In this very strange episode of Tales from the Darkside, an adult daughter returns six years after a nervous breakdown to a mother who has developed a vivid depiction of the young daughter she had been missing. The little girl is the younger (very obnoxious and gratingly provoking) version of Christine, given life due to a mother's powerful obsession with having a second chance to right the supposed wrongs and failures that occurred the first time around. Honestly, I think "The Shrine" belongs on the revamped 80s version of The Twilight Zone rather than on Tales from the Darkside--emotionally damaged families brought together by the supernatural resulting in the understanding that they need each other is a bit too sentimental, melodramatic, and treacly (with a daughter confronting in a rant-filled mano-a-mano spiritual battle--for the mother, who seems lost in her delusion--against the bratty little girl, often commenting with assurance and confidence that she now holds reign over mommy) for a show with "Darkside" in its title. The beginning cast an immediate impression with the rainy thunderstorm and theme of "mother's got a secret in her older daughter's room she once kept behind closed door". Once the little girl shows up with her windy temper tantrums, causing the childhood room to become a tornadic mess, and Lorna Luft having to bring pathos and genuine, heartfelt emotion to all of that (including moving towards the girl with the brat disappearing and re-emerging elsewhere), I was taken right out of the episode. I'm honest, though, this isn't really my bag. Fighting an illusion given form through the yearning of a mother missing her daughter, Luft tries to make the best of it. I guess reaching into the past regarding a difficult relationship with her own mother brought out a lot in her performance in how an older daughter, having recovered but still quite fragile from a breakdown, has a hard time reconnecting and finding common ground. Reaching out to her mother and requesting a response as the little girl spirit rattles on "na na na na boo boo" in retaliation, both vying for attention, Luft is up against a losing battle. Still, that said, I think "The Shrine" will perhaps hit home with those grown up children who have a hard time maintaining a strong relationship with parents due to a length of time apart and emotional distance. Still, all of this seems more suitable for an anthology besides The Darkside.
6 Reviews
Another Disappointing Episode
claudio_carvalho23 April 2022
Six years after having a breakdown, Christine returns to her mother's home in a stormy night. She is welcomed by her mother and is invited to spend the night in the guest room. She snoops around and finds that her old room is kept the way she left it and later Christine overhears voices inside the room. She opens the door and sees a young girl named Chrissy living in her room. Who might be Chrissy?
"The Shrine" is another disappointing episode of "Tales from the Darkside", with a corny storyline with lack of explanations. The beginning is promising and clichés for a horror tale, but the storyline changes to a mushy and sentimental conclusion. There is no explanation why Christine has spent six years without any contact with her mother. The supernatural Chrissy is a character open to interpretation of the viewer, but even for European films it would be dissatisfying. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "The Shrine"
"The Shrine" is another disappointing episode of "Tales from the Darkside", with a corny storyline with lack of explanations. The beginning is promising and clichés for a horror tale, but the storyline changes to a mushy and sentimental conclusion. There is no explanation why Christine has spent six years without any contact with her mother. The supernatural Chrissy is a character open to interpretation of the viewer, but even for European films it would be dissatisfying. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "The Shrine"
Barely Decent
shellytwade26 January 2022
This is another one that is sort of middling around the middle. It isn't great but it isn't as bad as the genie episode. A girl returns home but finds out her mother hasn't forgiven her as much as she thought she has. Some might get more out of this than I did but who knows.
Moralistic Tales from the Darkside episode.
poolandrews13 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Tales from the Darkside: The Shrine starts as Christine (Lorna Luft) returns to her childhood home after six long years, there her mother (Coleen Gray) welcomes her back. Looking inside her old room Christine discovers that her mother hasn't touched it & it's exactly the same the day she left. Then Christine hears voices inside her old room, eventually she is shocked to find out that her mother is looking after a young girl also named Chrissy (Virginya Keehne). Who is the girl? Where did she come from? What is her mother up to?
