#talesfromthecrypt — Public Fediverse posts

‘Tales From the Crypt’ series finale explained, interviews

Even a Crypt Keeper can’t live forever. Thirty years ago on July 19, 1996, HBO brought the burial…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #TV #BillKopp #BordelloofBlood #Entertainment #hbo #PatVentura #TalesfromtheCrypt #TheThirdPig
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/771875/

‘Tales From the Crypt’ series finale explained, interviews

Even a Crypt Keeper can’t live forever. Thirty years ago on July 19, 1996, HBO brought the burial…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #TV #BillKopp #BordelloofBlood #Entertainment #hbo #PatVentura #TalesfromtheCrypt #TheThirdPig
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/771875/

Tales From The Crypt – Season 4, Episode 7: The New Arrival (1992) – Review

Never let it be said that the Crypt Keeper isn’t interested in the social issues plaguing our society, and in the latest sample of his sordid storytelling, it’s time for us to think of the children. That’s right, as every year passes, the innocence of many boy and girls (or, boils and ghouls in Crypt Keeper speak) all but evaporates, leaving exasperated parents trying to control kids with no boundies and no restraint. Take the troublesome tot featured in “The New Arrival” for example, who not only has to deal with the fact that her mother is the helium-voiced clairvoyant from Poltergeist, but who also has some particularly worrying attitudes towards personal safety.
Once again, we find a fourth season entry doing what Tales From Crypt does best: coughing up an eclectic, yet utterly random director and cast to tell a weird little tale that’s admittedly fairly ridiculous. However, ridiculous it may be, but when it comes to creepy kids, The New Arrival has certainly raised ’em right.

Dr. Alan Goetz may be a celebrated child psychologist with his own radio show, but that doesn’t mean he can’t also be something of an officious prick. In fact, the arrogant swine may be able to even teach Frasier Crane a thing or to when it comes to snobbish shrinks acting-out over the radio waves. However, while the short-tempered know-it-all promotes his own, personal mantra when dealing with problem children (“Ingnore, ignore, ignore.”), it seems that his listening figures could use a little boost.
In fact, if Goetz doesn’t think of something spectacular soon, ruthless station owner Rona will happily kill his show and replace him with trashy shock jock, Lothar, who fills the airwaves with phone-ins about ghost sex.
However, salvation is at hand in the form of Nora, a woman who constantly is ringing his show in order to get advice on how to control her increasingly violent child, Felicity, and in an act of desperation, Goetz accepts her offer of a house call.
If Felicity is as troubled as her mother suggests, Goetz believes he can save his ratings if he broadcasts his on-site therapy as it happens, but not long after arriving at Nora’s foreboding abode, both he, his long-suffering producer, Bonnie and a sneering Rona, start to suspect that something is worryingly amiss. While Nora seems fairly weird, Felicity is downright creepy. Running about the house wearing a spotted dress and an unnerving white mask, the trio soon notice that they haven’t seen mother and daughter together in the same room since they arrived and soon they surmise that there probably is no Felicity and that Nora is nuttier than squirrel shit.
However, soon “Felicity” starts to get violent and as the group tries to escape the maze-like house, Goetz discovers that she’s one problem child who will be impossible to ignore.

There’s something undeniably perfect about the set-up of The New Arrival that shows off Tales From The Crypt at it’s best. I’m not so much talking about the episode itself (although it’s full of legitimate creeps and enjoyable nastiness) as I am about the choice of the cast and director that prove to be one of the main reasons that the show is so fiendishly self-aware. For a start, the episode is helmed by Peter Medak, who gave us everything from the dizzying highs of The Changeling and Romeo Is Bleeding to the amusing lows of Species II, and he immediately has a shrewd understanding about how to balance a quintessential Crypt tone. Allowing the humour to mainly come from how shitty the characters are rather than relying on broad slapstick or a spoofy tone, the installment is free to up the scare factor with the genuinely unnerving sight of a husky child running around a boobytrapped house wearing a mask that makes Michael Myers seem expressive. Even better, the episode manages to deliver that wonderful horror trope where you know the main characters are in mortal peril while they remain utterly clueless to the danger that’s mounting.
This means that the cast is free to do their thing and as a result we get probably the most Tales From The Crypt cast we’ve ever seen – in fact, if I was to blindly list the actors that participate in this episode, you could probably predict which show it belonged to even if you didn’t know what the show was. For example, can you actually think of an actor more tailor-made for Crypt than David Warner; a man who has made a career playing pompous assholes in an endless number of low budget, cheesy fare. Here he gets to play to those strengths as his douchey therapist constantly insists that his patronising methods are vastly superior to everyone else’s (his book is named “The Art Of Ignoring Your Child”, which essentially says it all), despite the fact that a potentially hideous fate is staring him in the face.

