Best selling horror novelist Stephen King brings three mild horror tales to the screen (this was his first screenplay) two of which are based on stories that appeared in his Night Shift collection and one original tale.

The first one has James Woods as a man who's trying to quit smoking going to the organization "Quitters, Inc." who are using some extreme measures to help him break the habit. This one is played quite unseriously (as evidence by the whole "party" scene) and is a bit silly, but works fine.

Second up is "The Ledge" in which Robert Hayes is bet by his girlfriend's gamble hungry husband that he can't walk around the ledge of a high-rise apartment. It's a daunting enough task but when the husband is going out of his way to make him fall (by spraying him with a fire hose and popping out of nowhere with a loud horn) it's an even harder bet. This one is also not played too seriously, which it turns out applies to the whole film, but it does have a pretty decent twist at the end.

Lastly we have the cat who has been used to bridge together all the stories up to this point getting its own tale as our feline friend has to protect youngster Drew Barrymore (in an early role) from the troll that lives in the wall and comes out at night to try and steal her breath. Probably the silliest of the trio this is still fairly fun with some good creature effects by Carlo Rambaldi (who also created E.T. in the 1982 film of the same name).

Overall this is a watchable trio of tales that manages to make okay entertainment even if there are much better anthology films out there (such as 1972's Tales From The Crypt) and it's a harmless timewaster that even manages to throw out lots of references to King's other works. Director Lewis Teague also did the adaptation of King's Cujo in 1983.

Directed By: Lewis Teague.
Written By: Stephen King.

Starring: Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King, Kenneth McMillan.