There's some gore here, there's a decapitated head, a mutilated face & someone has their heart ripped out.
#Tales from the crypt seance series#
As usual for this series this looks really good, it has nice 30's or 40's period production design & it's generally well made despite it's made for TV origins. This one also features very funny opening & closing Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) scenes as he impersonates Humphrey Bogart from Casablanca (1942) complete with puns including 'slay it again Sam'.
What more do you want? OK so the twist ending may be a little predictable but it's fun getting there & at only 25 odd minutes it doesn't bore, it moves along at a nice pace & has that dark comic book feel to it. The script by Harry Anderson was based on a story from 'The Vault of Horror' comic book & has all the right ingredient's for a good Tales from the Crypt episode, it has the set up, it has the satisfying pay-off & some decent exploitation along the way. This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 4 from season 4, directed by Gary Fleder I thought Seance was yet another great episode. Not wanting to leave empty handed Alsion speaks to his widow (Ellen Crawford) who says she is planning to speak with her deceased husband at a séance that evening, sensing an opportunity Alison decides to 'fix' the séance & make Chalmers widow part with his cash but things don't quite work out. Tales from the Crypt: Seance concerns a con-woman named Alison (Cathy Moriarty) & her partner Benny who have set up an elaborate plan to con $3000,000 out of rich businessman Prescot Chalmers (John Vernon), unfortunately the plan fails at the last minute & if that wasn't bad enough Chalmers then dies in a freak accident. Good episode, recommended to everyone who likes the series.
The Crypt Keeper's intro is the most fun, since he does a pretty good impression of Humphrey Bogart in "The Maltese Falcon" and "Casablanca". The tale has a nice and moody 1930's gangster-atmosphere going for it and there even are a couple of gory moments to enjoy. The directing by Gary Fleder ("Kiss the Girl") is very stylish and Vernon obviously had a great time portraying the sleazy rich bastard. The deceptive couple sees this as a new opportunity to steal his money, this time by focusing on the blind and superstitious widow. John discovers the fraud quite easily but dies nevertheless in a banal accident (= falling down an elevator shaft!). They try fooling him into believing he's the lawful heir of a deceased bank robber but, before getting access to his fictional fortune, he has to buy off the fake notary. Pretty cool "Tales from the Crypt"-episode that stars charismatic actor John Vernon ("Killer Klowns from Outer Space", "Animal House") as the rich and old target of two amateurish swindlers. One of the definite highlights of the fourth season. Moreover, the Cryptkeeper bookends this show with a hilarious impression of Humphrey Bogart. Directed with commendable style and assurance by Gary Fleder and smartly written by Harry Anderson, with a tasty and credible 40s period atmosphere, a classy and moody score by veteran singer/songwriter Jimmy Webb, across-the-board ace acting from the fine cast, dialogue that crackles with razor-sharp wit, and slick cinematography by Rick Bota, this episode moves along at a constant snappy pace and delivers a good deal of nice grisly gore, with a spot-on satisfying gruesome punchline at the very end as justice is served in that perfectly macabre EC manner. Chalmers (robustly essayed with smooth panache by the always great John Vernon) out of his considerable fortune, but things don't exactly go according to plan. Heartless Alison Peters (a splendidly snarky and wicked portrayal by Cathy Moriarty) and her wimpy partner Benny Polosky (an excellent performance by Ben Gross) are a couple of squabbling and adversarial two-bit con artists who concoct a tricky extortion scheme to bilk wealthy old sleazeball Mr.