Elsewhere, the horror contingent is further bolstered by the presence of the irreplaceable Zelda Rubinstein who does her thing and portrays the unhinged mother beautifully while getting us to keep believing Goetz’s theory of her and Felicity being the same person could still be the big twist. Of course, it wouldn’t be Tales From The Crypt without a bit of left-field stunt casting and while famous model, Twiggy, can’t quite nail a single, convincing line reading, it’s fun to see her run around and get killed by a wayward ceiling fan. Add to this Joan Severance in full bitch mode and a cameoing Robert Patrick as Goetz’s sleazy radio rival and there’s a high chance that we have the most on-point Crypt cast ever to do it.
Thankfully the episode manages to live up to their efforts, although there are one or two slight niggles. You could argue that the show shares many similarities with “Television Terror” (unscrupulous radio/TV personality enters house of death to boost ratings) and on a personal note, I wish the episode had more in the way of some gratuitous gore as it’s a little dry. Also, the reveal that Felicity is actually a separate entity, and a progressively feral zombie child who’s somehow been kept alive because of her mother’s love is one of those like it or lump it reveals that you have to except on face value because it gets virtually no other explanation elsewhere. Still, these are all minor points when compared to the episode as a whole and when you add the great production design and the final image of Goetz surrounded by the corpses of his peers who have all failed to curb Felicity’s nastier attributes, we have yet another season four offering that spares the rod and spoils both the child and us.

With yet another winner in the bag, the fourth season of Tales From The Crypt continues to prove that it’s got it’s format down cold. A great cast, a creepy plot and a seasoned director who gets the joke all combine to give us a mid-season treat that’ll fill you with child-like glee – no kidding.
🌟🌟🌟🌟

Two #TalesFromTheCrypt episodes ( that I've noticed so far ) have MTF characters as the plot surprise. I'm actually quite pleased! 🏳️‍⚧️ Sure, cliches are terrible, but all stereotypes are ill used in these vicious lil' horror stories based on the pre-censorship comics.
Both these ladies are attractive, capable, clever, effective and lethal which makes the "big reveal" gags much more entertaining 😸 as they turn the tables on would-be thieves and killers and win! Not bad for telly and old comics!

Two #TalesFromTheCrypt episodes ( that I've noticed so far ) have MTF characters as the plot surprise. I'm actually quite pleased! 🏳️‍⚧️ Sure, cliches are terrible, but all stereotypes are ill used in these vicious lil' horror stories based on the pre-censorship comics.
Both these ladies are attractive, capable, clever, effective and lethal which makes the "big reveal" gags much more entertaining 😸 as they turn the tables on would-be thieves and killers and win! Not bad for telly and old comics!

Two #TalesFromTheCrypt episodes ( that I've noticed so far ) have MTF characters as the plot surprise. I'm actually quite pleased! 🏳️‍⚧️ Sure, cliches are terrible, but all stereotypes are ill used in these vicious lil' horror stories based on the pre-censorship comics.
Both these ladies are attractive, capable, clever, effective and lethal which makes the "big reveal" gags much more entertaining 😸 as they turn the tables on would-be thieves and killers and win! Not bad for telly and old comics!

Two #TalesFromTheCrypt episodes ( that I've noticed so far ) have MTF characters as the plot surprise. I'm actually quite pleased! 🏳️‍⚧️ Sure, cliches are terrible, but all stereotypes are ill used in these vicious lil' horror stories based on the pre-censorship comics.
Both these ladies are attractive, capable, clever, effective and lethal which makes the "big reveal" gags much more entertaining 😸 as they turn the tables on would-be thieves and killers and win! Not bad for telly and old comics!

