jorgito2001 Review of Tales from the Darkside

Tales from the Darkside (1983–1988)

Just binged the entirety of all 90+ episodes over a month...

[8/10 · 14 February 2023]

I purchased the entire series on sale on DVD around Black Friday 2022, I hadn't seen an episode in several years, having recorded some on VHS when I was 9-10 years old alongside episodes of "Amazing Stories" and "Transformers" (I'm saying I'm an 80s child without saying I'm an 80s child..haha). As a kid, you remember things so much more grand, exciting, and scary! Revisiting "Darkside" made me realize how most episodes are hilariously "cheap" looking with poor production value. I even spotted visible boom mics and crew casting shadows in some episodes. But whereas the networks' anthology series frequently spent $1 million per episode or more (Ex. Amazing Stories), each 20+ minute episode of ''Darkside'' is filmed on a puny $125K budget average! Some episodes are throwaways, but I'd say for every 2 bad episodes, there are some phenomenal ones! Some have stuck with me through the years & are still every bit as good as I remember! My Top 10 in no particular order are, "Seasons of Belief", Monsters In My Room", "Inside the Closet", "Halloween Candy", "The Cutty Black Sow", "The Last Car", "The Devil's Advocate", "Sorry, Right Number", "Family Reunion" and of course, the brilliant pilot, "Trick or Treat"! This may not be as remembered as "Twilight Zone", or as high budgeted, yet fantastic as "Amazing Stories", or even as scary or graphic as "Tales from the Crypt", but "Tales From the Darkside" was a great little horror/fantasy show and definitely cements its legacy in classic 1980s Television and in my little horror loving heart!!