Tales From The Crypt (TV Series)



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.

Plot
Each episode begins with a tracking shot leading to the front door of The Cryptkeeper's decrepit mansion. Once inside, the camera pans down from the foyer to the hallways and stairways, finally descending into the basement. The show's host, The Cryptkeeper, then pops out from his coffin, cackling wildly; finally, green slime pours down over the screen as the main title appears. The Cryptkeeper is an animated corpse, as opposed to the original comics in which he was a living human being. The wisecracking Cryptkeeper (performed by puppeteers like Van Snowden, Mike Elizalde, Frank Charles Lutkiss, Patty Maloney, Anton Rupprecht, Shaun Smith, David Stinnent, Mike Trcic, and Brock Winkless, and voiced by John Kassir) would then introduce the episode with intentionally hackneyed puns (e.g. his frequent greeting to viewers: "Hello, Boils and Ghouls" or "Hello, Kiddies"). Each episode was self-contained, and was bookended by an outro sequence again involving the Crypt Keeper. Comic book cover art was created by Mike Vosburg and Shawn McManus.

3x01- "Loved to Death"
A writer (Andrew McCarthy) has a neighbor (Mariel Hemingway) who is his object of desire. He finally gains her affection, only to regret his choice after the woman's obsessive love becomes too much for him to handle.

Also starring David Hemmings as the landlord and Kathleen Freeman as the next door neighbor.