Tales from the Crypt
Year: 1972
Director: Freddie Francis
Written by: Milton Subotsky
Threat: Psychopath/Death/Zombie/Death/Dog
Weapon of Choice: Poker
Based upon: comic book stories by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, William Gaines
IMDb page: 
Tales from the CryptYear: 1972 Director: Freddie Francis Written by: Milton Subotsky Threat: Psychopath/Death/Zombie/Death/Dog Weapon of Choice: Poker Based upon: comic book stories by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, William Gaines IMDb page: |
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Other movies in this series:
Vault of Horror
Rish Outfield's reviews
I really like horror anthology movies. The old EC comic series and its
imitators (not to mention the 90's TV series) are so cool I have to scratch
myself. Ahhh, that's better.
Five strangers find themselves stuck in a crypt with the mysterious Crypt
Keeper. He knows their secrets and tells them each a story concerning their
deeds and unpleasant ends. My favourite segments were the dream one and the
one with Peter Cushing, where he played a kind, decent old man, who is
mercilessly tormented by his neighbour.
I didn't find the ending wrap-up very logical, but it was a nice twist. I
think that's what I liked most about the old EC comics ("Tales From the
Crypt," "Vault of Horror," and . . . what was the other one? "Haunt of
Fear?") and old "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits" episodes, that obligatory,
yet usually totally effective turn of events at the end.
Somebody told me there was a sequel out there, but I haven't found it yet.
The tyranist's thoughts
I'm not really a big anthology film fan. They often confuse me and make me wonder
why I'm not watching them on TV instead of on a tape that I rented. Sometimes they
will have at least one really interesting, really good story, but not very often.
Tales from the Crypt, which of course went on to be a big hit as a TV series,
is no exception. I found the stories generally uninteresting despite the few moments
of ultra-coolness. If I had to pick the one I liked the most, it would probably be
"Poetic Justice." You can make your own judgment.
It's always fun to see Peter Cushing even though there were enough old men that I
had to work to decide which one was him. Joan Collins looked better than I've ever
seen her in a very sympathetic role. The production values are about what you'd expect
for a TV series, with at least one set appearing no less than three times in three
different sections.
Made well before the anthology series rush of the '80s, I suppose that I should give it
credit for what it is. There were anthologies that came before it, but I would surmise
that this is the one that really kicked them off and made them okay to do. Followed a
year later by another entry in the series, Vault of Horror, this is likely the true
beginning of anthology film making in the horror genre.
Addendum: I recently had the opportunity to watch this one again. It has been
a few years since the first time I saw it and I've seen a lot of really bad stuff in the meantime.
What struck me most this time through, was how sad the stories were. The people were
petty and mean and generally morally reprehensible, but in some of the stories there
was a real element of tragedy. "Poetic Justice" remains my favourite, but for a different
reason now. The gore was pitiful, the twists now cliched, but really, there is something
more here that I failed to see the first time. Far from being scary, these stories may be
among the saddest I've seen in a horror film.
Total Skulls: 11
| Sequel | ||
| Sequel setup | ||
| Rips off earlier film | ||
| Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie | ||
| Future celebrity appears | ||
| Former celebrity appears | ||
| Bad title | ||
| Bad premise | ||
| Bad acting | ||
| Bad dialogue | ||
| Bad execution | ||
| MTV Editing | ||
| OTS | ||
| Girl unnecessarily gets naked | ||
| Wanton sex | ||
| Death associated with sex | ||
| Unfulfilled promise of nudity | ||
| Characters forget about threat |  |
|
| Secluded location | ||
| Power is cut | |
|
| Phone lines are cut | ||
| Someone investigates a strange noise | ||
| Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door | ||
| Camera is the killer | |
|
| Victims cower in front of a window/door | ||
| Victim locks self in with killer | ||
| Victim running from killer inexplicably falls | ||
| Toilet stall scene | ||
| Shower/bath scene | ||
| Car stalls or won't start | ||
| Cat jumps out | ||
| Fake scare | ||
| Laughable scare | ||
| Stupid discovery of corpse | ||
| Dream sequence | |
|
| Hallucination/Vision | ||
| No one believes only witness | |
|
| Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth | ||
| Warning goes unheeded | ||
| Music detracts from scene | ||
| Death in first five minutes | ||
| x years before/later | ||
| Flashback sequence | |
|
| Dark and stormy night | ||
| Killer doesn't stay dead | |
|
| Killer wears a mask | |
|
| Killer is in closet | ||
| Killer is in car with victim | ||
| Villain is more sympathetic than heroes | ||
| Unscary villain/monster | ||
| Beheading | ||
| Blood fountain | ||
| Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc. | ||
| Poor death effect | ||
| Excessive gore | ||
| No one dies at all | ||
| Virgin survives | ||
| Geek/Nerd survives | ||
| Little kid lamely survives | |
|
| Dog/Pet miraculously survives | ||
| Unresolved subplots | |
|
| "It was all a dream" ending | ||
| Unbelievably happy ending | ||
| Unbelievably crappy ending | ||
| What the hell? |