Demon Knight MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -3 1/2

A mysterious fugitive named Brayker (William Sadler) finds refuge in a boarding house in Wormwood, New Mexico. He is pursued by a demon known as the Collector (Billy Zane), who has brought with him an assortment of other demons. His goal is to kill Brayker and take a small cross-shaped cask that Brayker carries. The cask contains the blood of martyrs and saints from the beginning of time, including some of Christ's blood from Calvary. If the Collector can kill Brayker and seize the cask, then all demons will be unleashed to destroy mankind. Brayker and the other boarders defend themselves against the demon onslaught. However, the Collector is able to get inside the minds of the boarders and turn them into demons. Eventually it comes down to Brayker and boarder Jerlene (Jada Pinkett). Jerlene is able to resist the Collector's temptations and is destined to carry on Brayker's legacy. Without its association with HBO's TALES FROM THE CRYPT and its high-powered producers, DEMON KNIGHT is at best a "B" gore shocker.

Plot and characterization play second fiddle to the gore, and nothing is left to the imagination. A woman who has just murdered her husband describes how the act excited her sexually. Breast nudity occurs in a sex scene and several other times. The graphic gore and violence include beheadings, dismemberments, and demons devouring people. Incessant foul language fills out the menu of madness. Although there are no specific anti-Christian themes, the premise is a confused mixture of theological truth and Hollywood mumbo-jumbo. Christ's blood protects the characters from the demons, but the only time His name is mentioned is in profanity. It's the HBO cable show on steroids.This film has nothing to offer the discerning movie-goer.

Preview Reviewer: Pete Zimowski
Distributor: Universal Pictures, 100 Universal Blvd., Universal City, CA 91608