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Digital Dismemberment: Tales From The Crypt (Double Feature w/ Vault of Horror) Blu-Ray Review

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Digital Dismemberment: Tales From The Crypt (Double Feature w/ Vault of Horror) Blu-Ray Review

tales-vaultDirector- Freddie Francis

Producer- Charles W. Fries, Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky

Special FX- Roy Ashton

Cast- Sir Ralph Richardson, Joan Collins, Martin Boddey, Ian Hendry, Susan Denny, Peter Cushing, Robin Phillips, Richard Greene, Barbara Murray, Nigel Patrick, Patrick Magee and Geoffrey Bayldon

Released By- Scream Factory

Release Date- December 2nd, 2014

 

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PETER CUSHING PCASUK aThe Premise: When five unwary travelers with dark hearts stumble into a series of catacombs, they find themselves in a cavern with no way out. But the horror’s only just begun as a mysterious figure appears to reveal to each person the shocking events that will lead to their well-deserved, untimely- and unavoidable- demise. Starring Joan Collins (Empire of the Ants), Peter Cushing (Horror of Dracula), Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) and Sir Ralph Richardson (Rollerball), and directed by Freddie Francis (The Creeping Flesh), Tales From The Crypt is the original, gets-right-under-your-skin creepfest!

The trendsetter when it comes to the anthology style of horror films and the basis for what would become the hit series on HBO (from 1989 to 1996), Freddie Francis’ film takes stories from the EC Comics Tales From The Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and Vault of Horror and takes them into the real world. Producer Milton Subotsky convinced fellow Amicus Productions (Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Asylum (1972), The Beast Must Die (1974) and a host of other titles) producer Max Rosenberg to pick up the rights, along with the blessing of William Gaines (after he got script approval). While the film may be considered dated (the amazing 70’s décor and dress) and by many to be tame by today’s standards, it is quite amusing to see what passed for PG back in those days. While not a bloodbath, there is a fair amount of violence and blood, with the stories “Poetic Justice” (with an incredible performance by Peter Cushing), “Wish You Were Here” (a variation of The Monkey’s Paw) and “Blind Alleys” (mind numbing torture reminiscent of Seven and the Saw series) leading the way. One of the nice things about the film is that you do not feel you are being led by the hand into a comic book, but rather the grimness of the stories and the color palette lend to the stories coming alive. Fans of the HBO series will recognize the first story “…And All Through The House” (featuring Joan Crawford!) as the first episode of the series. Overall, the structural build of the stories all tie together nicely, great locations and technical aspects (sound, color and camera work), has an amazing wealth of acting talent and with a nice twist ending, the film blends everything together in a way that should satisfy any viewer of the genre. Forgotten for years and highly under rated, this is a great chance for fans and film makers alike to see how to properly frame an anthology for horror fans!

The film opens with five random strangers that appear to have nothing in common with each other go with a tourist group to view some old catacombs. Even though they are warned that it is dangerous and to stay close to the others on the tour, they manage to get separated from the main group. While wandering to find the others, a mysterious door opens and they find themselves in a room with the mysterious Crypt Keeper (played with a superb dryness by Sir Ralph Richardson), who gives each one of them a vision of how each of them has died…

“… And All Through the House“
On Christmas Eve, Joanne Clayton (played by the beautiful Joan Collins) murders her husband (Martin Boddey) by striking him in the head with a fireplace poker. While she attempts to hide his body, clean the mess and avoid letting her young daughter know what she has done, she hears a radio broadcast about a homicidal maniac (Oliver MacGreevy) that has escaped a mental asylum and is on the loose. While trying to clean her own crime scene, she sees the killer (dressed as Santa) outside her house but can’t call the police due to her own murder. Joanne’s young daughter, thinking he is the real Santa, unlocks the door and lets him in. He chases through the house and strangles Joanne to death…

“Reflection of Death”
Cheating husband Carl Maitland (Ian Hendry) leaves his family to be with Susan Blake. He falls asleep in the car and is troubled by his dreams, but manages to wake just in time in to be run off the road by a truck and has a car accident. He wakes up in the wrecked car and tries to get help and hitch-hike home, but no one will stop for him, almost as if nobody can see him. He finally gets home, but he sees his wife with another man. Confused, he knocks on the door, but she screams and slams the door in his face. Frantic and with no other place to go, he then searches out Susan only to find out that she is blind from the accident. He tells her who he is but she tells him that Carl died two years ago from the crash. Stunned, he sees his reflection in a tabletop and sees that his face is that of a corpse. Suddenly, he then wakes up and finds out that it was a dream, but the moment he does, the car crash occurs as it did in his dream…

