Tales from the Darkside (TV Series) The Cutty Black Sow (1988) User Reviews

Quite disturbing

[awsum_ginger · 8/10 · 30 January 2007]

I've never really found a lot of the Tales from the Darkside episodes scary, with the exception of this one and a few others (Inside the Closet and Geezenstacks) The plot line is pretty simple. A little boy vows to protect his dying grandmother from a Celtic monster called "The Cutty Black Sow." The visual effects are unsettling, including the surprise-twist ending (I won't bother to spoil anything else.) After seeing it several times, it never ceases to creep me out. I'd highly recommend this, probably my favorite in the entire series along with "The Apprentice," which isn't particularly a scary episode but I just like it.

8 outta 10

Tales from the Darkside: Cutty Black Sow

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 20 December 2015]

I think Cutty Black Sow, even if this episode comes at the tail end of the Darkside's run, is another "return to form" episode that overlays what you are watching with a sense of impending doom. There's an important warning that needs to be heeded exactly or else an ancient creature of Scottish folklore will return to take a victim from a family unprepared. Another rather sinister aspect is the potential harm of a child and how this child must follow the "request" specifically of his "great-gran" in order to keep him and his family safe from the title monster. All Hallows Even being spoken of from the dying lips of the great-grandmother, tying in Halloween to the episode (the episode splits between the eve of Halloween and Halloween Day), further emphasizes the attachment to horror, almost completely eliminating the comedy and humor that often did hold the show from its potential. I think if you looked at my ratings for a majority of the episodes, the rating would be like 6.5. When it is good, though, I think the show could put out some solid work.

Huckleberry Fox (quite a name, right?) is the kid who is there with great-gran (Paula Trueman; her voice had this haunting quality to it and the "final dying words", with this aching of death quality that truly unsettled me, truly sets up the conclusion) as she is about to pass. She spins quite a forewarning that Fox does follow, but unfortunately a simple mistake (made by his rather nagging but cutie-pie sis, played by Mary Griffin) could be exactly what the cutty black sow will take advantage of.

I think everything from the dark, fireside lighting that seems to achieve a pervasive sense of "something's around, in the dark" eeriness, and the use of a Scottish mythos that emerges as not just a story both enhance "Cutty Black Sow". The direction and storytelling is actually, to me anyway, is rather refreshing. I found myself often rather disenchanted and disheartened with the show, and occasionally surprised. This episode made my Top 10 favorites from the four seasons. Ending is appropriately grim, as the great-gran laid out what needed to be done, and unfortunately an error meant the monster could be unleashed.

Decent enough Tales of the Unexpected episode.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 1 June 2008]

Tales from the Darkside: The Cutty Black Sow is set in Scotland where an old lady named Catherine (Paula Trueman) dies on the 31st of October, Halloween. Just before she dies Catherine tells her great grandson Jamie (Huckleberry Fox) that to save her soul from a creature of legend called the Cutty Black Sow he has to find five stones, one for each family member, & place them in a circle of fire for the whole of Halloween. If one of the stones breaches the fire circle the person whose soul that stone represents will be taken by the monstrous Cutty Black Sow, Jamie knows what he has to do but can he get it right?

Episode 14 from season 4 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during May 1988, directed by Richard Glass one has to say although The Cutty Black Sow is a touch predictable it's one of the better stories from this show & the fourth season. The script by Michael McDowell is at least a straight supernatural horror themed tale with a somewhat expected ending which some may find a bit grim but I liked it, I mean I just like grim, macabre & twisted anthology stories such as this anyway. Most of the episode is spent relating the whole Cutty Black Sow legend, the early scenes of Catherine telling the story to Jamie & then during the middle he tells his sister Gloria just to make it absolutely clear to the audience what the legend is all about & what will happen. Then for the final third of the programme it's a fairly well sustained suspenseful build up to the climax. While ancient legends turning out to be true isn't anything new or original The Cutty Black Sow makes a decent job of turning in a short twenty minute horror themed story that's worth a watch.

Like most Tales from the Darkside episodes The Cutty Black Sow takes place in a single location, a fairly traditional looking house. I presume The Cutty Black Sow is set in Scotland since we are told several times the legend is Scottish & there are bagpipes playing on the soundtrack throughout just so we don't forget it! When the Cutty Black Sow monster appears at the end the mask looks like a drooling deformed pig creature with glow in the dark eyes, the special effect itself isn't great with a less than convincing rubber mask. This episode is mainly set at night in a dark house with the wind blowing outside, it's well shot & quite atmospheric actually. The acting is alright & the two child actors do fine & aren't annoying at all.