Morning! A L Katz has released a new bonus episode of the How NOT To Make A Movie #podcast. LIstening now. TALES FROM THE CRYPT fans will remember his name as one of the creators/producers of the series. #TalesFromTheCrypt #horror

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-how-not-to-make-a-movie-podcast/id1616014436?i=1000772261632

Morning! A L Katz has released a new bonus episode of the How NOT To Make A Movie #podcast. LIstening now. TALES FROM THE CRYPT fans will remember his name as one of the creators/producers of the series. #TalesFromTheCrypt #horror

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-how-not-to-make-a-movie-podcast/id1616014436?i=1000772261632

Morning! A L Katz has released a new bonus episode of the How NOT To Make A Movie #podcast. LIstening now. TALES FROM THE CRYPT fans will remember his name as one of the creators/producers of the series. #TalesFromTheCrypt #horror

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-how-not-to-make-a-movie-podcast/id1616014436?i=1000772261632

Morning! A L Katz has released a new bonus episode of the How NOT To Make A Movie #podcast. LIstening now. TALES FROM THE CRYPT fans will remember his name as one of the creators/producers of the series. #TalesFromTheCrypt #horror

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-how-not-to-make-a-movie-podcast/id1616014436?i=1000772261632

Morning! A L Katz has released a new bonus episode of the How NOT To Make A Movie #podcast. LIstening now. TALES FROM THE CRYPT fans will remember his name as one of the creators/producers of the series. #TalesFromTheCrypt #horror

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-how-not-to-make-a-movie-podcast/id1616014436?i=1000772261632

Tales From The Crypt – Season 4, Episode 1: None But The Lonely Heart (1992) – Review

While the third season of HBOs horror extravaganza certainly delivered its fair share of the goods, there was a lingering feeling that Tales From The Crypt still had a bit of trouble figuring what kind of show it actually wanted to be. Often veering wildly between tones, one week you’d get a magnificently spiteful offering, only to get a weak, dull and often unfunny one the next. Even one of the show’s leading lights, Walter Hill, turned in his weakest (and final) episode after delivering a couple of all-time greats in previous seasons. Simply put: if the Crypt Keeper wanted to stay in business, he’d have to exercise a bit more quality control with his stories in the future if he still wanted to be kept in cobwebs and quips.
On first glance, it seems that season four opener, “None But The Lonely Heart”, is in danger of going down that overly jokey route that bugs me so much thanks to its plot of a man wedding and deading mature ladies for their money. However, we find season 4 ultimately getting off to an impressively strong start thanks to the most unlikely of saviours. Tom frickin’ Hanks.

Howard Prince has something of a sociopathic scheme to make money. Constantly needing new funds to keep the light on with the various cons, investments and ponzi schemes that he and his equally shifty partner, Morty, have in action, Howard has taken to frequenting dating agencies and marrying lonely, mature women only to bump them off once their savings have been signed over to him. However, with the authorities closing in on some of their financial escapades, both Howard and Morty need the former to bleed more biddies dry if they’re going to need enough capital to flee and start new lives.
After poisoning his latest doting victim and moving onto the next, Howard selects the widowed Effie Gluckman as his latest, potentially last, victim. Still mourning the death of her beloved husband, Effie is only looking for a companion, but when Prince turns on his charm to the fullest and claims to be impotent, she not only falls in love with him, but makes it her purpose to “cure” him of his problem.
Yes it, it seems like Howard’s got another one in the bag, but paranoia starts to rear it’s head when he starts getting a series of accusatory notes threatening to out his devilish deeds. But who could know about the string of elderly women he’s managed to all plant in the same cemetery and use it to extort him? The obvious choice would be Morty, but then there’s Baxter, the man who runs the dating agency, Effie’s protective butler, Stanhope and even the gravedigger who has provided the holes for all of Prince’s victims. However, after sealing the deal on Effie and callously wiping out his suspect list, it seems that Howard’s finally on easy street. But when the blackmailer finally shows themselves Prince discovers that his various conquests may be down, but they’re certainly not out.

There’s something wonderfully perverse about the fact that only three years before gaining animated immortality as Woody from Toy Story and two years before he claimed an Oscar as Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks was kicking season 4 of Tales From The Crypt off with style with a directorial debut that hits every right note you’d want from a season opener. While we’ve had famous actors use the show to try their hand at directing before (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael J. Fox in seasons 2 and 3 respectively), none of them have quite managed to grasp the Crypt tone as well as the dude from Splash. Maybe it’s because he’d recently worked with Joe Dante on The Burbs and some of that tongue in cheek absurdity rubbed off on him, but out of all the stars to try their hand at a Tale, Hanks just gets it.
While the show’s history often suggested that the episodes featuring con artists and inheritance related homicide had to be spoofy, ludicrous affairs with over the top performances and a goofy tone, None But The Lonely Heart manages to come to the admittedly familiar material with the same hard-edged smirk you’d more normally find in some of the harsher entries. Refreshingly, Hanks has no interest in pulling punches, presumably because he’s reasoned that you don’t go and direct a Tales Of The Crypt episode unless you plan to go a little crazy, and as a result we get an offering that not only has an impressively high body count (Prince kills six people including a cameoing Hanks himself), but even ends in an enjoyable (if illogical) explosion of some classic, undead justice.

Hanks isn’t treating anything overtly flashy here. He isn’t trying to swoop the camera everywhere or slap Dutch angles on every other shot, primarily because he knows he doesn’t have to when you’ve got Treat Williams acting the callous bastard in virtually every scene. While there was always the sense that the actor’s career wasn’t as big as it should have been, it’s certainly fun watching Williams charm his way through the elderly cast before switching on them with killer results. Be it callously watching his carefully selected lovers writhe on the ground as poison courses through them, or switching up to make a panicked phone call for an ambulance, he may not be a particularly original example of Tales From The Crypt villainy, but he certainly can step up the pace when he needs to off the entirety of the rest of the cast. In fact, while it’s rather novel to watch Hanks bite the big one by having his skull rammed through a television set and then electrocuted, the rest of the varied cast also get to shine. Raising Cane and The Mist’s Frances Sternhagen gets to flesh out Effie nicely before her inevitable demise and Henry Gibson joins Hanks once more after trying to kill him in The Burbs, but most bizarre of all is the appearance of Sugar Ray Leonard (yes, that Sugar Ray Leonard) as the gravedigger who has been sending those damning letters to Howard in the first place.
This brings us to the ending which, if I’m being honest, is a pretty standard Tales From The Crypt wrap up insofar that it uses a sudden, attack of the supernatural to neatly tie every up with barely a hint of foreshadowing. I mean, who would have thought that Tom Hanks is going to sic a bunch of flesh eating zombie wives upon us (and upon Treat Williams too); however, while such an ending could have felt lazy, Hanks redeems it by going all out and delivering some of the best last-act, EC Comics inspired, zombie designs the show has ever seen – and if you’ve been reading my other Crypt reviews, you’ll know I love my last-act, EC Comics inspired, zombie designs. Mutilated, gooey and featuring mouths full of earthworms and popping out eyeballs, these brides of the damned somehow can’t rest until the “death do us part” part of their wedding vows are sated. Sure, it doesn’t make a lick of sense why the story would suddenly handbrake turn into the supernatural (some additional details about the gravedigger’s dealings with the dead could have been nice), but the zombies are appropriately grotesque and Hanks is having fun – which vitally crosses through the screen and into your living room.

After that relatively weak start for season 3, season 4 comes out of the gates strong thanks to a guest director that isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Solid direction, great performances, mean tone and kick-ass zombies means that both we and the Crypt Keeper owe the director one big debt of Hanks…
🌟🌟🌟🌟

Shudder June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/shudder-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=208019

#FindYourFriends #ForbiddenFruits #MovieNews #Shudder #StreamingSchedule #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews

Shudder June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/shudder-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=208019

#FindYourFriends #ForbiddenFruits #MovieNews #Shudder #StreamingSchedule #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews

Shudder June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/shudder-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=208019

#FindYourFriends #ForbiddenFruits #MovieNews #Shudder #StreamingSchedule #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews

Shudder June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/shudder-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=208019

#FindYourFriends #ForbiddenFruits #MovieNews #Shudder #StreamingSchedule #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews

Shudder June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/shudder-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=208019

#FindYourFriends #ForbiddenFruits #MovieNews #Shudder #StreamingSchedule #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews

