Demon Knight

Demon Knight (1995)



Status:
Repeat Offender

Directed By:
Ernest R. Dickerson

Starring:
Billy Zane
William Sadler
Jada Pinkett
Thomas Haden Church
CCH Pounder
Brenda Bakke
John Kassir

Favorite Character:
The Collector

Plot Summary:
In the opening scenes of the movie we learn a very valuable lesson, boys and ghouls (yes, I'm quoting the Crypt Keeper), if you're on the run from a demon in a shitty ass car, make sure you at least have a full tank of gas...just sayin'.

Anywho, it's the middle of the night as our movies begins (once you get past the Crypt Keeper) and we find our hero, Brayker, driving like a mad man down a long, lonely road being chased by our villain, The Collector.

Brayker runs out of gas and uses his shotgun to incapacitate The Collector and make a hasty escape to some middle-of-nowhere town where he is unsuccessful at jacking a car so he ends up at the only motel in town. (Seriously, if a kid can foil you stealing some POS truck you probably aren't that much of a badass.)

There we meet a wide range of characters - the town drunk, the town whore, the town asshole, and the town bad girl (to name a few). Shortly after checking in and eating dinner the town cops, along with the Collector, arrive and attempt to take Brayker into custody only to have shit gone wrong really fast.

What occurs next can only be described as hell-on-earth come to BFE. The Collector is hellbent on getting a mysterious key that will literally open the gates of hell and allow the world to become a demonic paradise (cuz, hey, who doesn't want that?), and will do anything and everything in his power to get it.

I'm sure you can figure out the rest (if you can't you might be a redneck...oops, no, sorry - you might be a moron). And for those of you that are it's pretty much what happens in every horror movie you will ever see - cannon fodder bands together in a desperate fight for survival only to get picked off one by one in a gruesome fashion because there can be only one. Oops, wrong franchise. Sorry about that. Anyway, watch it and see what happens...or don't, but don't expect me to tell.

Favorite Quote(s):
The Collector: Do me a favor? Don't scream. Just hear what I've gotta say...and then scream.

Favorite Scene:
When The Collector punches the sheriff in the face and ensuing mayhem it causes while he fights with Brayker.

Review:
The movie is a Tales From the Crypt creation and it definitely is cheesy, but it knows it's cheesy and it has fun with it. The story is a little hokey, but the gore is good, the one-liners are hilarious, and Billy Zane is the best damn thing about this movie. It's probably his best role ever (sad to say), but he plays such a good bad guy.

Thomas Haden Church, in one of his earliest roles, also plays his role well - even if you hate his character...which you will. And everyone else gives pretty solid performances, even if they aren't the greatest you'll see from them.

One of the best things about this movie, besides the super hot and utterly amusing Mr. Zane, is the actual set. You wouldn't think that a fight between man and demon would be all that impactful in some shitty, run-down motel in the middle of nowhere, but it works, and it works well.

I love this movie, despite its obvious flaws, because it doesn't try to be more than it is and it really is a lot of fun to watch...so give it a try, or don't...it's your loss.

Interesting Fact:
Wally Enfield, one of the protagonists of the film, is a recently fired postal worker. At one point in the movie the other protagonists find a large collection of guns in his home which leads them to the conclusion that he was going to go "postal" and attack the post office. This was, a not so original, reference to real-life spree killings perpetrated by maniac postal workers.

Rating:


Trailer: