Customer Reviews

Tales from the Crypt: The Complete Fourth Season

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remember watching "Tales From The Crypt" re-runs as a kid, Tuesday nights at prime time on FOX, and then Saturday nights after MadTv (1995). Around this time, I started collecting the VHS compilation tapes until I had all of the volumes (they did not contain all of the episodes of the series). Then the re-runs came back on the Sci-Fi channel, and now they are nowhere to be found on basic cable. So, I am very happy that Warner Bros. is finally releasing all the "Tales From The Crypt" seasons on dvd.

Another great season of HBO's "Tales From The Crypt". There was not a season (1-7) that was the best, each season had great episodes and even the episodes that were not great were well worth watching....

My individual episode rating system:
4 out of 4 stars is great
3 1/2 out of 4 stars is very good
3 out of 4 stars is good/enjoyable
2 1/2 out of 4 stars is okay/fair/decent/not bad
2 out of 4 stars is not very good
1 1/2 out of 4 stars is poor
1 out of 4 stars is bad

TALES FROM THE CRYPT SEASON FOUR (1992)
Episode 39: None But The Lonely Heart ***1/2 Starring Treat Williams, Frances Sternhagen, Henry Gibson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tom Hanks, Constance Pfieffer, Don Perry, Edward Penn, Louise Fitch, Gracia Lee; written by Donald Longtooth, directed by Tom Hanks
A sneaky man is obsessed with wedding rich older women then killing them. His business partner fears that he will be caught soon. He finds himself in hot water when he starts getting threatening notes, so he kills off those he suspects and soon realizes the meaning of the saying revenge is sweet.

Episode 40: This'll Kill Ya ** Starring Dylan McDermot, Sonia Braga, Cleavon Little, Ricky Aiello, Scott Williamson; written by Gilbert Adler and A L Katz, directed by Robert Longo
A man walks into the police department dragging a dead body. He tells the officers that he is dead, and the man he dragged in killed him. He then tells them his story to come only find the shocking surprise that awaits him.

Episode 41: On A Deadman's Chest *** Starring Tia Carerre, Paul Hipp, Steve Jones, Dwight "Heavy D" Myers, Sherrie Rose, Gregg Allman, Yul Vasquez, Don Michaelson, Ricahrd Danielson, Karen Kalensky; written by Larry Wilson, directed by William Friedken
A rocker fights with his manager. His groupie girlfriend shows him a special tattoo and convinces him to get one at the place she got hers. The tattoo has a picture of a dragon but with a cartoon face that looks like Scarlett. He tries to remove the tattoo, but it keeps coming back. Eventually it drives him to murder Scarlett.

Episode 42: Seance ***1/2 Starring Cathy Moriarty, Ben Cross, John Vernon, Ellen Crawford, Tim Ahern, Lupe Ontiveros, G.F. Smith; written by Harry Anderson, directed by Gary Fleder
Two con artists pose as mediums decide to use a man named Chalmers as their next victim. The woman seduces Chalmers, and the man takes pictures of them together in bed. Then Chalmers finds out about their scheme, and he is killed in an accident. The con artists discover that Chalmer's wife is blind. They decide to pull off a fake seance on his wife to get Chalmer's money. The plan works but not the way they expected it to.

Episode 43: Beauty Rest *** Starring Mimi Rogers, Kathy Ireland, Jennifer Rubin, Robert Trebor, Buck Henry, Micahel Wiseman, Anders Hove, Marcia Pecci; written by Donald Longtooth, directed by Stephen Hopkins
An obsessed wannabe model grows bloody red with envy when her roommate lands a part she thought she was going to get. She forces her roommate to overdose and steps in to take her place in a beauty contest that she was set up to win. She becomes the target of another jealous model and kills her too. Now, there's no one in her way, and she is crowned, but she soon discovers something shocking about the talent show.

Episode 44: What's Cookin' **** Starring Christopher Reeve, Bess Armstrong, Judd Nelson, Art LeFleur, Meat Loaf, Jeannette Lewis, Helen Nasillski; written by A L Katz and Gilbert Adler, directed by Gilbert Adler
Fred and Erma own a squid café and find themselves in trouble because their business is failing and their landlord has evicted them. That is until one of the employees encourage them to serve meat - people in particular. Suddenly, business is booming, and the cops are closing in.

Episode 45: The New Arrival **** Starring David Warner, Twiggy Lawsen, Joan Severence, Zelda Rubinstein, Robert Patrick; written by Ron Finley, directed by Peter Medak
An arrogant radio child psychologist is obsessed with proving to his manager that he is the best. He gets a new patient, a woman and her daughter. When he goes to her house, he assumes that the daughter is the woman's imaginary friend. He learns that her daughter died years ago, but her mother's love keeps her alive.

