Tales from the Crypt (1972)

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writers:

Johnny Craig (comic book stories Tales From The Crypt and The Vault of Horror)
Al Feldstein (comic book stories Tales From The Crypt and The Vault of Horror)

Release Date:

9 March 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

DEATH LIVES in the Vault of Horror!

Plot:

Five people get lost in a crypt and meet up with a strange crypt keeper who tells them stories of how they died.

Plot Keywords:

Crypt | Future | Tour | Infidelity | Sword

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Joan Collins	...	Joanne Clayton (segment "All Through The House")
Peter Cushing	...	Arthur Edward Grimsdyke (segment "Poetic Justice")
Roy Dotrice	...	Charles Gregory (segment "Wish You Were Here")
Richard Greene	...	Ralph Jason (segment "Wish You Were Here")
Ian Hendry	...	Carl Maitland (segment "Reflection of Death")
Patrick Magee	...	George Carter (segment "Blind Alleys")
Barbara Murray	...	Enid Jason (segment "Wish You Where Here")
Nigel Patrick	...	Maj. William Rogers (segment "Blind Alleys")
Robin Phillips	...	James Elliott (segment "Poetic Justice")
Ralph Richardson	...	The Crypt Keeper
Geoffrey Bayldon	...	Guide
David Markham	...	Father (segment "Poetic Justice")
Robert Hutton	...	Neighbour (segment "Poetic Justice")
Angela Grant	...	Susan Blake (segment "Reflection of Death") (as Angie Grant)
Susan Denny	...	Mrs. Maitland (segment "Reflection of Death")

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:(Banned) (1972) (original rating) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (re-rating) | West Germany:18 | Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM14 | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) (cinema version) (cut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Amicus Productions

Trivia:

Peter Duffell passed on the chance to direct this picture.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When a close-up is shown of the skeletal motorcyclist following Ralph Jason in the "Wish You Were Here" segment, his facial features can clearly be seen behind the skeletal mask.

Quotes:

Charles Gregory: [Revived to life, twitching and screaming in pain] Oh, Enid!
Charles Gregory: [Yelling towards the front door] Charles!
Ralph Jason: Help me!
Charles Gregory: [Entering the house] What's happened?
[to Enid]
Charles Gregory: What have you done?
Enid Jason: I wished him alive again... forever!
Charles Gregory: Don't you realize he's been embalmed? His veins are filled with embalming fluid, burning into him!
Enid Jason: [Sobbing] Oh, no!
Ralph Jason: [Screaming] Enid, do something! For God's sake, Enid, help me!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Version of "Tales from the Crypt: And All Through the House (#1.2)" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Ghoulish Fun

Five people wander off on a tour and come upon the crypt-keeper. Each tells his or her last memory. Each one confesses to doing something wrong. The crypt-keeper listens to each before telling the five what has happened to them and where they are. Easily this is one of the best Amicus horror anthologies. It is well-crafted, well-acted, and suitably directed by genre stalwart Freddie Francis. All of the stories are pretty good, with three standing out. The first story about Christmas and a loose killer is well-done and shocking for its day. The best story stars Peter Cushing as a genial old man suffering desolation and humiliation from a heart-less(no pun intended) neighbor. Cushing does a wonderful job here, and in a way it is a sad performance as it was made shortly after the death of his long-time wife Helen. The last story is almost as good about a group of blind residents who stop taking being treated poorly and give out punishment to a military man with razor-sharp justice. Patrick Magee and Nigel Patrick both excel in this little vignette. The frame story is also well-executed and Sir Ralph Richardson hams it up amicably as the keeper of the crypt. A great group of frightening stories...each with a moral of sorts.