Demon Knight was really quite a surprise for me when it came out. Sure, I had always loved the "Tales From The Crypt" episodes that aired on HBO back in the day, but the idea of them making a big Hollywood movie out of it made me worry. Fortunately, the movie turned out to be everything fans of the show could've hoped for and more. It's got a wonderful script, plenty of gore, more cheesy jokes from the Cryptkeeper, and a really great cast. William Sadler (aka: "Death" from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) plays the good guy who is trying to hide the last of seven keys which can protect the world from demons. The main bad guy was played by Billy Zane and he is perfect in this flick. His character, the Collector, has one of those rare "give a bunch of hilarious one-liners while he still has no remorse about making you die a horribly painful death" personas that are only found in characters such as Freddy Krueger. He's both lovable and evil... quite a combo.

There's plenty of great moments in this movie, but the one that really sets the pace for the rest of the film is when the Collector decides to let the sheriff, who just arrested him, know exactly who he's dealing with.

The Collector: "Really, like the man said, if you only knew who I was..."

Sheriff: "We'll find out soon enough."

The Collector: "Hmm... why wait?"

Ouch? You're damned right ouch. In the blink of an eye, the Collector turns around and punches a hold straight through the sheriff's face and out the back of his head as the camera is treated to a gory close-up. Sadistic as hell and I was loving every bit of it.

Then he tries removing his arm from the head, but it's stuck. So, he proceeds to tear that head right off of the body, punch Sadler with it, and then flings it off into the arms of the deputy. Overkill? You betcha! Most of that time, that's what it takes to make a truly memorable horror movie sequence.

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