AMC Global Media June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/amc-global-media-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=207401

#AcornTV #ALLBLK #AMC #AMCGlobalMedia #AMCPlus #BBCAmerica #DoctorWho #FindYourFriends #HIDIVE #MovieNews #Sisters #StreamingSchedule #SundanceNow #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVampireLestat #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews #WEtv #WildSpring

AMC Global Media June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/amc-global-media-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=207401

#AcornTV #ALLBLK #AMC #AMCGlobalMedia #AMCPlus #BBCAmerica #DoctorWho #FindYourFriends #HIDIVE #MovieNews #Sisters #StreamingSchedule #SundanceNow #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVampireLestat #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews #WEtv #WildSpring

AMC Global Media June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/amc-global-media-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=207401

#AcornTV #ALLBLK #AMC #AMCGlobalMedia #AMCPlus #BBCAmerica #DoctorWho #FindYourFriends #HIDIVE #MovieNews #Sisters #StreamingSchedule #SundanceNow #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVampireLestat #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews #WEtv #WildSpring

AMC Global Media June 2026 Schedule: New Movies & TV Shows

Link: https://film-book.com/amc-global-media-june-2026-schedule-new-movies-tv-shows/?fsp_sid=207401

#AcornTV #ALLBLK #AMC #AMCGlobalMedia #AMCPlus #BBCAmerica #DoctorWho #FindYourFriends #HIDIVE #MovieNews #Sisters #StreamingSchedule #SundanceNow #TalesFromtheCrypt #TheIceTower #TheTerrorDevilinSilver #TheVampireLestat #TheVoicesofOurMother #TVShowNews #WEtv #WildSpring

Pressing play on S02E16 of #TalesFromTheCrypt for the #CryptTales watch party.

Well, that was a fun couple of episodes. #CryptTales #TalesFromTheCrypt

Get you someone who will tenderly say to you, "I'm going to release you from your straitjacket now." #CryptTales #TalesFromTheCrypt

Cute kitty! #CryptTales #TalesFromTheCrypt

Pressing play on S02E15 of #TalesFromTheCrypt with the #CryptTales ghouls.

It's often recommended to read to your children. 😄 #CryptTales #TalesFromTheCrypt

Joining #CryptTales for S02E14 of #TalesFromTheCrypt (on Shudder!)

Writing the music for this show must have been so much fun. #CryptTales #TalesFromTheCrypt

Starting up S2E13 of #TalesFromTheCrypt with the #CryptTales gang. I remember this episode from our #Cryptstatic watch-through.

I didn't make it to the theatre this weekend so I microdosed Obsession by watching season 2 episode, 4 of Tales From The Crypt.

#horror #TalesFromTheCrypt

https://tftc.fandom.com/wiki/%27Til_Death

I didn't make it to the theatre this weekend so I microdosed Obsession by watching season 2 episode, 4 of Tales From The Crypt.

#horror #TalesFromTheCrypt

https://tftc.fandom.com/wiki/%27Til_Death

I didn't make it to the theatre this weekend so I microdosed Obsession by watching season 2 episode, 4 of Tales From The Crypt.

#horror #TalesFromTheCrypt

https://tftc.fandom.com/wiki/%27Til_Death

I didn't make it to the theatre this weekend so I microdosed Obsession by watching season 2 episode, 4 of Tales From The Crypt.

#horror #TalesFromTheCrypt

https://tftc.fandom.com/wiki/%27Til_Death

Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 14: Yellow (1991) – Review

We now seem to bring you a change in your regularly scheduled programming. If something feels a little off abd decidedly un-Crypt like for the season finale of season three, I’d like to assure you that it’s not just you. In fact, Robert Zemekis’ “Yellow” wasn’t originally planned to be a tale from the crypt at all, but instead part of a trilogy of stories that would go on to form the season premiere of a spin off show called Two-Fisted Tales. While the Crypt covered all those horror stories that EC Comics churned out in their heyday, Fisted would give that ironic twist to stories more geared toward the war, western and thriller based adventures. Needless to say, the pilot (directed by Zemekis, Richard Donner and Tom Holland) didn’t do so well and as a result the stories were folded into the Crypt Keeper’s roster of tall tales that started here and continued into season 4. But as I’ve recently started getting tired of episodes that go easy on the horror, can Robert Zemekis change my mind with an offering that takes place during World War I?

