Demon Knight is a 1995 horror film starring Billy Zane, William Sadler and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Plot summary

The story revolves around an artifact and its guardian. The artifact is a key to somehow open the gates of hell and release all sorts of demons. William Sadler plays Brayker, the current guardian of the key (a demon knight, hence the title), while Billy Zane is the Collector, a higher level demon who is tasked to retrieve the key and use it to open the gates of hell and unleash darkness across the universe.

The key also serves as a container for blood that has the power to create barriers on entrances where it prevents the demons from passing through. These barriers can be broken by either removing the blood from where it was poured, or by destroying it (a character destroys it with a shotgun blast). In 33 AD the container was filled with the blood of Jesus Christ, which was obtained when he was being crucified. But when it ran out it could be refilled with the blood of the latest guardian knight who carried the artifact and would still have the same power, due to it still having some (however diluted) blood left in it from Christ.

The bearer of the artifact appears to be immune to aging and natural death, but they are still vulnerable to death through other means. On their hand, there is a form of tattoo that acts as a gauge to when their night will come when they will fight the demons, and then pass on the duties of guardian to another. Brayker had taken the duties from a soldier he fought with in World War I.

Brayker takes refuge in a boarding house until the Collector comes with two police officers who arrest Brayker and take away the artifact, but the Collector can't touch it as long as their's blood in it and needs it emptied out, until one of the officers gets on his nerves and punches him through the head.

At that point, Brayker, the boarders, the remaining officer, and some people from the outside are stuck inside the house after the Collector summons his minions, lower-level demons which can possess people after they've been killed. One by one the boarders are possessed and are tempted by the Collector to get the things they want if they join him, power, beautiful women, tours around the world, until Brayker and Jeryline (played by Jada Pinkett Smith), a girl forced to work there or go to prison, are left after two of the boarders give their lives to protect them from the minions. Jeryline is given the artifact and Brayker is killed by a possessed person, and at that point the Collector tries to sway her to join him. She kills him by spitting some of the blood in his face.

At the end, Jeryline heads off into the world, however, she's followed by a man in an overcoat and a black hat...

Demon Knight is a spin off from the popular HBO show Tales from the Crypt. A year after Demon Knight, it was followed by Bordello of Blood.

Trivia

• In the film, Brayker says he is given the key from a soldier named Dickerson. This is a reference to the director, Ernest R. Dickerson.

• Demon Knight was released on Friday the 13th, a day traditionally held to be bad luck (this fits Tales from the Crypt's macabre atmosphere).

External link

1995 films | Horror films | Tales from the Crypt