"Tales from the Darkside" Strange Love (TV Episode 1986) Poster

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7/10
Unexpectedly pleasant
Bored_Dragon18 June 2018
Naive, linear, unoriginal, but surprisingly romantic and sexy. One of the earliest roles of Marcia Cross, who later became famous in "Melrose Place" and "Desperate Housewives". At the time, she was only 24 years old and she is truly enchanting in the role of a vampire who falls in love with the mortal.

7/10
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7/10
Entertaining little tale about Vampires.
poolandrews13 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Tales from the Darkside: Strange Love is set in 1935 & starts late one night as Dr. Philip Carrol (Patrick Kilpatrick) is asked by Edmund Alcott (Harsh Nayyar) to come back to his apartment & treat his wife Marie (Marcia Cross) who has fallen over & broke her leg. Carrol agrees & is mesmerised by the beautiful Marie when he sees her, then Edmund & Marie reveal themselves to be Vampires who keep Carrol chained up so he can treat Marie until she recovers. However Marie & Carrol start to fall in love which Edmund isn't happy about...

Episode 21 from season2 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during May 1986, directed by Ted Gershunny this is a quaint & entertaining little tale about Vampires & love. The script by Edithe Swensen is a darkly comic style horror tale about Vampires which passes twenty odd minutes entertainingly enough. Was it just me or is Strange Love ridden with subtle yet very noticeable S&M imagery & metaphors? From a master servant relationship between Edmund & Carrol to a half naked Carrol put into a dog collar chained to a wall to Carrol being made to kneel & crawl on the floor to him having to sleep on the floor on a cushion! Maybe it's just me, maybe I am just reading too much into it but then again maybe I'm not.

There's a bit of blood & gore in this one, from a couple of cut chest's to some blood drinking to a Vampire getting a stake shoved into his heart. The production design is good & the huge double coffin the Vampires sleep in with an automatic lid is quite quirky & quaint. The acting is alright with a couple of familiar faces in here including Maria Cross who is probably better known for her role as one of the Desperate Houswives (2004 - 2008) & Patrick Kilpatrick who has been in loads of telly & films.

Strange Love is a decent fun quirky darkly comic Tales from the Darkside episode that comes after a couple of very good episodes & season two is ending strongly.
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5/10
Pretty Cheezy
shellytwade28 January 2022
The plus of this episode is it at least makes sense within the world it's building. The negative though is it's pretty cheesy and uses a lot of ideas I'd picture in a 1940's B-movie. It's not scary or interesting, it's sort of just there. Watch if your a completest or love vampires, otherwise I'd avoid.
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7/10
The Lover
claudio_carvalho25 April 2022
When Marie Alcott twists her ankle while dancing at home, her husband Edmund Alcott seeks out the young Dr. Philip Carrol and asks him to go to his home to treat Marie. Dr. Carrol is impressed with her beauty and soon he finds that they are vampires. Edmund keeps Philip chained to the wall to heal Marie, and he treats her with chivalry. Soon they fall in love with each other, but Edmund is a very possessive male. What will happen with the trio?

"Strange Love" is a nice episode of "Tales from the Darkside" with a romantic vampire story. The plot works mainly because of the beauty of Marcia Cross, capable of making the human Dr. Philip Carrol have a crush on her. My vote is seven.

Title (Brail): "Strange Love"
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8/10
Kind of charming.
TOMNEL2 August 2006
With Marcia Cross.

A doctor is brought by a caped man to his secluded hideaway, to fix his wife. We soon find that these two are vampires. A very young Marcia Cross plays the female vampire Marie. She wants to be with the doctor, Phillip, so they come up with ways to kill her husband vampire. It's an unusually charming love story between a vampire and a human, and it oddly worked. The whole episode takes place in one location so it is like no other vampire episode. Either you like it or you hate it. Can be found on TFTD volume 4.

My rating: Excellent episode. 22 mins. TV PG V
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4/10
Middling vampire tale
Leofwine_draca12 June 2015
STRANGE LOVE is a middling vampire story from season two of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE. This episode is notable for featuring the distinctive actress Marcia Cross, best known today for her role in the long-running DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, who plays the wife in a husband and wife vampire team. When a doctor turns up at the household to treat them, he's in for a surprise...

This tale plays out as a kind of romantic vampire love triangle, and one of the most interesting things for me is that the doctor character is played by Patrick Kilpatrick, usually better known as a screen heavy. The episode is pretty tame with lukewarm action and an annoyingly jokey tone.
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9/10
Early role for Marcia before she became a household name on Melrose Place and Desperate Housewives.
blanbrn13 November 2006
Just finished watching this TFTD episode and was much impressed with it's cunning and charm, and most of all I was glad to see the attractive and elegant Marcia Cross in one of her earliest roles. This was well before Marcia reached stardom with Melrose and Housewives, but hey everyone has to build their way up in Hollywood and entertainment, and doing it in a horror series is just fine. Cross is just as bright with her fine red hair and she plays a lovely vamp in this episode called "Strange Love". "Strange Love" is an episode that focuses on a vampire couple set in 1935 who are entertaining and Marcia plays the wife and she breaks her leg while dancing, then her husband must call in the doctor. As with vampire rules no hospitals, so in home or should I say coffin treatment, anyway the doctor is held captive by the male vampire, only while he goes off one night Marcia becomes attached to the doctor while he's held captive, by charming him she seeks new blood and transforms the doctor by seducing him! A good episode well written, and acted nice to see the elegant Marcia in a charming role before she gained fame. Try to catch this episode sometimes it's worth it.
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8/10
Nifty offbeat episode
Woodyanders30 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Dr. Philip Carrol (a fine and likable performance by Patrick Kilpatrick) gets summoned on a late night house call by haughty vampire Edmund Alcott (well played to the supercilious hilt by Harsh Nayyar) to tend to Edmund's beautiful injured wife Marie (a pleasingly seductive portrayal by ravishing redhead Marcia Cross of Desperate Housewives fame). However, Edmund refuses to let Carrol leave after he's finished doing his job. Director Theodore Gershuny, working from a witty and quirky script by Edithe Swensen, relates the compelling oddball story at a steady pace, offers a flavorsome evocation of the 1930's period setting, and handles the amusing sense of black humor with a deft light touch. Moreover, both the way this episode has clever fun with the vampire premise and the overall elegance of the presentation elevate the quality of this one a few extra notches. The uniformly sound acting by the capable cast rates as another definite asset, with veteran bad guy character actor Kilpatrick a particular stand-out in a welcome and refreshing change of pace nice guy role. A worthwhile show.
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