While any geek old enough to remember the late 80s and early 90s knew about the Tales from the Crypt TV show, not many know about the older British movie based on the same comic strip.
I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of the TV show but I know the big difference is that instead of an animatronic skeleton as The Crypt Keeper we have Sir Ralph Richardson. I feel like there’s some sort of joke to be made here about Sir Ralph Richardson but I don’t know enough about him to make one. Anyway, the wraparounds with him are creepy and so are all these stories.
“And All Through The House…”: Joan Collins, later of nighttime soap opera Dynasty and becoming America’s most popular cougar in Playboy fame, plays a woman who kills her husband and then gets pursued by a homicidal Santa. I guess he really does know when you’ve been naughty or nice. <shrug>
“Reflection of Death”: Man leaves his family for another woman and then karma catches up to him.*
“Poetic Justice”: A man feels his elderly neighbor is a nuisance bringing down property values and tries to ruin his life to the point where the latter kills himself. The story certainly does not end there.
“Wish You Were Here”: A variation on The Monkey’s Paw, for which I’ve expressed my admiration.
“Blind Alleys”: An army major runs a home for the visually impaired and subjects them to atrocious conditions, in a premise that just screams horror.
The film has a low-budget look which adds to the creepiness without ever feeling cheap. It’s filmed, directed, and written amazingly.
Up Next: The sequel.
Bottom Line: If you’re a horror fan you absolutely cannot go wrong with this.
*Regarding the whole karma issue, I read a hilarious review which talks about how the main character in this segment commits no atrocity worse than walking off with the “other woman” yet is the only sinner personally admonished by The Crypt Keeper. The writer of the review commented how such mentalities are common not only for British horror movies of the time but any horror movies of any time and added “There are those who would think murdering your husband with a poker, driving a harmless old man to suicide, and tormenting blind people are worse crimes than adultery but not the makers of this movie.”**
**For you wrestling fans – and you certainly know I’m one – I was reminded of that review during a 2008 WWE match that served as the culmination of a storyline where Edge cheated on his wife and The Undertaker not only beat Edge badly in the ring but then chokeslammed him THROUGH the ring as extra punishment. The commentator referred to The Undertaker as “the moral compass of the WWE” and in a podcast I said “Yes. The Undertaker murdered his parents by setting the family home on fire, locked The Ultimate Warrior in an airtight casket, and tried to embalm Stone Cold Steve Austin alive but adultery? An upstanding citizen like him will never stand for THAT!”
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