Tales from the Crypt

Plot synopsis:
Five strangers go with a tourist group to view old catacombs. Separated from the main group, they find themselves in a room with the mysterious Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson), who details how each of the strangers may die.
… And All Through the House (The Vault of Horror #35) 
After Joanne Clayton (Joan Collins) kills her husband (Martin Boddey) on Christmas Eve, she prepares to hide his body but hears a radio announcement stating that a homicidal maniac (Oliver MacGreevy) is on the loose. She sees the killer (who is dressed in a Santa Claus costume) outside her house but cannot call the police without exposing her own crimes.
Believing the maniac to be Santa, Joanne's young daughter (Chloe Franks) unlocks the door and lets him into the house, whereupon he starts to strangle Joanne to death.
Reflection of Death (Tales from the Crypt #23) 
Carl Maitland (Ian Hendry) abandons his family to be with Susan Blake (Angela Grant). After they drive off together, they are involved in a car accident. He wakes up in the wrecked car and attempts to hitch-hike home, but no one will stop for him. Arriving at his house, he sees his wife (Susan Denny) with another man.
He knocks on the door, but she screams and slams the door. He then goes to see Susan to find out that she is blind from the accident. She says that Carl died two years ago from the crash. Looking in a reflective tabletop he sees he has the face of a corpse. Carl then wakes up and finds out that it was a dream but the moment he does, the crash occurs as it did before.
Poetic Justice (The Haunt of Fear No. 12, March–April 1952) 
Edward Elliott (David Markham) and his son James (Robin Phillips) are a snobbish pair who resent their neighbour, dust man Arthur Grimsdyke (Peter Cushing) who owns a number of animals and entertains children in his house. To get rid of what they see as a blight on the neighbourhood, they push Grimsdyke into a frenzy by conducting a smear campaign against him, first resulting in the removal of his beloved dogs (one of them came back to him), persuading a member of the council to have him removed from his job, and later exploiting parents' paranoiac fears about child molestation.
On Valentine's Day, James sends Grimsdyke a number of poison-pen Valentines, supposedly from the neighbours, driving the old man to suicide. One year later, Grimsdyke comes back from the dead and takes revenge on James: the following morning, Edward finds his son dead with a note that says he was bad and that he had no heart-- the word "heart" represented by James's heart, torn from his body.
Wish You Were Here (The Haunt of Fear #22, November–December 1953), is a variation on W. W. Jacobs' famed short story "The Monkey's Paw."
Ineffective businessman Ralph Jason (Richard Greene) is close to financial ruin. His wife Enid (Barbara Murray) discovers a Chinese figurine that says it will grant three wishes to whoever possesses it; Enid decides to wish for a fortune; surprisingly, it comes true. However, Ralph is killed on the way to his lawyer's office to collect it. The lawyer (Roy Dotrice) then advises Enid she will inherit a fortune from her deceased husband's life insurance plan. She uses her second wish to bring him back to the way he was just before the accident but learns that his death was due to a heart attack (caused by fright when he sees the figure of "death" following him on a motorcycle).
As she uses her final wish to bring him back alive and to live forever, she discovers that he was embalmed. She tries to kill him to end his pain but because she wished him to live forever, every bit of him is alive. She has now trapped him in eternal pain.
Blind Alleys (Tales from the Crypt No. 46, February–March 1955)
Major William Rogers (Nigel Patrick), the new incompetent director of a home for the blind (making up mostly of elderly and middle-aged men), makes drastic financial cuts, reducing heat and rationing food for the residents, while he lives in luxury with his dog Shane, a German Shepherd. When he ignores complaints and a man dies due to the cold, the blind residents, led by the stone-faced George Carter (Patrick Magee) exact an equally cruel revenge.
After Carter and his group subdue the staff, they lure and trap Major Rogers as well as his dog in two separate rooms in the basement. The blind men then begin constructing in the basement a maze of narrow corridors, some of them lined with razor blades. They starve the Major's dog, then place the Major in the maze's centre and turn off the lights. As the major attempts to escape, cutting himself and bleeding, the inmates release the starving dog...
After completing the final tale, the Crypt Keeper reveals that he was not warning them of what would happen, but telling them what had happened; they have all "died without repentance". Clues to this twist can be spotted throughout the film, including Joan Collins' character wearing the brooch her husband had given her for Christmas just before she killed him. The door to Hell opens, and the visitors all enter. "And now… who is next?" asks the Crypt Keeper, turning to face the camera. "Perhaps you?" (The earlier Amicus anthology Torture Garden featured a similar ending, breaking the fourth wall).

