Product Details

• Actors: Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Roy Dotrice, Richard Greene, Ian Hendry
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305033048
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,190 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Before Creepshow and the Tales from the Crypt TV show became popular, this little-known film was the original adaptation of the famous E.C. horror comic. While visiting an underground catacomb, five tourists (including Joan Collins) venture off into a secret room where a mysterious, robed man shows them the horrible fates that will befall them should they decide to go through with the dastardly deeds they have secretly planned. These include killing a spouse, running away with a mistress, driving a neighbor out of town, using a mysterious idol to fulfill greedy wishes, and abusing the inhabitants of a home for the blind. While not as stylishly spooky as the E.C. adaptations that followed it, this particular compendium has its creepy moments and features a fine cast, including Collins, Peter Cushing, and Patrick Magee, who many may remember as the crippled author in A Clockwork Orange. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly good Horror Flick from the 70's!, January 3, 1999

By 

Mathew W. Riedl (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tales From the Crypt [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This film is a surprisingly good horror flick from the 70's. The film has great shot angles much like the ones Alfred Hitchcock used to use and many of the plots are just like him as well. You get to see five tales of mayhem and suspense as well as a little comedy in each sequence. Based on the Tales from the Crypt comic books, Tales from the Crypt - The Movie is the one that inspired the hit television series directed by Richard Donnar (Director of the Lethal Weapon Series.) I'd reccomend this hit to any fan of horror films, Tales from the Crypt or just want a good scare!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I assure you, I have a purpose..., September 2, 2003

By 

Pamela Scarangello (Middletown, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales From the Crypt [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This 1972 horror anthology incorporates 5 spine-tingling stories from EC's "Tales from the Crypt" comic books. What made this film worth watching is how the stories expose the sinful flaws shrouded in each of the 5 tourists; devious practices of lust, greed and vanity which, of course, ultimately lead the main characters to a horrid demise. Although the first half of the movie was fairly slow, it dramatically picked up the pace as the following tales became increasingly shocking and disturbing.
In "And All Through the House," a greedy housewife named Joanne Clayton (Joan Collins) brutally murders her spouse by smashing his head with a poker. It's Christmas Eve, and after years of meticulous planning, she commits this murder to collect an insurance policy. However, as Joanne attempts to eliminate the body, she is stalked and terrorized by a homicidal lunatic dressed in a Santa Claus costume.
"Reflection of Death" concerns the fate of Carl Maitland (Ian Hendry), a cheating husband who chose to abandon his wife and children in order to begin a new life with his sexy mistress. As the two drive away together, Carl is suddenly killed in a fiery car accident and later on walks the streets as a festering corpse. Upon realizing the horror of his predicament, he wakes up back in his car; to his relief, his death turned out to be nothing more than an awful nightmare. Or was it?
In "Poetic Justice," Arthur Grimsdyke (Peter Cushing) is a charitable garbage collector who enjoys giving toys and candy to the neighborhood kids. However, his life is soon ruined by James Elliot (Robin Phillips), a spoiled, wealthy leech who forces Arthur to sell him his only property. By tarnishing the old man's public image and sending hateful Valentine's Day cards, Mr. Elliot drives poor Arthur to suicide. One year later, on Valentine's Day, Arthur's vengeful spectre rises from the grave to rip James's heart out...literally!
My most favorite tale is none other than "Wish You Were Here," which explains how a married couple try to recover from their financial woes by making 3 wishes on an Oriental statue. When Enid Jason (Barbara Murray) wishes to have a gaggle of money, her husband Ralph (Richard Greene) dies in a terrible auto accident. Then, when the grieving widow wishes her spouse to be how he was before the crash, a group of undertakers report to Enid that Ralph actually died of cardiac arrest. Finally, poor Enid makes the ultimate mistake by wishing for Ralph eternal life; he wakes up screaming in constant agony because the embalming fluid is corroding his arteries and organs! Even when Ralph's writhing body is hacked to pieces, he would never die!
The last scary story told in "Tales from the Crypt" is "Blind Alleys." Major Rogers (Nigel Patrick) is a former army officer hired to run a residence home for the blind. Under his cruel tactics, the patients are freezing cold at night and poorly fed during the day. Later on, when one neglected patient succumbs to illness, all of the abused residents finally had enough. Seeking revenge, they kidnap Rogers and teach him a ruthless lesson on how it feels to be truly blind. Let's just say that the Major's demise includes a half-starved dog and 100 or so razor blades!
What I didn't like about this film is how the Crypt Keeper is wrongly portrayed: Ralph Richardson's interpretation is that of a dignified monk guarding a cobwebbed monastary. (Unlike the EC version, who acts as a morbid color commentator bearing an endless bag of puns and wisecracks.) Also, with his dull dialogue and silly brown robe, the Crypt Keeper could have easily been parodied by Mel Brooks! If you love watching the HBO series and possess reprints of the original comics, this film may take getting used to. Nevertheless, "Tales from the Crypt" is worth seeing, along with "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors."