The year is 1918 and the forces of General Calthrob are getting hammered somewhere in France as they try to take a hill from the really determined Germans. While the hill itself doesn’t that much of a tactical advantage, the attack would divert the enemy forces enough to allow forces in the rear time to reposition, but the plan is ultimately scuppered by an unseen problem: Lieutenant Martin Calthrob. While Martin’s father is every inch the iron-nerved military man, his son suffers from cowardice that simply just won’t away and while his men are valiantly fighting and dying for the greater good, the constant mortar barrage and whizzing bullets causes him to break and order a premature retreat.
When the Genral learns from his men that his son is Yellow, he offers Martin a chance to redeem his honor and go out into no-man’s land with a small team to fix a broken communication wire.
However, once again that yellow streak kicks in and in his gibbering fear, Martin is too terrified to even warn his fellow troops about advancing troops and as a result they are killed and he escapes to spin a tale of tragic heroism. But when it turns out that there was another (temporary) survivor who outs Martin’s cowardice with his dying breath and leaves the General with no alternative but to severely punish his son and sentence him to death by firing squad. While Martin pleads with his father to spare his life, Calthrob assures his son that he’d never murder his flesh and blood and reveals a plan that will spare his life.
Revealing that the rifleman will all have unknowingly have blanks loaded in their weapons, all Martin has to do is stand fast and be brave in the face of his death and then he can play dead and collect a bag of supplies left in the grave behind him. However, during his big moment, believing himself to be safe, Martin does indeed face his (fake) execution with bravery, but too late he realises that he’s been tricked to restore honor to the tarnished Calthrob name.

To be honest with you, before watching Yellow I was 50/50 about whether I would actually accept it as a genuine Crypt. In the plus column it’s directed by one of Tales’ big three, Robert Zemekis, who has been conspicuous by his Crypt absence since the superlative “And All Though The House” back at the start of season one. However, on the con side, not only was it never supposed to be an official episode, but the WWI setting suggests that the usual recipe of creeps and chuckles may be in short supply and further worrying me is the last time one of the big three directed an episode, it resulted in Walter Hill’s rather leaden “Deadline” which showed a distinct drop in quality from his previous attempts.
However, despite all these things counting against it, Yellow proves to something of a incredibly pleasant surprise that not only sees Zemekis returning to the show with style, but giving it an expanded canvas that it’s never enjoyed before. This is an episode that still may be introduced by a Crypt Keeper in full WWI uniform cracking jokes about getting shot, but it also has full on battle sequences that give the show a sense of scale hither to unheard of as Zemekis shoots them in sweeping long takes that sees dialogue and plot merge with stunt men flying across the screen. It may not be Saving Private Ryan, or even Band Of Brothers, but for an episode of Tales From The Crypt, it isn’t that far behind. Also adding to that scale is the cast and while the Crypt has seen its fair share of familiar faces, seeing Kirk fuckin’ Douglas show up still feels like something of a massive get. What makes it cooler is that the episode is plainly riffing on Stanley Kubrick’s Paths Of Glory, which starred Douglas as a French officer also accused of cowardice and the actor also gets to perform opposite his actual son (no, not Michael – the other one, Eric) which adds extra tension to the scene even if Eric isn’t quite as talented as his old man.

In addition to this, we also get Dan Ackroyd and a returning Lance Henriksen (from Walter Hill’s magnificent “Cutting Cards”) to round things out, so it’s impossible not to feel spoiled with such Hollywood heavyweights getting stuck in.
However, the biggest surprise is that despite the starry cast, the more dramatic plot and an extended run time, Yellow isn’t afraid to stick to that old EC Comics tone and dally with the macabre when it gets the chance. There’s no real reason for a wounded Henriksen to suddenly reveal that he’s missing a stomach and he’s been using his helmet to hold his guts in, but Zemekis makes it happen in order to deliver an amusing shock of gore. Better yet, the twist ending is actually something of a belter that not only gives more of an emotional punch than your average Crypt, but still manages to retain that darkly amusing cruelty the show had become well known for. After detailing a complex plan to his son that will apparently save his life, we realise at the last moment that Calthrob has concocted a harsh counter plan to fool his jittery son into standing strong and proud in the face of death and no such salvation was ever going to take place. Worse yet (and by worse, I mean better) there’s a split second of realisation from Martin when he sees his father turn away when the order to fire is given, which means that an episode that wasn’t even meant to be an official Tales From The Crypt entry ends up being objectively better that more than half of the actual episodes. My confidence may have wavered in the big three as of late, but Zemekis brings it back with style.

