Tales from the Crypt (TV series)

Episodes

Each episode begins with a tracking shot leading to the front door of the Crypt Keeper's decrepit mansion. Once inside, the camera pans down hallways and stairways, and finally descends into the basement. The show's host, the Crypt Keeper, then pops out from his coffin, cackling wildly; finally, green slime pours down over the screen as the main title appears. The Crypt Keeper is an animated corpse, as opposed to the original comics in which he was a living human being. The wisecracking Crypt Keeper, who was voiced by John Kassir and performed by puppeteer Van Snowden, would then introduce the episode with intentionally hackneyed puns (e.g. his frequent greeting to viewers: "Hello, Boils and Ghouls" or "Hello, Kiddies"). Each episode was self contained, and was bookended by an outro sequence again involving the Crypt Keeper. Comic book cover art was created by Mike Vosburg and Shawn McManus.

The episode "You, Murderer" (1995) is particularly noteworthy since it was one of the first shows ever filmed that used computer effects to digitally insert actors into an episode. The episode was directed by series producer Robert Zemeckis, who had recently directed Forrest Gump which utilized these effects. Alfred Hitchcock appeared in a cameo at the beginning of the episode, and Humphrey Bogart played the starring role for this story. Because both men had been dead for decades, their appearances made the episode very well known amongst fans. This episode was also notable for Isabella Rossellini's guest appearance in which she parodies her lookalike mother, Ingrid Bergman, for the first (and only) time.

Very few of the episodes, especially in the early seasons, were based on actual stories from Tales from the Crypt. Many were instead from other EC Comics series. For instance, season one was predominantly from The Haunt of Fear, while season two was mostly from Shock SuspenStories. Tales from The Vault of Horror appeared sporadically throughout the series run. The final episode broadcast, "The Third Pig", was the only original story not based on the comics, and the only one that was fully animated.

Notable guest stars and directors

Individual episodes from the series often involved big-name stars, either as writers, directors, or actors. In this way, many A-list Hollywood stars were appearing on both the big screen and the small screen at the same time.

A list of actors/guest stars includes the likes of Adam Ant, Lee Arenberg, Patricia Arquette, Bess Armstrong, John Astin, Dan Aykroyd, Hank Azaria, Jonathan Banks, Ed Begley, Jr., Sandra Bernhard, Sonia Braga, Sandra Bullock, Steve Buscemi, Tia Carrere, Julie Chen, Patricia Clarkson, Daniel Craig, Tim Curry, Mark Dacascos, Timothy Dalton, Roger Daltrey, Beverly D'Angelo, Blythe Danner, Benicio del Toro, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kirk Douglas, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Corey Feldman, Teri Garr, Whoopi Goldberg, Shelley Hack, Teri Hatcher, Marg Helgenberger, Mariel Hemingway, Lance Henriksen, Jane Horrocks, Bob Hoskins, Ernie Hudson, Kylie Ireland, Eddie Izzard, Lainie Kazan, Margot Kidder, Art LaFleur, Ute Lemper, Audra Lindley, John Lithgow, Cleavon Little, Meat Loaf, Traci Lords, Jon Lovitz, Wendie Malick, Debi Mazar, Malcolm McDowell, Elizabeth McGovern, Ewan McGregor, Demi Moore, David Morse, Judd Nelson, Donald O'Connor, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Patrick, Bill Paxton, David Paymer, Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt, Amanda Plummer, Iggy Pop, Priscilla Presley, Kelly Preston, Christopher Reeve, Natasha Richardson, Don Rickles, Isabella Rossellini, Tim Roth, Zelda Rubinstein, Katey Sagal, Colin Salmon, Julia Sawalha, Martin Sheen, Brooke Shields, Slash, Vincent Spano, John Stamos, Imelda Staunton, Ben Stein, Lea Thompson, Rachel Ticotin, Susan Tyrrell, Vanity, Ally Walker, David Warner, Sam Waterston, Steven Weber, George Wendt, Adam West, Clarence Williams III, Treat Williams, Grace Zabriskie, and Billy Zane among others.

