Yar, “Tales from the Crypt” season five is now out on DVD, and boy what a set it is. Season Five is considerably hit or miss, as was the entire series, but there are also some genuine twists and turns with some rather fantastic episodes. Season five reaches around the home stretch, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take from it.

The humor is still as demented, and the crypt keeper is still a bastard. Gore flies, and the monsters are still rather horrifying with episodes that feature a possessive hypnotist keeping his assistant under his control, a controlling man trying to ship his wife in pieces in a trunk, a real estate salesman who comes across a family of freaks, and, my personal favorite episode of the season, “House of Horror.”

The rather comedic episode features a group of college freshman pledging for a fraternity in a haunted house that holds many surprises inside. But then again, with “Tales from the Crypt” there was always a surprise plot twist or ending that became a basic pre-requisite. Sometimes they worked, and sometimes they fell flat. With season five, the series starts to show its age, but with “House of Horror” you remember why the series was such a landmark; with that episode, the sister house Delta Omega Alpha wants to pair with a frat house and invite them for dinner.

With a cast like Tim Curry, Martin Sheen, Billy Zane, Kevin Dillon, Tracy Lords, and the like, you’re guaranteed some bonafide horror treats in this package. Meanwhile, the series retains much of the humor from the previous seasons featuring John Karris in “Oil’s Well that Ends Well” which ends with the crypt keeper noting to the audience how familiar he sounds. Sadly, though there are the caveats. Season five is void of any truly juicy extras and fails to really take advantage of the gems within the individual episodes, and many of the twist endings are revealed on the opening disc menus, so I suggest covering your eyes and playing the episodes to prevent any spoilers. Regardless, the season five set is a pure horror gore-gasm, and a well placed addition to your collection.

- Felix Vasquez Jr.
11/10/06