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Released by: Shock Entertainment
Released on: October 30, 2011.
Director: Freddie Francis
Cast: Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Patrick Magee, Ralph Richardson
Year: 1972
The Movie:
Directed by Freddie Francis in 1972 for Amicus Studios and distributed by Fox, Tales From The Crypt is one of a few anthology films that the studio pumped out during their heyday. Based on a smattering of stories that originally appeared in EC Comics' Tales From The Crypt, Vault Of Horror and Haunt Of Fear Comics from the 1950s, the movie begins when a handful of assorted characters wind up getting lost inside a crypt they're exploring. They meet up with a strange man, The Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson), who tells them each a story of how they died.
The first story, 'All Through The House,' tells how a woman named Joanne Clayton (Joan Collins) murdered her husband on the night before Christmas to cash in on an insurance policy while their young daughter sleeps upstairs, anxious for what the morning will bring. Unfortunately for her, she chose the same night to kill him that a lunatic in a Santa Claus outfit chose to break into her house. Reflection Of Death tells of a man (Ian Hendry) who has an affair behind his wife's (Susan Denny) back and winds up surviving a car accident but not in the way he had hoped he would. The third story, 'Poetic Justice,' tells us how a wealthy man chose to ruin the life of the impoverished dustman, Arthur Grymsdyke (Peter Cushing), whose only joys in life are giving toys to the local children and communicating with his late wife via a Ouija Board. When they eventually drive him to suicide, this proves to have very dire consequences. 'Wish You Were Here' tells the tale of a couple, Ralph and Enid Jason (Richard Greene and Barbara Murray), who think that their money troubles are solved when they come across a mystical statue that will grant them three wishes - but of course, this all goes horribly wrong. The last story, 'Blind Alleys,' introduces us to Major William Rogers (Nigel Patrick) who takes a job running a home for the blind. When he cuts the budget on food and heat for the patients and gorges himself on steak and wine in his office, the patients, lead by George Carter (Patrick Magee), decide to take care of things on their own.
Stylish and atmospheric, Tales From The Crypt is a well made feature that dose a good job of bringing the EC ethos to life. As it was with the comics (despite what Frederic Wertham would have had us believe), there are definitely morals to the stories and those who meet their grisly demise in the film generally had it coming in the first place - but it's done with an eye for shock and surprise, just as it should be. The film moves at a good pace, features some decent production values and makes good use of the various sets employed throughout the film - from the foggy cemetery in the beginning to the Crypt Keeper's tomb itself, you can't fault the visuals here.
As far as the performances go, top billed Joan Collins does a good job in the first story, looking beautiful and playing the panicked soon to be victim rather well. Cushing steals the show, however, bringing a real sense of genuine sadness to his role. Shot less than a year after he lost his wife, Helen Beck, he's obviously channeling his own personal sorrow in the part and you can't help but feel for the guy, making his righteous return in the movie all the more impressive. Patrick Magee's work here also really stands out. instantly recognizable as the writer from A Clockwork Orange among plenty of others, he's got a serious intensity and drive in this role that really makes it stand out.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Tales From The Crypt pops onto Blu-ray from Australian releasing company Shock Entertainment in an AVC encoded 1.85.1 widescreen 1080p high definition transfer that actually looks pretty good. Detail is considerably stronger than what the Region One DVD from MGM's Midnight Movies line offered when it was released years ago and colors look nice and natural. Black levels aren't always reference quality but they're generally strong and there's only minor print damage to content with. Skin tones look decent, not waxy or overly processed and while some minor shimmering and edge enhancement isn't too hard to spot from time to time, it never really proves to be distracting.
Less impressive is the audio, which is handled by an English language Dolby Digital Mono track. There's no lossless option provided, unfortunately, which seems to be an annoying trend with Shock releases as their Blu-ray release of The Vampire Lovers suffered from the same problem. A few bits sound a little shrill and every once in a while you'll hear some mild hiss but overall things are clear and perfectly understandable - just underwhelming and disappointing given what the format allows.
Extras? No. Not a single one. Just a static menu and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
It's tough to whole heartedly recommend this one - on one hand, it's a completely barebones release with unimpressive lossy audio and on the other hand the transfer really is pretty good and it's not a title we're likely going to see hit Blu-ray again anytime soon. There's no doubt whatsoever that more could and should have been done with the movie than Shock's treatment of the film - some extras would have been nice and better audio too. Until that happens though, this is the best version of Tales From The Crypt available, and for some that will count for something.
-Thanks to Horace Cordier for the use of the disc!
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
