humans hated but aliens loved. Anyone who wasn't an idiot would have been able to figure it out, yet they have a character explain it all, with absolutely no reason. He has absolutely no way of knowing that, he just guesses and states it as fact. That is 100% bad storytelling). See, I would assume it's all bad writing, but at the same time, there are some very good episodes, and in those episodes some very good actors. So I was wondering if maybe they were trying to go with a more modern "bad things sometimes happen to good people" mentality, instead of the classic "bad things only happen to bad people" style of American film storytelling.

[–] xfastfurious15 13 years ago

i don't know. personally i think the series is just okay. i'm watching it rite now on Sy-fy. i actually only watch it becuz it reminds me of 'Tales from the Crypt' which is a much better series!!! You shud watch Tales from the Crypt, it started like a year after this series ended, and was based off of 'Tales from the Crypt' comics.

Most of Tales from the Crypt episodes have better storytelling than what I've seen on Tales from the Darkside but i still watch Tales from the Darkside just for something to watch but i honestly don't like it much.

[–] stewie-3 13 years ago

I think you bring up a fair point about the "message" in a number of Darkside episodes. I'm okay with episodes where a person occassionally doesn't get the end they deserve, especially with some of the horror themed-episodes. But, as you say, often times a terrible fate is handed down for no apparent reason. I'm reminded of my least favorite TZ episode ever - "What's in the Box?" with Sterling Holloway and William Demerest. Demerest's fate is way out of proportion with his "crimes". As a result, the episode comes off as mean and sort of pointless. Darkside, as much as a I enjoyed the show, had more than a few episodes in that vein.

As to why...I always figured the budget constraints of the show meant the scripts had to be done fast and on the cheap. That will lead to crap from time to time.