{"id":28060,"date":"2018-10-10T00:05:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T04:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=28060"},"modified":"2018-10-10T03:56:01","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T07:56:01","slug":"tales-from-the-crypt-vault-of-horror-double-feature-blu-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/10\/tales-from-the-crypt-vault-of-horror-double-feature-blu-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"Tales From The Crypt\/Vault Of Horror: Double Feature [Blu-ray]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It makes sense that Shout Factory would package \u201cTales from the Crypt\u201d with \u201cVault of Horror\u201d since both horror films are essentially a part of the same universe, and are adapted from the genius EC Comics brand. In \u201cVault of Horror\u201d you can even see one of the characters sit beside a stack of EC Comics while turning to continue reading a \u201cTales from the Crypt\u201d novel. It\u2019s a good thing too since both films are stellar horror anthologies, practicing the tradition of EC Comics\u2019 storytelling formula that involves revenge, irony, plot twists, and turning the tables on characters at every turn. If you can spare the time, these films deserve to be viewed as a double bill, because it\u2019s a master class of storytelling and creeps.<\/p>\n

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In \u201cTales from the Crypt,\u201d five strangers are on a tour through old catacombs and are accidentally separated from the group. Attempting to find their way back, they end up in a crypt with a mysterious Keeper who explains how each of them died. \u201cAnd All Through the House\u201d is a great opening segment (that would later be remade in to an equally great episode for the contemporary HBO series) starring a young beautiful Joan Collins who murders her husband on Christmas Eve for his Insurance plan. She finds concealing the crime even more difficult as she has to do battle with an escaped serial killer dressed as Santa Claus who is trying to break in to the house. \u201cReflection of Death\u201d is a weird and unique tale about endless fate when a man abandons his family for his young lover.<\/p>\n

When they\u2019re involved in a car accident, the man awakens from the wreck to find his girlfriend. \u201cPoetic Justic\u201d stars Peter Cushing as a widow and toy maker who becomes the victim of his neighbors\u2019 demented torture when they decide they want him out of the neighborhood and plan to buy his valuable home. Simultaneously very sad and very creepy, this segment is a classic tale of comeuppance with a gruesome final scene. \u201cWish You Were Here\u201d is a gruesome iteration on the classic \u201cMonkey\u2019s Paw\u201d urban legend. A financially distraught repairman and his wife discover an ancient statue that grants them three wishes. When his wife wishes for a lot of money, the pair learn the hard way to always be careful what you wish for.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ve seen a ton of takes on the Monkey\u2019s Paw, the ending to this segment has to be seen to be believed. Finally \u201cBlind Alleys\u201d is a classic tale of evil getting their just desserts as a retired general is made the director of a home for the blind. When he begins mistreating the residents by starving them and reducing heat while he lives in luxury, the residents decide to wreak revenge on him when one of their closest friends dies in his care. \u201cBlind Alleys\u201d is a dark and twisted revenge story with a wonderful climax. It also features a great performance by Patrick Magee who is both intense and sad. \u201cTales from the Crypt\u201d is a dark and creepy anthology horror film that obviously has traces of what the hit HBO series in the eighties would eventually copy and twist a bit. While the movie itself isn\u2019t as darkly funny or twisted as the HBO show, it is as creepy and often times you can see how the show adopted a lot of its biting irony and plot twists.<\/p>\n

\u201cVault of Horror\u201d takes further from the EC Comics adapting some of their best stories in to an all around stellar horror movie. Five men enter an elevator and accidentally go to the basement where they find a table awaiting them. Awaiting help to get back on the elevator, they decide to wait and tell one another about peculiar dreams they\u2019ve had. Among the tales is \u201cMidnight Mess,\u201d where a man who tracks down his long lost sister in hopes of stealing her inheritance. When he seeks to murder her to claim it, he happens upon a weird town she\u2019s now living in. \u201cThe Neat Job\u201d involves an obsessively neat man who finds out his new trophy wife isn\u2019t the domestic pro he thought she\u2019d be. Eventually things go awry when he drives her mad over his intense demands for neatness. \u201cThis Trick\u2019ll Kill You\u201d involves slimy magician Sebastian and his wife who travel to India to steal tricks from street side gurus and debunk their illusions.<\/p>\n

When he discovers an amazing trick involving a snake like rope, he\u2019ll do anything to steal it. Even murder. \u201cBargain in Death\u201d is a darkly funny tale of a man who is buried alive for the sake of an insurance scam. When he\u2019s double crossed by his partner in crime, he becomes the unsuspecting victim of two grave robbing medical students. Briskly paced and surprisingly funny, I laughed through this one more than I thought I would. The final tale \u201cDrawn and Quartered\u201d finds an exploited artist get his revenge on his three old friends when he turns to voodoo to help him inject life in everything he draws. \u201cVault of Horror\u201d is a mind fuck of an anthology filled with twist after twist and some great surprises that might just sneak up on you.<\/p>\n

I can safely say there wasn\u2019t a single segment that brought down the pacing or momentum, and it\u2019ll satiate your EC appetite without fail. The double feature comes with the original theatrical trailer for \u201cVault of Horror\u201d including the alternate title which was \u201cTales from the Crypt II.\u201d There are two cuts of \u201cVault of Horror\u201d included: the theatrical cut and the Uncut Open Matte Version, with DTS 2.0 Mono Audio.<\/p>\n