James Remar plays artist James Preston
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| We observe Preston's studio from the perspective of a gargoyle on the opposite building.
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| Preston works on a sculpture in his studio. |
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| When a part of the sculpture accidentally breaks, he destroys the whole thing. |
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We see Preston weeping at his workbench in a wide shot of his studio.
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| Preston finds out he has been dumped by his artist's agent and goes to his local bar to drown his sorrows. |
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| He leaves the bar along with the bartender at the end of the night. The bartender is attacked and killed by a horrifying gargoyle in an alleyway behind the bar. The gargoyle tells Preston it will spare his life if he never tells anyone what it looks like. |
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| After this happens Preston obsessively draws images of the gargoyle. |
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| Preston's girlfriend's connections secure him a solo show in a prestigious gallery. Here, a visitor admires his artwork. |
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| Preston talks with his beautiful new girlfriend at his exhibition. She tells him her friend who runs the gallery has sold a piece of his work for $23000 |
Tales from the Darkside is a comedy horror anthology film, the section titled 'Lover's Vow' stars James Remar as Preston the artist
Lover's Vow
Preston is a struggling artist. He lives in a studio with a skylight, through which a large stone gargoyle on the neighboring building, peers down. Preston's agent calls, asking to meet with him at a bar a few blocks away. The agent tells Preston that his artwork is unpopular and not selling. Dejected, Preston drinks heavily and at the end of the night, the bar owner who is a friend of his, offers to walk him home.
Along the way, Preston stops to relieve himself in a back alley, when his friend sees and shoots at a gargoyle monster. The creature attacks, severing his hand and then decapitating him. Terrified, Preston tries to run away, but the creature corners him and speaks, agreeing to spare his life if he swears never to reveal what he has seen. The monster scratches Preston's chest, saying "Cross your heart?", then vanishes.
Preston runs into another alley where he bumps into a lone woman named Carola. She claims to have become lost while going to meet friends and was searching for a taxi. Preston convinces her to call a taxi from his apartment, where Carola cleans the gargoyle-inflicted wound on his chest, and they have sex with each other.
Preston's life soon improves, and his struggling art career becomes wildly successful, mostly thanks to Carola's connections. They eventually marry and have two children. Preston is still tormented by memories of the gargoyle though, and his vow of silence weighs heavily on him. On the tenth anniversary of him first meeting Carola, Preston breaks down and tells her about the monster. Carola appears uncomfortable by his revelation and then emits a heartbroken wail, "You promised you'd never tell!", revealing herself as the creature that killed his friend.
With Preston's vow broken, Carola can no longer remain human and begins transforming back into a gargoyle. Their children are screaming in the bedroom as they also transform into gargoyles. Carola, now fully transformed, wraps her wings around Preston and the couple proclaim their love for each other, but with the vow broken, Carola is still reluctantly forced to kill him by biting his neck, before flying away with her gargoyle children. The final scene shows the three gargoyles now turned to stone and sitting upon the building ledge, staring down at the city with sorrowful expressions.
