TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972)

 

(Director: Freddie Francis. Screenwriters: Milton Subotsky, Al Feldstein, and Johnny Craig, “based on stories written by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig and Bill Gaines, originally published in the Comic Magazines Tales From the Crypt[, The Haunt of Fear] and The Vault of Horror by Bill Gaines” [IMDb].)

 

Review

In this five-story horror anthology film put out by Amicus Productions, a group of catacombs-exploring tourists wander into a room where a commanding, hooded Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson, THE GHOUL, 1933) tells his reluctant, disturbed listeners possible demises that face them.

The first tale he tells, “. . . And All Through the House,” set in a Christmastime, garishly decorated house, shows Joanne Clayton (Joan Collins, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, 1977) killing her husband (played by Martin Boddey) while her young, gone-to-bed daughter, Carol (Chloe Franks) eagerly awaits Santa Claus’s arrival. Meanwhile, on the radio, news about a Santa suit-wearing maniac on the loose, is heard—an escape that will impact the quality of Joanne and Carol’s holiday celebration.

“. . . And All” originally appeared in the February-March 1954 issue of The Vault of Horror (#35).

 

“Reflection of Death” concerns Carl Maitland (Ian Hendry, DAMIEN: OMEN II, 1978), a businessman leaving his family for his younger secretary, Susan Blake (Angela Grant), when they’re involved in a serious car accident. Upon coming to—he miraculously survived the crash—he stumbles home, where stranger fears await him.

“Reflection” originally appeared in the April-May 1951 issue of Tales from the Crypt (#23).

 

In the Crypt Keeper’s third story, “Poetic Justice”, a snob, James Elliot (Robin Phillips) engages in a smear campaign against his kind, grieving and lower-class neighbor, Arthur Edward Grimsdyke (Peter Cushing), driving Grimsdyke into emotional dire straits. Of course, this comes to haunt Elliot later.

David Markham (BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB, 1971) played Edward Elliot, James’s father.

“Poetic” originally appeared in the March-April 1952 issue of The Haunt of Fear (#12).

 

“Wish You Were Here”, a rework of W.W. Jacobs’s 1902 story “The Monkey’s Paw”, concerns a couple, Enid and Ralph Jason, who are granted three wishes via a Chinese figurine, and live to regret their desires.

Richard Greene played Ralph. Barbara Murray played Enid. Roy Dotrice played Charles Gregory, the Jasons’ lawyer.

“Wish” originally appeared in the November-December 1953 issue of The Haunt of Fear (#22).

 

In “Blind Alleys”, an administrator for a home for blind people (Major William Rogers, played by Nigel Patrick) indulges in a luxurious lifestyle while neglecting and terrorizing his clients. When one of them dies, another, George Carter (Patrick Magee, DIE, MONSTER, DIE!, 1965), confronts the greedy, dismissive director, leading to Rogers’s nightmarish punishment.

“Blind” originally appeared in the February-March 1955 issue of Tales from the Crypt (#46).

 

All the mini-tales (including its wraparound) are entertaining, some better than others—standout segments are “. . . And All” (with its eye-popping, Christmas-colored hues and cherry-red blood, and Joan Collins’s nasty-then-desperate characterization), “Poetic Justice” (with its incisive viciousness and a great performance by Peter Cushing), and the nightmarishly creative comeuppance of  “Blind Alleys” (and a memorable performance by the always compelling Patrick Magee).

TALES, tightly edited (hello, Teddy Darvas), and one of cinematographer-turned-director Freddie Francis’s better films, is often shot in grim, dark color tones (credit Norman Warwick). It’s a mostly excellent film, its atmospheric opening scenes, shot in Highgate Cemetery, Swain’s Lane, Highgate, England, set the tone for the film whilst Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Toccata & Fugue in D Minor” plays at key moments. TALES’s PG rating is due to its lack of onscreen violence and brief instances of obviously fake blood (“. . . And All”, “Poetic Justice” and “Blind“)—that said, its sometimes nasty characters and resolutions, while they further sell TALE‘s often potent horror, might give some parents pause in letting their younger kids see this.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

According to IMDb. . .

Stephen King and George A. Romero’s 1982 film CREEPSHOW originated in their desire to remake TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972).

Peter Cushing took a cut in pay to act in TALES.

 

The Jasons’ mansion in “Wish You Were Here” was also a shooting location in THE OMEN (1976, the Thorns’ mansion).

 

In “Wish You Were Here”, the scene where Ralph Jason is pursued by a motorcycle was shot on the Alpine Circuit at Milbrook test track—also used in Gordon Hessler’s 1970 hybrid terror flick SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN (in the Michael Gothard being chased by cops scene).

 

“Blind Alleys” was remade as an episode of the 1989-1996 HBO series,TALES FROM THE CRYPT episode, “Revenge is the Nuts” (Season 6 episode 5, original air date: November 16, 1994).

 

Peter Cushing and Joan Collins, who share no scenes in TALES, co-starred in FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972).

NIGHT SCHOOL (1981)

 

(a.k.a. TERROR EYES; director: Ken Hughes. Screenwriter: Ruth Avergon.)

Review

Boston, Massachusetts. A teacher’s aide (Anne Baron, played by Meb Boden) at the Jack ‘n’ Jill Daycare Center, is beheaded by a black-clad, black-helmeted motorcyclist wielding a recurved blade (a kukri, sometimes called a Gurkha blade). The investigators on the scene note that the killing is similar to another recent murder. Given the nature of the crimes, lead investigative cops, Lt. Judd Austin (Leonard Mann) and Taj (Joseph R. Sicari), are drawn to Wendell College where womanizing anthropology professor Vincent Millett (Drew Snyder, FIRESTARTER, 1984) teaches a course on tribal rituals, which introduces them to Millett’s research assistant, Eleanor Adjai (Rachel Ward, THE FINAL TERROR, 1983)—this visit deepens Austin’s suspicions about Millett. It seems that the murderer either works at or attends Wendell. The pool of suspects widens when a creepy busboy (Gary, played by Bill McCann) at a local diner is introduced as well.

More women in the area are decapitated, as Austina and Taj further investigate clues and suspects, and eventually figure out who did it.

This solid, occasionally suspenseful police procedural/slasher film shows a bit of blood and severed heads but rarely shows actual violence (lots of shots leading up to attacks, freeze frames and cutaways), and the killer is relatively easy to spot if you’re familiar with the genre. What makes NIGHT SCHOOL a gem of a slasher flick is its playful touches of macabre humor, good acting, well-sketched characters, lack of gratuitous violence, effective soundtrack (courtesy of Brad Fiedel), twisty/bizarre-ish ending, and its competent crew. It probably won’t win many awards (it won a few small ones when it came out) but it might provide tightly edited hour and a half entertainment for you, if you keep your expectations modest.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

NIGHT SCHOOL is Rachel Ward’s feature debut, and director Ken Hughes’s final movie, in a forty-eight-film career that includes THE IPCRESS FILE (1965, he was an uncredited writer).

Though a perforated hockey mask is shown in Gary’s room, it’s probably not a reference to Jason Voorhees from the FRIDAY THE 13^th films. Jason’s iconic mask (its first version) wasn’t introduced to the summer-set franchise until FRIDAY THE 13^th PART 3 (1982).

 

NIGHT has two minor players from JAWS (1975) in its cast: Belle McDonald, who played Marjorie Armand in NIGHT, was an uncredited Mrs. Posner in the JAWS; Edward Chalmers Jr., a “Construction Worker” in NIGHT, was also uncredited in JAWS— he played Mr. Denherder in that blockbuster film.