A list of famous directors includes Michael J. Fox, Tom Hanks, Kyle MacLachlan and Arnold Schwarzenegger (who also had cameos in their episodes). Many well-established film directors also contributed episodes. They include Robert Zemeckis, Richard Donner, Howard Deutch, John Frankenheimer, William Friedkin, Walter Hill, Tom Holland, Tobe Hooper, Mary Lambert, Peter Medak, Russell Mulcahy, Elliot Silverstein, Vincent Spano, and Freddie Francis, who directed the original 1972 film.

Spin-offs

The success of the series led to numerous spin-offs and films.

Films

Originally the Crypt theatrical films were planned as a trilogy. "They felt that in order to make this thing work, we had to do it essentially like the series, which began with three half hour episodes, so we decided to do three movies," Joel Silver told Fangoria magazine in 1995. Ultimately three films were made, but the trilogy didn't pan out as originally intended.

Two movies, Demon Knight (1995) and Bordello of Blood (1996) were released in theaters. A third movie, Ritual was slated for theatrical release in 2001, but was only distributed internationally (without the Tales from the Crypt connection) until 2006 when it was released on DVD in the United States, with the Cryptkeeper bits restored.

As a follow-up to Demon Knight, producers planned to make a film titled Dead Easy (aka Fat Tuesday), a New Orleans zombie romp. "We were rewriting it, and it was getting scarier and more intense, but a lot of the humor had been lost, and we always felt that was an important part of Tales from the Crypt -- scare people, then let them laugh." Gilbert Adler told Fangoria in 1996. The third film that was planned, Body Count, also never found its way to the screen.

It's also worth noting that the Peter Jackson film The Frighteners was originally intended to be a Tales From the Crypt movie helmed by another director, but it was produced and released on its own merit after executive producer Robert Zemeckis read the script.

Tales from the Cryptkeeper

In 1993, a Saturday morning cartoon called Tales from the Cryptkeeper was spun off from the HBO series. Produced by Nelvana for ABC, the violence of the prime-time series was substantially toned down and the gore was omitted. Nelvana employed a child psychologist to review the scripts to ensure the episodes would be suitable for young viewers. The Cryptkeeper puppet was considered as the host for the series but it was ultimately decided that it might frighten youngsters, so instead an animated version was created (which bore more of a resemblance to the puppet than the version of The Cryptkeeper that originated in 1950s EC Comics) and John Kassir was retained as his voice. "Nelvana created a kinder, gentler personality for the children's Crypt Keeper, and it feels a little uncharacteristic at times," Kassir later said. In addition to the Cryptkeeper, EC Comics' mascots The Vaultkeeper and The Old Witch also made frequent appearances, often fighting with the Cryptkeeper for control of the show's hosting duties. The series lasted two seasons on ABC with a total of 26 episodes.

In 1999, the show was revived on CBS for an additional 13 episodes under the title New Tales from the Cryptkeeper. Due to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that demanded more educational value in cartoons, the final batch of episodes was radically dumbed-down and included much more streamlined morality lessons. Although it was once again produced by Nelvana and the opening credits sequence featured clips from the ABC series, the style of the animation underwent a substantial change, with characters appearing much more rounded and cartoon-like. The Vaultkeeper and The Old Witch were omitted, and the Cryptkeeper generally appeared in disguise interacting with characters throughout each episode.

Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House

A kid's game show called Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House was featured on CBS from 1996 to 1997. The Cryptkeeper (again voiced by John Kassir) was the announcer of the show (he would often break into the action with appropriate wisecracks), and contestants competed in physical challenges on a variety of elaborate haunted house sets at Universal Studios Florida. In addition to The Cryptkeeper, the series also boasted an original character named Digger the Skeleton (voiced by Danny Mann).

Radio Series

In 2000, several Tales from the Crypt "radio shows" were recorded for Seeing Ear Theatre, an online subsidiary of The Sci-Fi Channel, and were offered free as streaming RealAudio files on their website, as well as for sale on Audible.com. Although 13 episodes were planned (with forthcoming episodes listed as "TBA"), only 8 stories were recorded. Seven of the eight shows were released on CD in 2002 by Highbridge Audio ("This Trick'll Kill You" was omitted from the CD set).

