Tales from the Crypt: The Complete First Season (DVD)

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This was yet another episode that starred an up-and-coming actor (Bill Sadler) who plays his roles well. This obviously lends to the credibility of the storyline, as well as the episode's overall quality. Sadler creates an eerie mood throughout this bit by his sheer demeanor and depiction of an amoral psychopath.

Episode 3: "And All Through The House":
This is a Yuletide story of murder, and Figgie just desserts. In this Holiday horror, Santa brings a naughty wife the gift of good fear! After killing her husband with a fire poker, the wife finds herself facing down an "axe-toting maniac" dressed up like Kris Kringle. She calls the police, only to remember that she's just killed her husband and has to protect herself and her daughter alone.

Though this episode was directed by Robert Zemeckis, I have to say it was one of the more "cheesy" episodes I spoke of earlier. While it does have some distinctive comic-book crossover references that are eerie, one of the opening lines by the wife just after she kills her husband ("Merry Christmas, you son of a bitch!") was a bad line to begin with, but the actress delivering it was so over the top that I immediately groaned. The story was silly and fumbled quite a bit to find it's pace. But, what can you expect? They can't all be winners.

Episode 4: "Only Sin Deep":
Guest star Lea Thompson (yes, you read that right: "Red Dawn," "Back to the Future," "Casual Sex?," "Stealing Christmas," "Jane Doe") plays the part of Silvia Vane, a prostitute who tries to make her rags-to-riches dreams come true by seducing a wealthy businessman. Only, to do so, she's got to look the part. Silvia robs a pimp to sell his jewelry and runs into a witch-doctor pawnshop owner who wants to "buy her beauty" from her. Silvia reluctantly agrees, and the pawnshop owner casts a cursed mold on her face, for the price of $10,000. Silvia soon finds that beauty is not only skin deep, but fleeting as well.

This episode has got to contain the worst documented performance by Lea Thompson in her career. Thompson's failed attempt at a New York accent, as well as her trying to speak in an octave lower than she's comfortably able, comes across as comical. Though, I must admit, after watching this episode, it reminded me of the huge crush I had on her as an adolescent.

Episode 5: "Lover Come Hack To Me":
Guest star Amanda Plummer ("The World According To Garp," "So I Married An Axe Murderer" as Honey Bunny Yolanda, "Satan's Little Helper") plays the part of Peggy in the fifth of the "Tales from the Crypt" episodes. This is a horror tale of a newly married couple, where unbeknownst to Peggy, her new husband Charles has only married her for her money. Peggy soon thereafter reveals a few skeletons of her own in this matrimony massacre.

Amanda Plummer makes this episode work. She plays the part of a split personality newlywed, with an AXEtremely bizarre past, though her stereotypical casting has long been along these lines ("Pulp Fiction" and "So I Married An Axe Murderer" come to mind). In any case, she's very adept at these types of roles and seriously conveys that "I'm going to take your life, and there's nothing you can do about it" look.

Episode 6: "Collection Completed":
Episode 6 in the "Crypt Files" is a story of a workaholic who retires after forty-seven years of faithful employment at his job. Feeling cast off and unappreciated, Jonas comes home to a retirement party hosted by his wife and attended by the many animals she's adopted over the years. Instead of being able to enjoy his retirement with his wife, Jonas finds that his wife is not only a few sandwiches short of a picnic, but her obsessing over her pets and her referring to them more as people than animals is a full-time annoyance to him. Before long, Jonas decides to deal with his frustrations by taking up taxidermy with his wife's "friends."

I remember this episode fairly well. I liked it a lot as a kid, and I still do. I think most of us have either heard of or know personally a person like the one described above. It's more than a little disturbing to see someone that's gone off the deep end like that, but to have a relative or, even worse, your own wife take that dive is a maddening thought in and of itself.

Video:
All six episodes are housed on one disc and appear to be a perfect transfer. I have no qualms with the video whatsoever. The episodes have a crystal-clear appearance, and they look as nice as the day they were broadcast. The same can be said for the extra features disc. The episodes are presented as they were originally broadcast in a 4:3 ratio pan-and-scan format.

Audio:
The audio is listed as being in Dolby Surround Stereo. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a contradiction? In any case, my Onkyo receiver didn't recognize the rear channels, and played only the two-channel stereo format. This was the only real problem I had with the audio, however. Otherwise, it was a nicely clear-sounding audio track.

Extras:
The extras are what put this DVD package on the top shelf. There is a full background biography of the "Tales from the Crypt" from its comic-book inception in 1950 to the television adaptation on HBO in 1989. There are numerous interviews with people who were a part of the process in the early days, as well as Senate hearing clips of testimony from creator Bill Gaines of EC Comics. There is also a brief "Crypt Keepers History of Season One" on the special features disc that I found worthwhile and enjoyable. The DVD menus have some CG animation and a little more work put into them than you might expect on a long-gone TV-show DVD. Some choice zingers by the Crypt Keeper will key if you let the menu play for too long. The DVD case is a tri-fold, brightly colored cardboard case, with plastic disc holders and a small synopsis of each episode on the inside covers. The case's outer sleeve has raised lettering and graphics, with a little more detail than you might expect as well. This may not mean a lot to you, but sometimes it's the attention to detail that makes you appreciate the work that went into creating this first in an eight-season collection.

Bottom Line:
I found the majority of the episodes in the season one set worth watching, and I could watch again and again. Not to mention seeing a lot of now very famous actors in their first roles makes this set worth owning, even if you're not a fan. However, these types of stories, as well as the ways in which they're told, are not for everyone. There are huge amounts of blood, guts, gore, and nudity in most of the episodes. This set would not be a good choice for younger children, no matter how badly they begged you to see it.

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