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Superb Tales of Horror And The Macabre, May 6, 2004

By 

Simon Davis (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales From the Crypt [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Tales from the Crypt", is a seldom seen Amicus Production and was one of that companies famed horror anthologies produced in the early 1970's. Based on the very popular EC comics going by the same name, this movie is often mistaken for the much later television series that told of similiar stories of horror and hayhem. Here is the original movie effort which contains five different stories of varying quality chronicling the deadly deeds possibly committed by five unsuspecting tourists who visit a catacomb in the English countryside. The question is however are these deeds actually from the past? The group wander into and are trapped in a scary sealed chamber where they encounter a sinister elderly man dressed as a monk (Sir Ralph Richardson), who relates their stories one by one and we are treated to some horrific lessons in the consequences of greed, murder, and deceit.

The first tale which is my personal favourite is titled "All Through the House" and stars a perfectly cast Joan Collins as Joanne Clayton a scheming wife who murders her much older husband on Christmas Eve in order to retrieve a large life insurance policy. Joanne however gets more than she bargained for when after she disposes of her husband's body in the celler she is victimized by an escaped madman dressed in a Santa Claus suit who terrorises her in the house and then when let in by Joanne's unsuspecting daughter Carol (Chloe Franks) murders her.

Story two "Reflection of Death", is perhaps the weakest of the stories and finds an unfaithful husband Carl Maitland(Ian Hendry), preparing to leave his wife and young children and run off to start a new life with his mistres. However things dont go as planned when the pair have a car accident and George suddenly finds himself two years in the future with his girlfriend a blind woman from the accident and himself a terrifying rotting corpse. Waking up in the car George finds he was dreaming it until the situation tragically does play itself out for real.

Story three is "Poetic Justice", and is probably the most eerie of the stories and stars the great Peter Cushing as lovable old vagabond Arthur Grimsdyke who lives alone in an old house with his numerous dogs and the children that visit him everyday. Arthur however is the thorn in the side of neighbour James Elliot (Robin Phillips), who begins a sadistic campaign to rid the area of his horrid neighbour. He causes Arthur to first loose his job and then have his unregistered dogs removed after which he warns the neighbourhood parents about Arthur's real intentions with their children. As the grand finale on Valentine's Day James sends Grimsdyke a whole pile of vicious Valentine cards upon which Arthur commits suicide. However he ends up having the last word on who is the person with the real heart when exactly one year later Grimsdyke gets his own revenge.

Story Four "Wish You Were Here", is based on the terrifying story of the Monkey's Paw and revolves around ruthless and greedy businessman Ralph Jason (Richard greene),who suddenly finds himself bankrupt and badly in debt. Discussing the situation with his wife Enid (Barbara Murray) the pair suddenly notice for the first time an inscription on a valauble and mysterious oriental statue that promises the owner three wishes. Enid makes the mistake of asking for lots of money which does come to her but only after her husband is killed while driving to his financial advisors office. Enid then asks that Ralph be returned to her as he was before the accident which sees a group of undertakers bring in his coffin with the news that Ralph actually died of a heart attack BEFORE the car crashed. Making a final terrifying mistake she wishes that Ralph was alive and would live forever upon which he becomes a screaming monster as he has been filled with burning embalming fluid and can now never die despite the agony he is in.

Story five "Blind Alleys", stars Nigel Patrick as Maj. William Rogers a sadistic ex army officer who is placed in charge of a home for blind men. Very soon he is redecorating his office, and cutting back on fuel and food for the men. Aided by his savage dog he strikes terror into all the men until one of the elderly men dies of the cold and led by George Carter (Patrick Magee), the men take matters into their own hands and after imprisoning both the Major and his dog in cells, set up a deadly plan of retribution that sees the Major become a victim of the very things he used to frighten and deprive the men.

Like many anthology films some of the sections are more effective than others. The Joan Collins segment is especially powerful as it is done with minimal dialogue and with the continual drone of Christmas Carols playing during scenes of murder and mayhem. The image of death with its skeletal face riding Richard Greene to his death in "Wish You Were Here", is also a very powerful image from this film as his his terrible torment when he comes alive but is full of embalming fluid at the conclusion. Along with the classic "The House That Dripped Blood", "Tales", makes great spine tingling viewing if you like mini stories told within the one film. It is also highly recommended for its first rate British cast that really bring these stories of the macabre alive. Amicus and Hammer productions were the leaders in these type of horror tales and their work nowadays is sorely missed. Enjoy.