What could have been a cheap attempt to salvage a failed pilot ends up giving Tales From The Crypt’s third season the big finish it so richly needed. While other episodes from Two-Fisted Tales would show up further down the line, Yellow is rousing proof that sometimes it’s hood not to be afraid of a little tinkering.
🌟🌟🌟🌟

@held_des_chaos Kann mich nur dunkel (!!) an #TalesFromTheCrypt erinnern. Wie heißt noch mal der Keeper?

@held_des_chaos Kann mich nur dunkel (!!) an #TalesFromTheCrypt erinnern. Wie heißt noch mal der Keeper?

Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
🌟🌟🌟

Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
🌟🌟🌟

Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
🌟🌟🌟

Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
🌟🌟🌟

Tales From The Crypt – Season 3, Episode 12: Deadline (1991) – Review

While season three of Tales From The Crypt certainly has had its fair share of name directors (Tobe Hooper, Stephen Hopkins and Russell Mulcahy to name just three), there’s been precious little in the form of offerings when it comes to the series’ “big three”. Not only did the trio of Walter Hill, Robert Zemekis and Richard Donner kick the entire thing off back in 1989 with an unfeasibly strong triptych of episodes that merged to form a magnificent pilot, but Hill and Donner also returned in season two to deliver two of the strongest episodes – however, season three has thus far been conspicuous by their absence.
Well, wait no longer, because Walter Hill is back with yet another noir-tinged episode thanks to Deadline, a hard-bitten tale of a desperate reporter struggling with the bottle as he stops at nothing to try and reclaim his former glory. Can Walter Hill do the same with his third trip to the Crypt?

Charles McKenzie used to be something in the world of reporting, breaking stories left and right and claiming countless headlines in various papers; however, these days he’s a shadow of his former self as he steadily slips down the treacherous slope of alcoholism. Broke, desperate, but still clinging to his glory days, Charles frequently tells anyone within earshot that he used to be a bigshot, but his epic consumption of booze usually leads to him either getting pity or derision for his troubles.
However, it seems that Charlie’s life may be picking up when the sultry Vicky walks into his life. Red of hair and gutsy as Hell she catches the old jorno’s eye immediately, Charles wastes no time turning on that old charm and to his surprise, Vicky reciprocates. However, the woman has rules and the main one is that this relationship can’t get serious as she’s not in this for the warm, fluffy feelings. However, after sharing a bed with her a couple of times energises him for the first time in years, Charlie vows to kick the booze and get back in the game in order to win his respect back.
Pleading with the editor of a newspaper to give him a chance, Charles gets a deadline for his troubles: deliver a juicy murder story by the end of the night and he’s hired. However, as he pounds the pavement looking for leads, all of his old informants prove to be dryer than the inside of his mouth. Dying for a drink, he’s instead shuffled off to a diner where fortune manages to work it’s terrible magic as he overhears the owner first have an argument with his wife that soon turns to sounds of a struggle. As “luck” would have it, Charlie’s wandered into a fatal domestic argument that’s seen the owner of the diner lose his temper with a young wife that humiliates him by sleeping around and strangle her to death in a rage. However, as Charlie is phoning the story in, the young woman not only proves not to be death, but it turns out that the wife is Vicky. How dar will Charlie go to get his story, and what will it do to his sanity if he takes that darker path?