Episode 17 from season 2 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during February 1986, directed by Christopher T. Welch this isn't so much a Tales from the Darkside episode as a moral heartfelt drama with a sickly sentimental ending. The script by Jule Selbo starts off quite well late one night with a thunder storm raging outside as we first witness the mysterious activity in Christine's old room & that her mother is either mad or a ghost has decided to move in but in the end The Shrine goes all preachy & moralistic as it rams the notion of love & staying in touch down our throats. Both not to love & want too much like Christine's mother keeping her old bedroom exactly the same for years or to love too little like Christine herself in not keeping in touch with her mum in six years. The ending really is a little too mushy for my liking & there's never any sort of explanation as to who or what the young girl Chrissy is, is she a ghost? Was she a manifestation of Christine mums love? Was she magically sent there to replace Christine? I don't know & that kind of frustrates & annoys.
The opening sequence is quite well done here with an atmospheric thunder storm at night but that's pretty much where the horror stops & the moralistic messages begin. The cast do alright here.
The Shrine isn't so much a horror as a drama, personally if I want to watch a drama I will watch a soap opera & if I want to watch horror I would have thought a programme called Tales from the Darkside would be what i am looking for, unfortunately more often than not it's not.
Episode 17 from season 2 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during February 1986, directed by Christopher T. Welch this isn't so much a Tales from the Darkside episode as a moral heartfelt drama with a sickly sentimental ending. The script by Jule Selbo starts off quite well late one night with a thunder storm raging outside as we first witness the mysterious activity in Christine's old room & that her mother is either mad or a ghost has decided to move in but in the end The Shrine goes all preachy & moralistic as it rams the notion of love & staying in touch down our throats. Both not to love & want too much like Christine's mother keeping her old bedroom exactly the same for years or to love too little like Christine herself in not keeping in touch with her mum in six years. The ending really is a little too mushy for my liking & there's never any sort of explanation as to who or what the young girl Chrissy is, is she a ghost? Was she a manifestation of Christine mums love? Was she magically sent there to replace Christine? I don't know & that kind of frustrates & annoys.
The opening sequence is quite well done here with an atmospheric thunder storm at night but that's pretty much where the horror stops & the moralistic messages begin. The cast do alright here.
The Shrine isn't so much a horror as a drama, personally if I want to watch a drama I will watch a soap opera & if I want to watch horror I would have thought a programme called Tales from the Darkside would be what i am looking for, unfortunately more often than not it's not.
A ghostly kid mired in a lacking episode
Leofwine_draca3 June 2015
Despite the promising title, THE SHRINE is another lacklustre episode of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE that suffers from some seriously bad decisions by the director and writer. In it, a woman returns to her childhood home to visit her mother, only to discover that her old bedroom is haunted by the spirit of a child purporting to be her.
The premise is an eerie one but the execution doesn't go anywhere apart from down some expectedly sentimental routes. The use of the song 'Frere Jacques' which is sung over and over and over again becomes especially grating and the climax is a real cop-out. It's a shame because these DARKSIDE episodes often have a seed or nugget of interest which is wasted in a middling execution.
The premise is an eerie one but the execution doesn't go anywhere apart from down some expectedly sentimental routes. The use of the song 'Frere Jacques' which is sung over and over and over again becomes especially grating and the climax is a real cop-out. It's a shame because these DARKSIDE episodes often have a seed or nugget of interest which is wasted in a middling execution.
Moving episode
Woodyanders24 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Forlorn Cecelia Matthews (well played by Coleen Gray) has turned her daughter Christine's room into a shrine celebrating her past triumphs. But Christine (a fine and appealing performance by Lorna Luft) really isn't dead and returns home only to find competition in the form of bratty little girl Chrissie (a perfectly annoying portrayal by the adorable Virginya Keehne). Director Christopher T. Welch, working from a thoughtful script by Jule Selbo, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace and develops an intriguing air of mystery. The super acting from the two excellent leads keep things humming. 70's B-movie regular Janet Woods pops up in a lively and colorful secondary part as the cheery Toni. Moreover, this show is given extra pathos and substance thanks to its valid and poignant central theme about the need to let go of the past and accept people in the present as they are warts and all. The climatic reconciliation between estranged mother and daughter is quite touching. A worthwhile show.
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