Tags: paranormal, comedy, gothic, murder

Review:
It had EVERYTHING; humor, horror, drama, and an amazing, original host to start each episode off: The Cryptkeeper.There may be other shows that are similar, but none will ever have anything like the Cryptkeeper.
Each episode begins by descending into what appears to be a haunted house, where we get introduced to the delightfully creepy Crypt Keeper.
Then, each episode tells a story involving a really nasty situation; some involve monsters, others involve people doing really unpleasant things, but they all make one laugh.
Nonetheless, it's very entertaining because of the effective mix of comedy, suspense, horror and originality.You only get six stories from this opening (1989) season of horror-comedy on cable television, but at a fairly cheap price, the DVD set still is well worth it.
(most of which seem to involve betraying lovers for some odd reason) Although some episodes are so far out there they come off as being lame at times I can't help but love them.
Every episode is like it's own little horror movie.
Thats all I have to say about this series and as the crypt keeper would say "Good night boils and ghouls.".
It was like the Twilight Zone, but with a strong horror theme (although not all the time), and without the pretentious feel.
OK, the Cryptkeeper, I remember him fondly, as I knew whenever I say him I knew he'd be preceded by a great tale of horror.
OK maybe in the first short season, it wasn't as apparent as the superb later seasons would be, but this did lay the groundwork (side note: none of the tales in the first 6 episodes of this series actually came from the "Tales From the Crypt" comic series technically).
Not to say this season wasn't good, quite the opposite as the maniac Santa story of "And all through the House" and the black comedic "Collection Completed" are classic episodes, even if the other 4 are not really up to snuff.
Even the second season would get so much better by leaps and bounds.My Season one grade: BSeason 1 Extras: New introduction from a now heavily bandaged Cryptkeeper; the cool "Tales from the Crypt: From Comic Books to Television" documentary and the not nearly as cool 5 and a half minute "Crypt Keeper's History Of Season 1".
Each episode is stand-alone, and with this series in particular the 30 minute time frame flies right by...leading you to watch another!
Not time consuming.Horror fans (especially), but also fans of comedy, or just plain old fashioned (sometimes simple minded even cheesy) storytelling will get a kick out of this series.
It's hard to rate it as an entire series, because the episodes went from really bad, to excellent.
I've always loved horror anthology shows, but almost all of them fit into one of these three categories: 1) mediocre knockoff of The Twilight Zone (Circle of Fear, The Hitchhiker); 2) inspired spin on The Twilight Zone (Black Mirror, either version of The Outer Limits); or 3) The Twilight Zone.Tales from the Crypt seems so fresh, in part, because it's aiming for something different; as a live-action reimagining of classic horror comic books, it's closer to, say, the Creepshow movies than to One Step Beyond.
Tales from the Crypt is a series that ran for a full seven seasons, with the last one being entirely filmed in the UK.
Each episode has a dark story of love, hate, pain, death or a mix of any of the above with a little twist of dark humour thrown in for good measure.This show proves that a low budget and cheesy monsters cannot ruin great writing, fantastic acting and naughty hidden gags.If you choose to take my advice and watch this programme, you will find many huge names making early appearances.
But most importantly EC comics showed that the horror tradition is here to stay.This show is my fifth favorite anthology horror TV show, one of my favorite live action comic book adaptations as it is done right because it keeps true to the spirit of the classic EC horror comics, but most importantly one of my favorite TV shows.I've seen this show when I was about 12 to 13 years old, I was highly into anthology horror and this show and this show caught my eye and I never even knew about the existence of the EC comics at the time.I love the horror host "The Cryptkeeper", the design is great, the puppeteering and animatronics are all on cue.
This guy is just hilarious as he has some of the best lines as well as puns that are so deliciously bad their good.The music is great, I really love the theme song which is one of my favorite theme songs of all time composed by one of my favorite composers "Danny Elfman".
I remember as a kid always pretending I'm the person running forward as the camera was in motion.Effects are fantastic, this show has some of the best gore effects I've ever seen and is something I've never seen in any horror anthology show.
It really went to show that this show wasn't messing around it was going to go all the way.The stories are great and memorable (as well as well know producers, directors, writers, and actors to boot), I like that they keep not just the gruesome beauty of the comics but also the morality tale aspect intact as to me, "Tales from the Crypt" and the other EC Comics series to me were our modern folklore, Brothers Grimm, a somewhat twisted version of Assops Fables.
Though also what makes them stand out are the humor which is really dark but it works, just like in the comic stories they don't take themselves too seriously and give the horror a bit of a strange lighthearted sensibility but maintaining it's dark side at the same time.
