Geschichten aus der Schattenwelt

The premise which inspired "Distant Signals" is guaranteed to ignite the inspiration of anyone who has loved the characters of a TV series. Mr. Smith (Lenny Von Dohlen), an otherworldly visitor, approaches the creator of a 1965 detective series (David Margulies) which was canceled in mid-season. This "fan" offers him $2 million - in gold - to write and direct six more episodes, including a vital series finale, which will remove the wandering hero from "limbo." Darren McGavin, with heartbreaking pathos, portrays the actor who is physically and metaphysically transformed from an aging dead-drunk bartender into his former self as a mythic star. This peculiarly "impossible," yet patently real idea glows with magic and life as an example of how a mere half hour installment of a small screen anthology can represent "the height of televisual art."

This was one of my favorite horror shows as it was very watchable and enjoyable. There were many shows of this type during the time it ran and one can say it was probably the inspiration for a couple of the other ones that came on during this time such as "Monsters" and ever the one that Freddy Krueger had as the stories from those two shows I sometimes think came from this one. However, this one was around first and it is the best of the bunch. Granted, the episodes on Tales from the Crypt got a little darker and you could sometimes get lucky and see some nudity this one had by far the better stories. It also had one of the coolest openings of the bunch as well, for it may have been simple it was also effective in telling the viewer that they were on a trip to the darkside. Many good episodes are to be found, one of my favorite involved a woman renting a room in a place or something and there is a hole in the wall and something seems to be living there. I also remember one about some old lady who treated her father horribly and was good at making cookies, but she gets what is coming to her in the end. All in all one of the best horror shows out there.

"Tales From the Darkside" is an interesting anthology series which has been syndicated for as long as I can remember. Every now and then you can catch the episodes on WGN out of Chicago or on the Sci-Fi Channel. The series is a poor man's "Twilight Zone". I believe that all of the episodes were made in the mid-1980s and dealt with subjects very similar to those dealt with in Rod Serling's series. The special effects were usually sophomoric and so were the performances, but the suspense and sense of the "unworldly" usually kept me on the edge of my seat. The writing and direction of most of the episodes are clever and intelligent. However, there are several duds in the series. For the most part "Tales From Darkside" is an interesting supernatural series that has been overlooked, but is usually just as potent as "The Twilight Zone" or "The X-Files". The series was popular enough to spawn a theatrical movie in 1990, but the movie falls far short of the original television episodes. Overall I give the series 4 out of 5 stars.

This was one of the best series' of the 80s. It was always interesting,entertaining,and had good stars in it. The intro before the show began was really scary.I doubt this show is on any more but if it is and you haven't seen it before and are able to watch it then watch it because its a very good series!

I don't know what the last reviewer was talking about but this show is truly scary. I can recall watching this show when it orig. aired and the opening seq. alone scared me to death. When it would come on and I was alone I would run from the living room and in to my bedroom w/ the covers over my head. I remember that I also forgot to turn the television off so hidding from the scary intro. did not work : ) As for the episodes, I remember that the opening credits and closing credits , but I don't remember EVERY episode. I remember several classic ones that are a MUST. One involved a woman that wanted to stop over eating and loss weight. So she went to buy a "special" pair of glasses. Lets just say it did not end good for the woman. I wish I could tell you more but I don't want to spoil it. It's very creepy and scary episode. Another classic was one w/ a puppet master whos dummy comes to life and tries to take over and kill his master.

The shows were not as scary as maybe some would like but I doubt anyone would be disappointed in this show. It is a VERY VERY CREEPY SHOW. Trust me. You watch this show at night or in the daytime alone or with someone and you will be very creeped out and perhaps scared.

"So try and enjoy the daylight."