When I watched the movie which I just reviewed I became crazy about it. I rented the VHS at that Berkeley store I mentioned here and here and even years later was reading about it on IMDB. There I found out about a sequel, which I then rented on Netflix disc.
Before anyone asks me whether that’s still a thing, I believe so but I haven’t used it in over three years. Heck even by that point I’d lasted longer than anyone else I knew.
Back to The Vault of Horror though, I loved it enough that I didn’t spend much time wondering where The Crypt Keeper was. I found out just now that although almost all the stories came from the Tales From The Crypt comic series, this movie from the same production company was meant to be an adaption of a separate series (also from EC Comics) actually called The Vault of Horror. Yet The Vault Keeper wasn’t shown either. Hmmm…
Regardless, I loved this movie, and not just because it has its own cool wraparound sequence. I’ll rate The Vault of Horror lower than Tales From The Crypt only because all the stories from that one stayed with me, whereas after watching this one twice I still really only remember one story off the top of my head.*
How are the stories though? Well…
“Midnight Mess”: A vampire story I don’t remember even AFTER having just read the plot summary.
“The Neat Job”: A persnickety man drives his wife a little too crazy.
“This’ll Trick You”: I should have remembered this one considering my parents are from India, where this is set, and the friend I showed the movie to is the one I explored India with last year. Also, I should have remembered this because it’s terrific!
“Bargain in Death”: Nice Edgar Allan Pow-esque yarn.
“Drawn and Quartered”: They saved by far the best one for last. One specific shot is what will always haunt me. Plus a big role is played by Denholm Elliot, our beloved Marcus Brody.
What I said about the previous movie also applies here: it has a low-budget look which adds to the creepiness without ever feeling cheap. It’s filmed, directed, and written amazingly.
Bottom Line: Again an incredible experience for any fan of horror anthologies!
*I’ve seen both movies twice because I wanted to show them to my best friend. One thing we had to discuss afterwards was how, whether the writers intended it or not, there was a very noticeable hierarchy among the people being sent to hell in the two movies. We had to rank them from most to least evil:
1) The first degree murderers
2) The aggravated assaulter
3) The psychological torturer
4) The sociopathically greedy man
5) The guy who attempts insurance fraud
6) The vaguely white-collar criminal
7) The guy who leaves his family
GOING
WAY
WAY
WAY
FAR
DOWN
8) The neat freak. Huh?
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