And of course my favorite is "Carron Death" which is suspenseful and darkly funny as a psycho is chained and forced to drag a body to his destination, little knowing it could be his final destination.So come to the Crypt you in good company.Rating: 4 stars.
Based upon the comic books of the fifties, the cryptkeeper invites you to 93 tales of terror, sex, violence, and twists.
All Seven seasons are currently available on DVD(finally)and are more than worth viewing for anyone from the most die-hard horror fans to appreciators of really good television..
I can remember the little cryptkeeper dude from growing up but last summer I binged watched through this entire series and OMG was it gooood!
Like Demi Moore looking super-young or Arnold Schwarzenegger directing?!!But the best part is of course the little cryptkeeper man talking before and after the episode.
A deadly series that is both scary and funny , that to me is Awesome Entertainment , what i expect to watch after a hard and stressful day at work , If you love Horror/thrillers , you will Flip for this series.
I remember looking forward to them each week and mainly was concerned with how the Crypt Keeper was going to set up the story as well as his zany comments at the end of the show.
Although each of the stories are a bit unique in there own way and there is enough dark humor to keep even the most hardcore horror fan entertained for the half hour presentations.
I would recommend this series to anyone who grew up watching these or anyone who is a fan of the B-Grade horror movies of the 80's.
Night Shyamalan could only wish to write (and if you thought the Sixth Sense had a great twist, you will love Tales From The Crypt) Maybe not exactly scary, but entertaining nonetheless.
Ironically from the creators Mad Mag. But even though the show went off air, I still remember the opening theme, the crypt-keeper, his cheesy puns and the second episode that was so graphically horrific and so disturbing.
Not only did this series bring one of the best horror comic alive and miraculously panned it out in to 30 minutes be it challenged the FCC and DC comics on the graphic nature of such comic books.
Each episode was scarier than the last and some of the themes and situations were so suggestive and risky, but Zemeckis, Joel Silver and Richard Donner stayed true to those books and created one of the best horror TV show ever.Essentially, classic and original horror, a lot of violence, gore, disturbing subject matter and images and the crypt-keeper as the comic relief.
Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that I'll always remember this show in my memory forever, even though I don't think I've seen every episode.
I remembered watching an HBO free preview weekend in the summer of 89 (the year "Tales" premiered), and when the commercial came onto the screen, I'd hide my face under a pillow because the Cryptkeeper scared me to death.
Any ways enough of those horrible moments of my youth, bottom line: Good horror anthology show.P.S. The Third Pig episode was the best one ever!!!.
Let's just talk about the stories.In the old days, shows like "Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" gave anthology lovers interesting stories about real (as in identifiable) people in striking situations...all the ingredients for a good ride."Tales From the Crypt" was, however, a contrived camp-fest which tried too hard to be outrageous.
I'm a big fan of the old comic (I have all the issues that were reprinted in the 1990s) and I had heard this series was really strong stuff.
They're OK.The casts are great (it's fun seeing Brad Pitt before he hit it big) and there's some well-directed episodes...but I find this series lacking somewhat.
While some episodes are pretty hit and miss, the host of the series, the Cryptkeeper, is a show stealing.
"Tales from the Crypt" was a very good show from the first season to the third one.
I recommend "Tales from the Crypt" for its early episodes but not many others afterwards..
The bonus for those of us old enough to remember the William Gaines' comic books on which the show was based, was how close each episode came to those classic comic stories, both in look and substance.
A great trivia question: in which episode did John Kassir, who provided the voice of the Cryptkeeper, play a supporting role?
The Crypt Keeper was the master of scary monsters and their tales shall be heard with unexplainable mysteries are all in one t.v show and it is called Tales from the Crypt.I absolutely loved all of his seasons of terror and mystery,they made up wonderful stories of these great monsters,I loved when a man had nine lives and wasted on shows that he can come alive.Or the killer Santa,that made me changed the way of serial killers and Santa after I watched this.And the movie on these vampires that kill the men under their spell was different than the other Vampire movies.And I love when the beginning on every movie or episode he tells a little joke and then his creepy laugh like Chucky.This really dissevered the Emmys and nominations and everything because this series swept-ed the nation on this new series.And not bad on being on the air for 7 years,congratulations for this lovely t.v series..
In 1989 HBO started a cultural phenomenon as far as original series goes that series was my all time favorite show "Tales from the Crypt".
I remember the very first episode I watched was in a motel room while on summer vacation in 1989, and being a horror fan I knew that this was the series for me.