The Cutty Black Sow is a decent enough Tales from the Darkside episode with a good atmosphere & an alright horror themed story of ancient legends coming true. Fans should like it.

Superior episode

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 10 November 2015]

Jamie (a fine performance by Huckleberry Fox) receives a deathbed warning from his great grandmother (superbly played by Paula Trueman) to be leery of getting a visit from a lethal evil spirit known as the Cutty Black Sow on Halloween night.

Director Richard Glass does an ace job of crafting a strong creepy'n'morbid atmosphere and generates plenty of harrowing tension which culminates in a nerve-rattling conclusion complete with a genuinely startling grim ending. Mary Griffin contributes a delightful turn as Jamie's bratty, yet adorable sister Gloria. Michael McDowell's gripping script not only offers a fascinating exploration of obscure Scottish folklore, but also tackles the issues of death and mortality in a stark and spooky manner. Robert Liiv's shadowy cinematography further enhances the overall eerie mood. One of this show's finest half hours.

Creepy

[shellytwade · 9/10 · 27 February 2022]

The grandmother in this was incredibly creepy. After she disappeared from the short it was never quite as strong. With that being said, it was still easily one of the best episodes of this series. Tension abounds and the last frames deliver. I've said it before, if they just stuck to episodes in this horror style it would be a fantastic series.

Perfection

[porkypaulsen · 10/10 · 14 October 2016]

Amazing episode....and what great costume design (last name,lowercase). The sow really steals the show from HUCKLEBERRYFOX. I Bitly had chills during this one.

Definitely one of the best episodes in the series. From the very beginning the stage is set for a wonderful adventure. It really takes you away to another place and time. You can really relate to the sow and all that he's been through. Unfortunate that this episode hit near the end of the show's run but it was really only the beginning of cutty black sow's run (as we will all soon see). Some very fascinating "folklore" to be sure. It makes for a very dramatic storyline. Some very tense scenes. I absolutely loved it. Show me more. Great to watch and get ready for Halloween. My rating: Excellent episode.

Interesting but there is a "but"

[Atreyu_II · 8/10 · 27 December 2011]

I've never seen the TV series in question, therefore I am not familiar with any of it. What made me watch this one episode was the presence of Huckleberry Fox, but at the time I didn't know this was an episode of a TV show.

It's kinda disappointing to know that Huckleberry Fox's career consists mostly of TV movies, remakes and stuff like that. Truly a waste of a talent for a kid that was so talented and so charismatic.

As a "solo-mio" work, this one is worth but no matter how nice it is it's kind of a shame that this is only an episode from a TV show.

The plot takes place in an old dark house, possibly in mighty Scotland. The house is dark because of its spooky nature but also because the action is set mostly at night and it's very windy outside. The house is traditional, very lovely and cozy and yet a little sinister at the same time. The settings and scenarios are great and accent this distinguish environment.

This episode is essentially about a grandmother who is about to die asking her grandson Jamie to protect her from an evil force called The Cutty Black Sow, a request which he takes very seriously.

The evil spirit looks like a werewolf demon and can be seen through the episode, including at the ending - which I disliked by the way.

Overall, there's nothing particularly frightening or too scary in this. This is more suspenseful and slightly creepy rather than scary or tense.

The two kids are pretty good in this.

Just too messed up.

[TOMNEL · 4/10 · 3 August 2006]

A nice little kid's dying grandmother tells him that in her name, he needs to protect her soul from a mean spirit known as the Cutty Black Sow. This wasn't a particularly good episode to begin with, but just because of the god awful ending I hate this episode. I hate this episode's ending with a passion. Actually, this was probably the worst one of the series. As for the rest of the episode, it's an OK episode. It has kind of scary moments and our main child actor was quite good. I'd recommend you watch up until the last two minutes, then turn it off and imagine your own ending.

My rating: Bad episode. 21 mins. TV PG V

Cheesy rubber monster tale

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 1 July 2015]

THE CUTTY BLACK SOW is an episode of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE which at least has a monster in it so the entertainment value is higher than in some other episodes featuring generic weird stuff or characters playing the Devil. The story is a familiar one in which a little kid is scared out of his wits by his dying grandma's horror story involving the titular monster. As the course of the episode plays out, it turns out the story isn't a fairy tale after all...

The unlikely-named Huckleberry Fox is the likable lead in this quirky and fairly effective story. It's all completely over the top and a ridiculous-looking rubber monster doesn't help, but at least it's never boring. If they'd done away with the annoying bagpipe music that keeps playing throughout it would have been even better...