Do you want to hear some cries that are streaming? Sometimes we want a horror movie, but other times we want a truckload of horror, and for such binge-watching delights, nothing matches a horror TV show.
You do not have to live in a haunted suburban house to be drawn into the horrors of your television, contrary to popular thinking and popular movies. From the short story psychological shocks of Sixties anthology shows to today’s streaming-assisted scare-fests, many of the genre’s most memorable programs have centered on things that go bump in the night.
Tales from the Crypt, commonly known as HBO’s Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror television series that ran for seven seasons and 93 episodes on the premium cable channel HBO from June 10, 1989, to July 19, 1996. The show is title is based on a 1950s EC Comics series of the same name, and the majority of the content comes from it or other EC Comics of the time (The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear, Two-Fisted Tales, Shock SuspenStories, and Crime SuspenStories ). The show is hosted by The Cryptkeeper, a wisecracking corpse played by puppeteers and voiced by John Kassir.
In this campy and stylized anthology series, the show’s moldering host, The Crypt Keeper, introduces a torrent of terrifying tales. Dan Aykroyd, Sam Waterston, Christopher Reeve, and Malcolm McDowell are among the actors who appear in the episodes. Famous directors such as Tom Hanks, Michael J. Fox, John Frankenheimer, Richard Donner, and Robert Zemeckis directed episodes.
Tales From The Crypt – “Television Terror” Explored
The episode begins with the Crypt Keeper introducing the segment and making quite a few pun-filled remarks with a tremendous amount of zest. One of Tales From The Crypt’s recurring jokes was the Crypt Keeper’s use of terror-themed allusions and puns, such as referring to the audience as “boils and ghouls” rather than boys and girls.
Horton Rivers, the host of a tabloid news show, and his camera team are at the steps of a haunted house in Los Angeles. He records his introduction, claiming that Ada Ritter, the housekeeper, would habitually murder her patients in order to receive their social security payments. Twelve people were killed in all, and Ada’s suicide spurred an inquiry. Horton declares that he would investigate the allegedly haunted house and tape the entire event live.
He ritualistically removes the warning tape from around the home, which he had taped up previously as a production value. A producer called Sam goes through Horton’s schedule with him as they cut for a commercial break. She is both captivated and disturbed by her boss’s eagerness to continue pushing people’s buttons. Horton, who reveals he’s sleeping with Sam, advises her to develop a “killer instinct” in order to thrive in show business.
The program resumes after a commercial break. Horton has a dialogue with psychic Roland Wershafter, who describes the mansion as a “pit of seething evil” and insists that no one enters. Horton dismisses him rudely and walks into the home with videographer Trip Henderson. They take a tour of the first floor but are only surprised by a few rodents in the kitchen. They then reach the gaming room, where Ada is shown murdering one of her victims in a flashback. Finally, they search the cellar, which is where Ada used to hide her victims. Before going to a commercial break yet again, Horton offers an exaggerated explanation regarding Ada’s motivations.
Horton believes the program is a success, but Sam warns him that it is “dragging” and that the network wishes that he spice it up. Horton throws a temper tantrum, but suddenly, he and Trip hear a groan coming from the second story. Trip’s camera briefly drops its feed as they race up to find the cause. Horton follows the sound of water trickling to the bathroom, where he finds a bloodied and elderly man in the tub with his neck slit. He becomes terrified and informs Trip, but the cameraman observes nothing of the sort.
Blood starts pouring out of a closet door. Abruptly, the chandelier shakes, and the door smashes back and forth. An invisible force passes across the room, knocking the chandelier from the ceiling to the ground and destroying a portrait as Trip’s video feed returns and the show returns from its ad break. When everything quiets down, Horton does a piece, stating that this is the first time paranormal activity has been captured on tape. He is then connected to Wershafter, who verifies that they are experiencing a wide range of supernatural phenomena and that they are in great danger.
Someone else is groaning elsewhere in the house. Horton encourages Sam to contact the police, but she’s cut off when the network phones with favorable feedback on the episode. Horton discovers blood on a carpet and traces it to Trip’s body, which is hanging from a noose. He gasps in fear when he sees a specter holding the camera. He tries to flee, but a swarm of other ghosts pursues him into a corner chamber.
He pleads for assistance; Sam sees how much of a rating bump this occurrence will be but is unaware of the danger her employer is in and decides not to send any aid. He is abruptly accosted by Ada Ritter’s spirit, who mortally slashes into him using a chainsaw. As he is forced out the window, a curtain rope is tied around his neck. His bloodied remains hang from the second story, the camera filming the entire scene in real-time. Sam, who believed she had discovered her “killer instinct,” is taken aback after she finds out her gross error.
Who is The Cryptkeeper?
Tales From the Crypt’s on-screen puppet presenter is The Crypt Keeper. The CryptKeeper features in the series’ opening section and serves as the storyteller. Later, he reappears for the last section to add caustic comments or a bitter moral. He first appeared in Crime Patrol #15 magazine, and he remained with the magazine despite changes in name and style.
In the earliest versions, he was a terrifying figure, a scary hermit sitting trapped in the dimly lit Crypt’s half-open entrance, his face almost concealed by the canopy of his long white hair. However, he quickly morphed into a more humorous horror presenter, providing sarcastic and punny comments to lighten the awful nature of the tales he presented.
The Crypt Keeper is depicted as a small, decrepit man with tresses who dons a robe most of the time. His appearance is somewhat reminiscent of a zombie.
Why should you watch Tales From The Crypt – “Television Terror”?
Working from a crisp and deliciously hilarious script by J. Randal Johnson and C.J. Pruss, director Charles Picerni delivers this delightful episode at a relentless and rapid pace, successfully creating and maintaining a beautifully ominous tone and staging the lively, thrilling, and violent conclusion with remarkable finesse and brio. Furthermore, it’s a tremendous delight to witness the constantly unpleasant Morty go through the gauntlet and meet a fabulously grisly end.
Dorothy Parke as Horton’s enthusiastic assistant Sam, Warren Burton as pretentious psychic Roland, Peter Van Norden as displeased producer Booth, and Michael Harris as adventurous cameraman Trip all do an outstanding job in adding to the charm of this episode. But what indeed gives this episode a wildly amusing and pleasurable kick in the pants is the gloriously cruel manner it mocks the brazen character of trashy television shows that will stoop and go to any low for the sake of high ratings.
The depiction of Horton’s employees as a group of long-suffering people who despise their boss’ guts is a fantastic touch. Robert Draper’s eerie cinematography provides a couple of certifiably unsettling imagery. J. Peter Robinson’s shivering and passionate piece strike the mark. Television Terror is a fantastic tale from the Crypt, and it’s certainly up there with the best of them. This episode is an utter joy to watch for young and old alike.