Episode 46: Showdown *1/2 Starring David Morse, Monty Bass, Mel Coleman, Paul T. Murray, Tommy Townsend, Grant Gelt, Roderick Cook, Thomas F. Duffy; written by Frank Darabont, directed by Richard Donner
A gunman is being chased down by another quickdrawing gunslinger in an old abandoned western town. The gunman wins the duel, but he soon learns a new meaning to the phrase "ghost town" as the spirit of all his victims come back to haunt him.

Episode 47: King Of The Road ***1/2 Starring Raymond J. Barry, Brad Pitt, Michelle Bronson, Jack Kehler, Alva L. Petway, Michelle Johnson; written by J. Randal Johnson, directed by Tom Holland
A courageous drag racer challenges a cop who used to be a racer. When the cop refuses, the racer decides to make him change his mind by kidnapping his teenage daughter. The cop proves that he hasn't lost his talent by tricking him to change his course.

Episode 48: Maniac At Large **** Starring Blythe Danner, Salome Jens, Christopher Williams III, Adam Ant, Obba Babatunde, Dion Basco, Laurie Franks, Irwin Keyes, Harper Rosiman; written by Mae Woods, directed by John Frankenheimer
A shy library clerk is obsessed with a serial killer, fearing that she will be the next victim. She thinks that the boss, the security guard, and the patron all might be the killer.

Episode 49: Split Personality **** Starring Joe Pesci, Kristen Amber Citron, Jacqueline Alexandra Citron, Burt Young, Troy Evans, Heidi Thomas, Michael Klastorin, Reginald Hunter, Bill Cho Lee; written by Fred Dekker, directed by Joel Silver
Stetson is a conman who likes to date twins. He finds himself in the arms of twin sisters and creates of twin of his own, pretending to be his own brother. He weds both of them and decides to knock them off, but these twins share and share alike.

Episode 50: Strung Along *** Starring Donald O'Conner, Patricia Charbonneau, Zach Gillian, Tom Dugan, Lisle Wilson; written by Yale Udoff and Kevin Yagher, directed by Kevin Yagher
An aging puppeteer gets a new assistant. When he learns that his wife has a boyfriend, the assistant promises he will do something about it. The puppeteer spends most of his time with his favorite puppet Koko. When he discovers that his assistant is his wife's lover, the two make him think that Koko has gone on a murderous rampage.

Episode 51: Werewolf Concerto *** Starring Timmothy Dalton, Beverly D'Angelo, Reginald VelJohnson, Lela Rochon, Dennis Farina, Charles Fleisher, Wolfgang Puck, Jason Iorg, Marci Simon, Walter Gotell, Andre Bustanoby; written by Scott Nimerfro, directed by Steve Perry
A man is killed outside the woods of a hotel. His death is suspected to be the work of a werewolf. The manager says that there is a werewolf hunter at the hotel who will deal with the problem.

Episode 52: Curiosity Killed *** Starring Margot Kidder, Kevin McCarthy, J.A. Preston, Madge Sinclair, Marshall Teague, Constance Wiggins; written by Stanley Ralph Ross, directed by Elliot Silverstein
On a camping trip, a man asks his friend to keep a youth potion away from his wife, but she suspects that they are trying to kill her.

Special Features:
- Commentary on "What's Cookin'?" by the Crypt Keeper, writer Alan Katz & series choricler Digby Diehl
- Stars of Season 4 montage hosted by the Crypt Keeper

Season Four of "Tales From The Crypt" is another great edition to one of television's best series.

The Tales From the Crypt series was some of the best television airing back in the final year of the 80s and into the early 90s. Deliberately over the top. Deliberately funny. Deliberately campy at times. Deliberately scary. Deliberately gory. Deliberately one of HBO's finest creations.

The episodes are all based on EC Comics of old...mostly from the self titled Tales From the Crypt, Haunt of Fear and Vault of Horror comic books. But I'd guess that 90% of you reading this already know that, and you're here as I am delighted that it is finally out on DVD.

For those that have not seen these wonderfully entertaining episodes of dark humor and horror...if you're into the genre this collection and any of the other HBO seasonal Tales From the Crypt releases are for you.

Season 4 includes:

"None But the Lonely Heart" - Tom Hanks directed gold-digger meets grave-digger tale.
"This'll Kill Ya" - Time to take your medicine!
"On A Deadman's Chest" - Tattoo you voodoo.
"Seance" - Fake psychics get real.
"Beauty Rest" - Jealousy will get you everywhere.
"What's Cookin'" - Oh no...not meatloaf for dinner again!
"The New Arrival" - Psychologists should never make house calls.
"Showdown" - This place is a ghost town!
"King of the Road" - 'Pitt' stop.
"Manic at Large" - Paranoid schizophrenic reverse serial killerism.
"Split Personality" - Joe Pesci stars...Funny? Funny how? Like a killer clown funny?
"Strung Along" - Puppet really cuts loose!
"Werewolf Concerto" - Open wide and say owwoooooooh!
"Curiosity Killed" - I'd die to be young forever.

Hit the buy button. These'll kill ya!

