Monsters (1988)
Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. As of 2011, Monsters airs on NBC Universal's horror/suspense-themed cable channel Chiller in sporadic weekday marathons. In a similar vein to Tales from the Darkside, Monsters shared the same producer, and in some ways succeeded the show. It differed in some respects nonetheless. While Tales sometimes dabbled in stories of science fiction and fantasy, this series was more strictly horror. As the name implies, each episode of Monsters featured a different monster which the story concerned, from the animatronic puppet of a fictional children's television program to mutated, weapon-wielding lab rats. Similar to Tales, however, the stories in Monsters were rarely very straightforward action plots and often contained some ironic twist in which a character's conceit or greed would do him in, often with gruesome results. Adding to this was a sense of comedy often lost on horror productions which might in some instances lighten the audience's mood but in many cases added to the overall eeriness of the production.
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Episode 1 - The Face
Release Date: 1989-10-01When two brothers break into an old woman's house to rob her, they wind up killing her, but not before she bites one of them, leaving him with a nasty scar to remember her by.
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Episode 2 - Portrait of the Artist
Release Date: 1989-10-08The art being displayed in a local exhibit may not be what it appears to be as the haunting figures hanging in the gallery resemble those of recent missing persons.
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Episode 3 - A Bond of Silk
Release Date: 1989-10-15A newlywed couple finds out you get what you pay for when they discover that their honeymoon suite is not quite what they expected.
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Episode 4 - Rerun
Release Date: 1989-10-22A student has somehow brought back a recently deceased TV star that pledges his undying love for her.
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Episode 5 - Love Hurts
Release Date: 1989-10-29A DMV employee begins an affair with his wife and father-in-law being the only thing holding him back. However, the seductress taps into her learned dark magic to make him all hers.
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Episode 6 - The Farmer's Daughter
Release Date: 1989-11-05A man takes shelter at a farm for the evening and he is surprised to be sharing a room with the farmer's pretty daughter.
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Episode 7 - Jar
Release Date: 1989-11-12A private detective looking for a missing person discovers an innkeeper who sells mysterious jars.
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Episode 8 - The Demons
Release Date: 1989-11-19An alien accidentally conjures an insurance agent who, in order to serve his master's wishes, must summon a demon of his own.
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Episode 9 - Reaper
Release Date: 1989-11-26A patient at a nursing home makes a deal with the Grim Reaper.
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Episode 10 - The Mandrake Root
Release Date: 1989-12-10While cleaning her grandmother's house, Angela finds a strange plant growing in the basement. It soon grows into what was once her grandmother's lover who soon seduces her, but has an increasing thirst for blood.
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Episode 11 - Half as Old as Time
Release Date: 1989-12-17An old man finds a Fountain of Youth, but with a cost...
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Episode 12 - Museum Hearts
Release Date: 1990-01-07A cheating man finds himself locked after-hours in a museum with three women: his girlfriend; the woman he's cheating on her with; and the reanimated body of a Druid priestess, who claims to be the spirit of woman.
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Episode 13 - Habitat
Release Date: 1990-01-14A girl volunteers to become a test study for an alien aboard its ship, only to realize the loneliness is driving her insane.
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Episode 14 - Bed and Boar
Release Date: 1990-01-21A traveling salesman spends the night in a hotel next door to a beautiful woman and her husband, who hides a dark secret.
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Episode 15 - Mr. Swlabr
Release Date: 1990-01-28Roy Barton lives a life of misery. Since his dad left he has been made into a slave, serving his mother and sister hand and foot. Hope comes in the form of a creature who calls himself ""Swlabr"". With help from Swlabr, Roy is able to turn the tables on his pesky family.
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Episode 16 - Perchance to Dream
Release Date: 1990-02-04A psychiatrist and a girl help a man who is having strange dreams that may well spell his demise.
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Episode 17 - One Wolf's Family
Release Date: 1990-02-11A family of werewolves attempt to assimilate into modern American society.
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Episode 18 - The Offering
Release Date: 1990-02-18After receiving a head injury in a car crash, a man recovering in the hospital finds that he can see a strange creature that he believes is the source of cancer.
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Episode 19 - Far Below
Release Date: 1990-02-25A nosy city official stumbles into a secret operation beneath a New York Subway.
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Episode 20 - Micro Minds
Release Date: 1990-03-04A couple of scientists make a dramatic breakthrough when an antenna finds a signal from intelligent life. However, the world of these beings turns out not to be swimming in a sea of stars, but in a mere tank.
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Episode 21 - Refugee
Release Date: 1990-05-13An American secret agent finds himself being tasked with one more mission. He is to help a Soviet scientist, but finds that the forces he is to help her escape from are more dangerous than the Russians.
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Episode 22 - The Gift
Release Date: 1990-05-20A young boy has been kidnapped and locked in the basement of a cabin where he meets and befriends a strange beast he discovers to be a man with many powers. He can help them escape their captors, but there are unfortunate limits to such abilities.
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Episode 23 - The Bargain
Release Date: 1990-05-27A homely owner of a bookshop is very much in love with a frequent customer who barely seems to know she exists. When she calls a number in a very old magazine, she finds that they are in business and willing to sell her a mask that will guarantee her the beauty that will catch the man's attention.
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Episode 24 - The Family Man
Release Date: 1990-06-03A young boy tries to protect his family from an alien, whom he can only see using his dead father's glasses.