TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE

PAUL SPARER - "NARRATOR"
PATRICK MACNEE - "PRESENTER"
MATTHEW LAWRENCE - "TIMMY"

"Tales from the Darkside" was an anthology series that ran from 1983 until 1988. Each episode featured a different stand alone story of horror, with elements of fantasy, mystery or thriller. The host was Paul Sparer who was born on 19 December 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and passed away on 19 December 1999 in New York City, New York, USA. Paul was an established actor, mostly appearing in television series.

When "Tales from the Darkside" was released in the United Kingdom, Paul Sparer's voice was replaced with the voice of Patrick Macnee. From Wikipedia: Macnee was an English film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite appearing in some small film roles, Macnee spent much of his early career in playing minor roles in US and Canadian television shows. In 1961, he landed the role of secret agent John Steed in the British television series "The Avengers". The show was a success running for eight seasons from 1961 to 1969 and was revived in 1976 as "The New Avengers". The show was a major breakthrough for Macnee and led to his roles in many films including "This Is Spinal Tap" and "A View to a Kill" as well as continuing to appear in both Britain and US television shows up until 2001. Macnee passed away on 25 June 2015.

In 1990, "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie" was released. The movie featured Matthew Lawrence as Timmy, young boy who tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him. The first segment features an animated mummy stalking selected student victims; the second tale tells the story of a cat from Hell who cannot be killed and leaves a trail of victims behind it; the third story is about a man who witnesses a bizarre killing and promises never to tell what he saw. From Wikipedia: Matthew Lawrence began acting in the mid-1980's, his first role being that of Danny Carrington in Dynasty. He studied acting at HB Studio in New York City. He continued as a child actor through the early 1990s, appearing in many television and feature film roles, including the 1993 Robin Williams comedy "Mrs. Doubtfire" and the mid-1990's television series "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad". In addition, he maintained starring roles in "Brotherly Love", which starred his real life brothers, and in "Boy Meets World" in which he played Jack Hunter. Lawrence also appeared alongside Christopher Lloyd in "Angels in the Endzone" and starred in the Disney English dub version of "Kiki's Delivery Service" with Kirsten Dunst and Phil Hartman in 1998. Lawrence's singing debut was in 1986, when he and Joey performed at the 1986 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Matt also played guitar on several of his earlier performances. In 2011, Lawrence guest-starred on his brother's sitcom, ABC Family's "Melissa & Joey". In 2015, he reprised his role as Jack Hunter in the series "Girl Meets World", a spin-off/sequel of "Boy Meets World".

In 2015 a reboot pilot was released "Tales from the Darkside". Following a similar format to the original series. Unfortunately, the series was not picked up by the network.

Return to USA non-hosted shows.

The following is a trailer from the original "Tales From The Darkside":

Tales from the Darkside Introduction from The Professor on Vimeo.

The following is a trailer from the movie "Tales From The Darkside: The Movie":

Tales From The Darkside- The Movie (1990) - Trailer from The Professor on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Paul Sparer"	Wikipedia "Tales from the Darkside"	Internet Movie Data Base "Tales from the Darkside"
Internet Movie Data Base "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie"	Internet Movie Data Base "Tales from the Darkside" (2015 reboot)	Internet Movie Data Base "Patrick Macnee"

Back to the United Kingdom

Back to the USA

Send mail to:
professor@hotkey.net.au  
with questions or comments about this web site.
Page Content Copyright 2016 Paul Gerard Kennedy