Tales from the Crypt (TV Series)
From Iwe
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from June 10, 1989, to July 19, 1996, on the premium cable channel HBO for seven seasons with a total of 93 episodes. The title is based on the 1950s EC Comics series of the same name and most of the content originated in that comic or the other EC Comics of the time (The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, Crime SuspenStories, Shock SuspenStories, and Two-Fisted Tales). The show was produced by HBO.
Because it was aired on HBO, a premium cable television channel, it was one of the few anthology series to be allowed to have full freedom from censorship by network standards and practices. As a result, HBO allowed the series to include content that had not appeared in most television series up to that time, such as graphic violence, profanity, sexual activity, and nudity. The series is subsequently edited for such content when broadcast in syndication or on basic cable. While the series began production in the United States, in the final season filming moved to Britain, resulting in episodes which revolved around British characters.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
- Main article: List of Tales from the Crypt episodes
[edit] Spin-offs
The success of the series led to numerous spin-offs and films.
[edit] Films
[edit] Tales from the Cryptkeeper
- Main article: Tales from the Cryptkeeper
[edit] Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House
Main article: Secrets of the Cryptkeeper’s Haunted House
[edit] Radio series
- Main article: Tales from the Crypt (radio series)
[edit] Two-Fisted Tales
[edit] Perversions of Science
- Main article: Perversions of Science
[edit] Famous Faces
[edit] Albums
[edit] Soundtrack
In 1991, Big Screen Records released a soundtrack album featuring assorted music from the series. The album includes the theme music, suites from 11 episodes and an original song titled "Crypt Jam" performed by The Cryptkeeper (John Kassir). A music video for "Crypt Jam" was filmed and is available as an extra on the Region 1 Season 3 DVD.
| Track | Title | Composer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Tales from the Crypt (Main Title) | Danny Elfman | 2:27 |
| 02 | Three's a Crowd | Jan Hammer | 3:50 |
| 03 | Cutting Cards | James Horner | 3:45 |
| 04 | Loved to Death | Jimmy Webb | 3:19 |
| 05 | Dead Wait | David Mansfield | 4:04 |
| 06 | Undertaking Palor | Nicholas Pike | 3:10 |
| 07 | Carrion Death | Bruce Broughton | 3:32 |
| 08 | Ventriloquist's Dummy | Miles Goodman | 3:32 |
| 09 | The Thing from the Grave | David Newman | 2:53 |
| 10 | The Man Who Was Death | Ry Cooder | 4:22 |
| 11 | Reluctant Vampire | Cliff Eidelman | 3:50 |
| 12 | Deadline | Steve Bartek | 3:32 |
| 13 | The Crypt Jam | Chuckii Booker | 4:30 |
[edit] Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas
In 1994, a Christmas album, Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas, was released by The Right Stuff, a subsidiary of Capitol Records. Most of the songs are spoofs of holiday standards performed by The Cryptkeeper, such as "Juggle Bills" (Jingle Bells), "We Wish You'd Bury the Missus" (We Wish You a Merry Christmas) and "Deck the Halls with Parts of Charlie" (Deck the Halls), with narration and a few original songs mixed in. The CD booklet includes a black and white reprint of the comic "And All Through the House".
| Track | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Intro to Album | 0:51 |
| 02 | Deck the Halls with Parts of Charlie | 1:55 |
| 03 | Juggle Bills | 3:17 |
| 04 | We Wish You'd Bury the Missus | 2:20 |
| 05 | Moe Teitlebaum | 2:32 |
| 06 | A Christmas Card for the Cryptkeeper | 0:51 |
| 07 | Christmas Rap | 3:22 |
| 08 | Intro to Cryptkeeper's Family Christmas | 0:32 |
| 09 | Cryptkeeper's Family Christmas | 2:03 |
| 10 | 'Twas the Fright Before Christmas | 3:55 |
| 11 | Twelve Days of Cryptmas | 3:42 |
| 12 | Intro to Revenge of the Cryptkeeper | 0:24 |
| 13 | Revenge of the Cryptkeeper | 2:18 |
| 14 | Have Yourself a Scary Little Christmas | 2:21 |
| 15 | Should Old Cadavers Be Forgot | 3:38 |
[edit] Monsters of Metal
In 2000, Capitol Records released another album titled Tales from the Crypt: Monsters of Metal. This album is a compilation of horror-themed songs from popular heavy metal bands with wraparound narration by the Cryptkeeper (John Kassir).
| Track | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Cryptkeeper Intro #1 | John Kassir | 0:30 |
| 02 | Heaven and Hell | Black Sabbath | 6:54 |
| 03 | Creepy Feelings | Armored Saint | 5:21 |
| 04 | Five Magics | Megadeth | 5:41 |
| 05 | The Cryptkeeper Intro #2 | John Kassir | 0:14 |
| 06 | Cemetery Gates (Demon Knight) | Pantera | 5:47 |
| 07 | Eyes of a Stranger | Queensrÿche | 4:40 |
| 08 | Hallucinating | Apartment 26 | 3:40 |
| 09 | The Cryptkeeper Intro #3 | John Kassir | 0:35 |
| 10 | Dead Inside | Arch Enemy | 4:11 |
| 11 | Beyond the Realms of Death | Judas Priest | 6:53 |
| 12 | Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck | Prong | 4:12 |
| 13 | The Cryptkeeper Intro #4 | John Kassir | 0:16 |
| 14 | Don't Talk to Strangers | Dio | 4:52 |
| 15 | Bordello of Blood | Anthrax | 4:12 |
| 16 | The Bell Witch | Mercyful Fate | 4:34 |
| 17 | The Cryptkeeper Intro #5 | John Kassir | 0:21 |
| 18 | Wolverine Blues | Entombed | 2:10 |
| 19 | Hollow Ground | The Haunted | 4:10 |
| 20 | Beyond the Black | Metal Church | 6:22 |
| 21 | The Cryptkeeper Ending | John Kassir | 0:46 |
[edit] Home media
Warner Home Video has released all seven seasons on DVD Region 1. The DVDs for the first three seasons feature all-new Crypt Keeper introductions and segments. No new segments were filmed for seasons 4–7. On June 6, 2017, all seven seasons were reissued in a box set entitled Tales From the Crypt: The Complete Series. A Region 2 version of the whole series was released by '84 Entertainment on June 4, 2010, The series is also available through the streaming platform Vudu.
| Season | Episodes | Discs | Release date | Extras | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[edit] Reruns
[edit] Awards
Tales from the Crypt won the following awards:
- 1991 Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Television Half-Hour – ADR
- 1992 Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Television Episodic – Effects and Foley
- 1993 Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Television Episodic – Effects and Foley
- 1994 American Cinema Editors' Eddie Award for Best Edited Half Hour Series for Television (for the episode "People Who Live in Brass Hearses")
[edit] Nominations
[edit] Cancelled reboots
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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