“Poetic Justice”
Elitists Edward Elliott (David Markham) and his son James (Robin Phillips) can’t stand their neighbor, garbage man Arthur Grimsdyke (in a brilliant role by Peter Cushing) who has lots of dogs and has the town’s children over to his house. The two try everything in their power to get Arthur out of the town, first having his dogs removed (though one of them comes back to him), then by persuading a member of the council to have him removed from his job (and thus saving the town money). When neither of those works, they spread rumors amongst the towns parents that he is a child molester. So when none of these works, on Valentine’s Day James sends Arthur a series of Valentines, supposedly from the townspeople that drives him to commit suicide by hanging. One year later, Arthur comes back from the dead as a rotting corpse and rips James’ heart out, leaving it in a letter to his father Edward…

“Wish You Were Here”
Broke businessman Ralph Jason (Richard Greene) is in financial ruin. His wife Enid (Barbara Murray) laments their situation and realizes that a Chinese statue in their living room will grant three wishes to whoever possesses it, but can’t read the last line of text inscribed on it. Enid wishes for a fortune, and as she does, Ralph’s lawyer calls to tell him to come to his office. Ralph leaves, but is killed on the way to his lawyer’s office after being followed by a mysterious man on a motorcycle. The lawyer shows up and tells Enid she will inherit a fortune from Ralph’s life insurance plan. She tells the lawyer of the statue and uses her second wish to bring Ralph back to the way he was just before the accident but learns that his death was due to a heart attack and not the car crash. She then uses her final wish to bring him back alive and to live forever, but soon discovers that he was embalmed. She tries to kill him to end his pain by cutting him up with a sword, but now that every piece of him is alive, he is in eternal torment…

“Blind Alleys”
Major William Rogers (Nigel Patrick), the new head for a home for the blind. He makes drastic and severe financial cuts that benefit him, cutting off the heat at night and reducing the quality of food for the residents, all while he lives high on the hog with his large dog, Shane. He ignores the complaints of the patients and when one of the men dies due to the cold, the blind residents, led by the enraged George Carter, plan and execute a horrific plan for revenge. After Carter and his group trap the staff, they lure and trap Major Rogers and Shane into two separate rooms in the basement of the building. The blind men then begin constructing a maze of narrow corridors, some of them lined with razor blades. They starve Shane, then place the Major in the maze’s center, and turn off the lights. The Major makes it through the maze and the razors to the other side, cutting himself and bleeding in several places. He then realizes too late that Shane is behind the door on the other side and is hungry. Panicked, he starts back through the maze, but the lights are cut off as he attempts to escape as Shane rips him apart…

After showing each of them their fates and why they are there, the Crypt Keeper reveals that he was not telling them what would happen, but telling them what has happened and that they have all “died without repentance”. Is there any chance for redemption for anyone in the group? Can they save their souls and lives? Does the Crypt Keeper have any knowledge of salvation? You are going to have to watch to find out…

shout-factory-logo1Bonus Features

There are no Bonus Features for this particular film, but as part of the 2 disc set, there are features that will be discussed in the review of The Vault of Horror…

Discs: 1
Format: NTSC
Color: Color
Rating: PG
Aspect Ratio: 1080p High Definition Widescreen (1.78:1)
Language: English

Shout!/Scream Factory has once again brought to us a classic horror film that is more than deserving of the Blu-Ray upgrade, and this double feature is no exception! Blowing away the previous edition that was a part of MGM’s Midnite Movies collection in terms of audio and picture quality, the film is a joy to watch in High-Def. The only lament that comes with this particular film is the fact that there are no Bonus Features of any kind, including a trailer, interviews or even a picture gallery. Normally, this would drop the score of the overall package, but since this is a 2 disc set, the second film has features that raise the overall score. But, even with the lack of features for this particular film, the quality stands out. Once again, this release is the perfect example of why Shout!/Scream Factory is the standard bearer for Blu-Ray horror releases!

Movie Rating: 3.5 out of 5
DVD Rating: 7 out of 10

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Dedman13

Owner of Slit of the Wrist FX and producer, actor, FX artist and writer.

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