Still that was pretty good if you like a show never fear I was finally able to purchase VHS home video tapes of several episode volumes of "Tales from the Crypt" and plenty of episodes I have been able to record off the Sci-Fi cable network which now reruns the series.
I now have a full home video library of "Tales from the Crypt" and believe me I watch many episodes over and over!
And to mention another great success of this series was the use of a talking skeleton The Cryptkeeper (voice: John Kassir) who hosted the series and I tell you The Cryptkeeper happens to be a pop culture icon every episode begins with a funny gesture made by The Cryptkeeper to get you started with the tale then as each tale ends The Cryptkeeper speaks humorously about the hideous happenings of the tale right boys and ghouls!
Just to mention "Tales from the Crypt" is more than just a horror TV show with gore each episode is crafted perfect into an interesting thirty minutes with enough twist and high drama to make anyone enjoy and also enough humor and laughter can be found to put a viewer at ease.
"Tales from the Crypt" also has good moral lessons that individuals can take every episode is about bad people getting comeuppance like I tell people take the message and lessons to heart what comes around goes around right kiddies..
If HBO had a heart they would bring back this brilliant horror anthology featuring some great writing and some very famous faces.
This was one of those shows that SHOULD come back.American Horror Story tires to do it, only on a much larger scale with a new story each season that is supposed to be connected in a grandiose way...and that is fine but...Tales From the Crypt just offered a new and unique story each week, written and directed and acted by some very talented people.
Funny good old horror show with some really good ideas, dark humor and a good production and almost every episode got a fine cast.
Tales from the Crypt is one of my favorite TV shows, similar to The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone.
However, I do know this horror show hosted by the friendly and insane crypt keeper was a rather fun show, of course some episodes were better than others as it is your "Tales from the Darkside" type format with every episode being something different.
Within the first season or so you would see remakes of the different episodes of the 1970's "Tales from the Crypt" movie as they did the one with Santa Claus which was better than the original, and the one with the blind folk which was not as good as the original.
My family and I went to a friends house and saw the shows on HBO...some episodes made me laugh (I was six at the time...the show was in season three by that point) others scared the daylights out of me.
I love "Only Sin Deep" from the first season and things like "The Secret" from the second season are kind of lame but overall I'm happy they are on DVD now so I can watch and enjoy them all over again.I think I'm the only person who admits to loving the Crypt Keepers puns....
"Tales From the Crypt" hung around and hung around for eight mostly tedious years and some 93 episodes were completed (on premium channels they do about half as many shows a year as a network).
The series' calling card was the crypt keeper, a disgustingly ugly muppet who introduced each terrible tale and came back at the end for conclusive thoughts.
All of these movies were made up small stories, and good old fashioned horror.
They need to release the whole series on DVD soon because otherwise I'm going to go mad, Cryptkeeper style, and start telling horror stories of my own like how I found the people who put shows on DVD and tortured them for passing up Tales From the Crypt and putting shows like JAG and Doogie Howser on DVD..
I also liked the way the series' "zombie" episodes kept true to the tradition of the verrrrrrrrry slowly moving things "paralyzing people with fear" so that they could actually get close enough to someone to make the kill.
I was looking for some sort of a modern version of "The Twilight Zone," a show that I enjoy so much but lasted only five seasons.I watched all the episodes from the 1st season of Tales from the Crypt and just the few first ones of the second, until I had it.There always HAS TO BE a bunch of scenes with incredibly disturbing things involving blood.I really had it when they started showing real gruesome stuff like mutilated people alive, cutting off fingers, killing another person by a huge ax-like thing, a huge knife and watching tons of blood come out of the killed individual.
This is no joke - this is a great series of great stories...tales!Plus...look at the producers behind all seven seasons of this great storytelling!
"In this night's terror tale..." One legendary magic horror TV series for the ages..
To me at least the first three seasons had so much heart and wicked love for the craft put into them that you could really feel that they were trying to express in film the dark fun style of the old E.C. comics the same way that the 1972 Amicus film also named "Tales From the Crypt" and the 1982 anthology masterpiece "Creepshow" had previously done so perfectly.
It really took off fantastically in the second season which I consider the best because it has the most episodes that I personally consider great.
big name stars and excellent voice performanceby john kassir as the crypt keeper second only to the almighty twilight zone..
Tales from the Crypt was a good series.
If you like classic shows like Friday the 13th: The Series, Freddy's Nightmares, Tales from the Darkside, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Nightstalker, and others, and classic and modern Horror, Crime, Thrillers, Dramas, and interesting films then I strongly recommend you to go over to Amazon.com and buy the complete first season on DVD today!.