I’m sorry to admit that I just didn’t get on that well with “Deadline” for various reasons and considering that it’s been directed by one of the show’s leading lights, I have to say that my expectations were pretty damn high. In the past, Walter Hill gave us the very first episode with the marvelously gritty “The Man Who Was Death” and he even managed to top that one with the superlative season two offering, “Cutting Cards”, that arguably still stands as one of the best Tales of all time. However, with such a high bar to clear, third time doesn’t seem to be the charm for the veteran director as his tale of booze and murder not only lacks the punch of his earlier efforts, but it’s a strangely unfocused event considering Hill’s previous form.
Fitting into a similar format as the director’s previous episodes, Deadline sees a dark, noir-ish story play out through the eyes of an immensely flawed individual and while previous lead characters have been addicted to both death and gambling, here we find a much more prevalent monkey crawling over our protagonist’s back. Booze sodden and at the end of his rope, we get Richard Jordan convincingly tasting desperate as the low life journalist fallen on hard times. Despite the fact that the actor passed away only two years later, he delivers a honest, wretched performance of a man at his lowest ebb and there’s a hint of the same desperation you’d find in something more like Glengary Glen Ross than Tales From The Crypt. However, once Marg Helgenberger’s promiscuous Vicky shows up, you think that things will start to gradually take more of a classic, Crypt turn – but to our surprise, it sticks to it’s more drama-based tone as McKenzie starts to clean up his act despite the fact Vicky’s warned him not to get too attached.

From here, it’s now a race against the clock as Charles has precious little time to bring in a juicy murder story before his deadline runs out and in an attempt to heighten the tension, Hill magnifies the sounds of any ticking clocks in the room. The problem is that even when it finally drops the big twist (which you’ll probably see coming anyway), Deadline in this form just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Tales From The Crypt with its over-reliance on down-to-earth drama over crazy shocks.
It also doesn’t help that we’ve already had a boozy reporter story only two weeks ago, and that one had bald, fanged, corpse-eating ghouls in it which leaves Hill’s version looking more than a little bland. Worse yet, the ending ends up being a bit confusing as the story tries to tee up a coda that just doesn’t work. Discovering that the “murdered” wife of the owner of the diner is Vicky might have hit harder if they both were in love – but at this point we already know Vicky is a user. Similarly, Charles choice to kill her might have carried more wallop if she was in love with his and he decides to choose his career over her, but as it stands, his actions don’t make much sense when he already has to know that she’s bad news. However, things get extra confusing when we then suddenly cut to Charlie in an insane asylum as he tells us he lost his mind over the event. But being random told this in the dying seconds of the episode just feels like we skipped over vastly important parts of a far bigger story and thus feels tacked on and unearned. What’s even more frustrating is that this would be the last Tales From The Crypt episode that Hill would ever direct, so the fact that he doesn’t nail the hat trick proves to be yet another mark in the negative column for an episode that’s way too scrappy to satisfy, yet way too mature for a show hosted by a zombie puppet.

While Deadline has all the makings of a typically hard boiled Walter Hill episode, a strong central performance and a more grown up tone are rapidly undone by a weak ending and a slow burn that isn’t quite worth the wait. That’s a wrap on Hill’s time in the Crypt director’s chair; it’s just a shame that after being one of the show’s most consistent contributors, he couldn’t finish on a high.
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Been going through Tales from the Crypt for the first time. Love this guy!

#art #mastoArt #fanArt #horror #TalesFromTheCrypt #CryptKeeper

Been going through Tales from the Crypt for the first time. Love this guy!

#art #mastoArt #fanArt #horror #TalesFromTheCrypt #CryptKeeper

Been going through Tales from the Crypt for the first time. Love this guy!

#art #mastoArt #fanArt #horror #TalesFromTheCrypt #CryptKeeper

Been going through Tales from the Crypt for the first time. Love this guy!

#art #mastoArt #fanArt #horror #TalesFromTheCrypt #CryptKeeper

William Sadler is so underrated. Watching his iconic episode of Tales from the Crypt, a really great showcase for his skills in a rare lead role in a long career as a character actor.

#80s #horror #horrormovies #anthology #TV #tvshows #talesfromthecrypt

William Sadler is so underrated. Watching his iconic episode of Tales from the Crypt, a really great showcase for his skills in a rare lead role in a long career as a character actor.

#80s #horror #horrormovies #anthology #TV #tvshows #talesfromthecrypt

William Sadler is so underrated. Watching his iconic episode of Tales from the Crypt, a really great showcase for his skills in a rare lead role in a long career as a character actor.

#80s #horror #horrormovies #anthology #TV #tvshows #talesfromthecrypt