Two-Fisted Tales

In 1991, the Fox television network aired a pilot for Two-Fisted Tales, a spin-off based on the 1950s EC action comics. When Fox passed on the pilot, Crypt Keeper segments were tacked onto the three stories (Yellow, Showdown, and King of the Road), and HBO ran them as Tales from the Crypt episodes.

Perversions of Science

After the original series ended, a spin-off called Perversions of Science premiered in 1997 on HBO, this time being based on science fiction instead of horror. The series only lasted for a short run, and was cancelled the same year. This iteration of the franchise featured a stylized female robot host in place of the Cryptkeeper.

Soundtrack

In 1991, Big Screen Records released a soundtrack album featuring assorted music from the series. The album includes the theme music, suites from 11 episodes and an original song titled "Crypt Jam" performed by The Cryptkeeper (John Kassir). A music video for "Crypt Jam" was filmed and is available as an extra on the Region 1 Season 3 DVD.

Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas

In 1994, a Christmas album, Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas, was released by The Right Stuff, a subsidiary of Capitol Records. Most of the songs are spoofs of holiday standards performed by the Cryptkeeper, such as "Juggle Bills" (Jingle Bells), "We Wish You'd Bury the Missus" (We Wish You a Merry Christmas) and "Deck the Halls with Parts of Charlie" (Deck the Halls), with narration and a few original songs mixed in. The CD booklet includes a black and white reprint of the comic "And All Through the House." The album is now out of print.

Monsters of Metal

In 2000, Capitol Records released another album titled Tales from the Crypt: Monsters of Metal. This album is a compilation of horror-themed songs from popular metal bands with wraparound narration by the Cryptkeeper (John Kassir).

DVD releases

Warner Home Video has released all 7 seasons of the series on DVD for Region 1. The DVDs for Seasons 1–3 are unique because they feature all-new Crypt Keeper introductions and segments. No such segments were filmed for Seasons 4–7. A Region 2 release of the whole series has been announced for Germany by '84 Entertainment, who will start selling the Season 1 DVD boxset from June 4, 2010 on.

Reruns

Reruns aired on FOX from 1994-1995 under the name Primetime Tales of the Crypt and also aired late-night on CBS in 1997, it also aired on Syfy, as well as Chiller and Fearnet.

In the United Kingdom, the series was aired late-night Fridays on ITV. Satellite and cable channel Horror Channel (then Zone Horror) aired the series in both late-night and daytime slots. The daytime versions were billed as 'cut', although, they remained uncut.

In other media

West End Games adapted material from the series into a role-playing game sourcebook, The World of Tales from the Crypt, using the Masterbook system.

In the very first VeggieTales video, Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, the title of the segment "Tales from the Crisper" spoofs the title of the show.

An episode of The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror XVII, began with a parody of the series. Using an opening similar to the TV series (including theme music, but with a camera man tripping down the winding stairs), Mr. Burns portrayed the Crypt Keeper and made some obvious puns. Laughing, Smithers then appeared to point out what he did.

An episode of Tiny Toon Adventures had a parody of the series called Toons from the Crypt with the opening similar to the TV series. Buster Bunny portrayed the Cryptkeeper. Interestingly, John Kassir, who voiced the Cryptkeeper, later went on to voice Buster Bunny after the rabbit's regular voice actor, Charlie Adler, quit.

The show was also referenced in the Beavis and Butt-head episode, "To the Rescue". Poking fun at the Cryptkeeper while watching a music video.

In the 1995 film, Casper, Dr. Harvey morphs into the Crypt Keeper doing a pose from Edvard Munch's The Scream while looking at the bathroom mirror being possessed by Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie. John Kassir reprised his role.

The Robot Chicken episode "El Skeletorito" has a parody of the series.

American Dad! parodied the series in the episode 100AD.

Awards

Tales from the Crypt won the following awards:

Nominations

Reboot

In January 2016, Entertainment Weekly reports that M. Night Shyamalan will helm the reboot as part of TNT's new two-hour horror block. In April 2016, it was reported that the network has ordered a 10-episode season slated for 2017. The show will keep the episodic anthology format.