Based on the paperback edition of the EC comics, Tales From the Crypt is an above average 5 part anthology film involving five strangers that get separated from their tour group and find themselves trapped in ancient catacombs. A monk-like Crypt Keeper holds them captive and one at a time reveals their doomed futures. At first it doesn’t seem like the sightseers have anything in common but the Crypt Keeper soon exposes them all as morally bankrupt jerks who deserve their respective fates.
In And All Through the House, Joan Collins offs her husband in a poorly conceived insurance scam. Why she picks Christmas Eve to commit murder in the living room while her young daughter lays in bed anticipating Santa completely escaped me. She has no plan to dispose of the body and her situation is exacerbated by an unanticipated (awesome!) threat. All in all it’s an effectively dark, if uncomplicated yarn that literally made me jump.
Reflection of Death follows a man who abandons his family for his mistress only to get involved in a nasty car wreck. He awakens to a double bummer. His wife is with another man and his mistress is blind from the accident. I can’t elaborate further with spoiling but there are a couple of nifty twists. Let’s move on, shall we?
I read wonderful things about the third story Poetic Justice and thankfully it delivered. Peter Cushing plays Arthur Grumsdyke, a kindly old garbage man adored by children and animals. His pompous neighbor feels that his very presence in the neighborhood lowers property values and through a mean-spirited campaign of harassment, drives him to suicide. Fortunately justice has a way of triumphing in Tales from the Crypt, in fiendishly satisfying ways. Cushing pours his heart into this mini-role (drawing from the grief he experienced over the recent death of his wife) and his shabby, pitiable character is noticeably different from the confident, sophisticated personas he's better known for.
In the weakest episode Wish You Were Here, we get a different take on the old Monkey’s Paw story. The wife of a businessman on the brink of bankruptcy discovers a Chinese figurine that grants wishes. She learns the age old lesson "be careful what you wish for" the hard way.
Blind Alleys closes the film strongly. A former major takes charge of a home for the blind and cruelly diminishes their already meager living conditions for financial gain. His remorselessness to the handicapped establishes him as the perfect villain. In one shamelessly heart tugging yet compelling scene, a blind man pleads for better treatment, stating that blind people feel hunger and numbing cold more because of their heightened senses. Unmoved, Major Rogers summons his attack dog to end the conversation. When one man dies from the cold the tenants band together to exact revenge.
I have a high tolerance for early 70's British horror but I agree with JPX that they are often slow builders with little payoff. However Tales From the Crypt avoids the long windedness due to the anthology format and the result is 5 engaging stories with little fat to trim. It's worth seeking out for Poetic Justice alone.
7 comments:
JPX - doesn't Peter Cushing look eerily like Russell in the wool cap?
Fun fact from Wikipedia:
During production (of Star Wars) Cushing was presented with ill-fitting riding boots for the role and they pinched his feet so much that he was given permission by George Lucas to play the role wearing his slippers. The camera operators filmed him above the knees or standing behind the table of the conference room set.
Beautiful tribute to Cushing from Christopher Lee: "I don't want to sound gloomy, but, at some point of your lives, every one of you will notice that you have in your life one person, one friend whom you love and care for very much. That person is so close to you that you are able to share some things only with him. For example, you can call that friend, and from the very first maniacal laugh or some other joke you will know who is at the other end of that line. We used to do that with him so often. And then when that person is gone, there will be nothing like that in your life ever again".
Reaaly fine review Mr. Pants, I love a good anthology. What's better than poetic justice. That's so funny to think of Peter Cushing standing on the death star looking all ominous and he's in his slippers.
OMG, before I read your comment I was all ready to make the same observation - he's the spitting imabge of Russell! I'll have to find a photo for a side by side.
How is it that I never knew of the existence of this film? I always think of the crappy TV show when I think of Tales From the Crypt. I will definitely check this out. Nice summary.
I always think if that terrible TV show as well. These sound great, and it's rare to have all the stories in an anthology be good.
I wonder if there's any photographic evidence of Cushing in the slippers. JPX - check that Star Wars coffee table book you own. There's gotta be a pic in there.
Some depressing Cushing thoughts after the death of his wife:
"In 1971, Cushing withdrew from the film Blood from the Mummy's Tomb when his wife died. He and actress Helen Beck (8 February 1905 – 14 January 1971) had been married since 1943. The following year, he was quoted in the Radio Times as saying "Since Helen passed on I can't find anything; the heart, quite simply, has gone out of everything. Time is interminable, the loneliness is almost unbearable and the only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that my dear Helen and I will be united again some day. To join Helen is my only ambition. You have my permission to publish that... really, you know dear boy, it's all just killing time. Please say that."
Six years later, his feelings were unchanged: "When Helen passed on six years ago I lost the only joy in life that I ever wanted. She was my whole life and without her there is no meaning. I am simply killing time, so to speak, until that wonderful day when we are together again."
In his autobiography, he implies that he attempted suicide the night that his wife died, by running up and down stairs in the vain hope that it would induce a heart attack. He later stated that this was a hysterical reaction to his wife's death, and that he was not consciously trying to end his life - his strong religious beliefs prevented him from attempting suicide "for real".
That is so sad. Now I'm depressed.
Jeez, that is depressing. Thanks for ruining my day, JSP.
Aw, not really. This sounds great! I'll have to put it on my list for next year...
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