The fourth season of Tales From the Crypt was another fantastically ghoulish season of horror vignettes based on the classic EC horror comics. As before, season four features a bevy of talent in front of and behind the camera, beginning with the Tom Hanks directed "None But the Lonely Heart", which stars Treat Williams as a paranoid killer who fears that someone is out to get him. The great William Friedkin directs "On a Dead Man's Chest" which stars Tia Carerre as a groupie who convinces her rocker love toy to get a tattoo, and at what a cost! Stephen Hopkins offers up another entry in the series, with "Beauty Rest" which stars Mimi Rogers as an aging wanna-be model who goes to great lengths to secure herself a spot in a beauty pagent, and she gets much, much more than she bargained for. David Warner stars as a radio child psychologist in the "The New Arrival", called in to a special case, and well, let's just say that this is no ordinary child. Richard Donner and Frank Darabont team up for "Showdown", as a murderous cowboy learns a new definition for the word ghost town, and a young Brad Pitt makes a memorable appearance in "King of the Road", as a drag racer blackmailing a former racer turned cop into one last ride, at any price. Season four features three classic episodes as well, including "What's Cooking" in which a drifter (Judd Nelson) changes the lives of husband and wife diner owners (Christopher Reeve, Bess Armstrong) by helping them put something new on the menu, the Joel Silver directed "Split Personality" which stars Joe Pesci as a con artist working a pair of twins, and the season closing "Curiousity Killed" which stars Margot Kidder as an elderly, nagging wife who believes her husband is trying to kill her, but learns something else even more startling instead. All in all, season four of Tales From the Crypt is yet another excellent season of fun frights, and just like the previous volumes, this is a must own for fans of the series.

I can remember those free weekends HBO would allow the cable companies to have every so often. I would go over to my friend's house have some pizza and soda and stay up late watching the free cable. Along with other hopes that pre-teen would see on cable, this was another show I was hoping to feast my eyes upon. Though these shows were a little bit scarier in my youth, the episodes contained here entertained as well as brought back memories from a time all but forgotten. These stories are great to watch with the family around Halloween or to watch while having as few guests over during the summer. Fun for all I say, fun for all!

TftC Season 4 is by far the best Season so far! I guess when they had all these good actors in it they tried harder when writing the episodes. Either way every single one was really good!
Every other review went into all the details you neeed about it, so I wont do that again.
I will say if you truly love horror you'll LOVE Season 4! I hope Season 5 was this good!

I found the tales from the crypt to have a little of everything. It has the weird, the funny, the creepy, and the bizaar. The actors were very talented and entertaining. I have all the series so far and will continue to collect these fascinating series.

Watched all of Season 4 this weekend. This is my favorite one yet - if you enjoyed the other three seasons you will definitely enjoy this one. If you're new to Tales from the Crypt you should give it a try! Plenty of gore, plenty of nudity...what more could you ask for?

A lot of memories with this season, this was the season when I started watching this series all of those years ago. The episodes haven't aged one bit and are still as interesting as they were way back then. More and more stars started to show up by this season. Big names like Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Timothy Dalton appear in a few of the episodes. This season isn't about the gore and the dead coming back for revenge, this season mainly focused on the twist endings and murder plots more than the undead, not saying that there isn't any here because there is.

Once again, the special features are disappointing and the box is the same as season three. Butt all of that is forgivable with such great episodes that are in this season. If you are a fan of this series and have been getting all of the seasons released so far, this is another to add to your collection so far. While not all episodes are grade A stuff, most of them are. Another must have for fans and new comers alike!

Weird. After finally finding itself in Season Three, the series pretty much collapses in Season Four. Great casts (and sometimes directors) but consistently stale stories (how many times have we seen the sentient doll tale?) with few thrills. Only Split Personality, with Joe Pesci in full-bore Joe Pesci mode and a lavish gross-out ending, reprises the raw, ballsy spirit of the previous season.

The Crypt Keeper is back for a great fourth season filled with classics. The show never seems to age as all the shorts are just as entertaining as they were 20 years ago. Wow can't believe it's been 20 years already. This is another must have season for any fan, and here are some of my favorites from season four:


What's Cooking: A couple's failing restaurant gets a huge boost when a drifter gives them a steak recipe to die for. (My favorite from season 4)

Strung Along: A game of deception ensues when a golden age puppeteer with a very young wife is given a chance to revive his act for a tribute show and takes on a new as his new assistant.

On a Deadman's Chest: A disruptive rocker who despises his bandmate's new wife, receives a tattoo that looks exactly like her, so now not only does the woman he hate get under his skin but is now on it as well.

Beauty rest: An aging down-on-her-luck model resorts to murder to get ahead and poses as her roommate to garner a beauty pageant spot that she's guaranteed to win.

The New Arrival: To boost his troubled ratings, An arrogant radio child psychologist decides to do a series of shows from the home of a mother with the ultimate problem child.

Maniac at Large: A shy library clerk is obsessed with a serial killer fearing that she will be the next victim.

Split Personality: A slimy con man plans to marry some reclusive twins to inherit their fortune by creating a "twin" himself.