Tales from the Crypt
Official Synopsis:
“When five unwary travelers with dark hearts stumble into a series of catacombs, they find themselves in a cavern with no way out. But the horror’s only just begun as a mysterious figure appears to reveal to each person the shocking events that will lead to their well-deserved, untimely– and unavoidable demise.”
Tales from the Crypt is a series of short stories about some pretty despicable people who ultimately get what they deserve. More like a series of parables, I was very surprised how well I liked this.
Each story is told exceptionally well for the length allotted. Although you don’t have much time to get to know the characters, you know who you’re supposed to feel for and who you’re supposed to despise. Having such a short run-time doesn’t have an adverse effect on any of the five stories, they are quick and to the point with some great twists and turns. How well this is executed is definitely the best part of this film, they flow fluidly from one to the other, and are equally entertaining and horrific.
The overlapping story line is only there to introduce you to the character of the next short story. Not until the end is anything interesting revealed, and although this is intended as a big reveal, I think everyone can guess the answer to the question each character is asking. This story line is the only weakness of the film, in my opinion. As a place holder between stories it serves adequately. However, I feel they could have done much more with this and made it much more interesting and chilling.
Video
Tales from the Crypt is presented in 1080p 1.78:1. Although over forty years old, this transfer looks exceptional. There are small blemishes and defects, especially at the beginning and during the crypt scenes, but during the short stories things look good.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS Master Audio Mono. There are a few instances where the effects seem rather hollow, especially parts of the soundtrack, but overall the audio is fine.
Extras
There are no extras for this film, unfortunately.
Vault of Horrors
Official Synopsis:
“Five unsuspecting hotel guests step into an elevator, which leads them into an underground vault. Trapped with no way out, each guest shares a gruesome tale of an encounter with death. But as the stories unfold, the men begin to suspect that their presence in the vault is no coincidence, and that the only way out…is death.”
This is a sequel to Tales from the Crypt, done in much the same way, almost exactly the same way. These are short stories about individual characters and how they met their untimely end. Seeking to ride the success of the first, the film doesn’t really change anything from the formula from Tales from the Crypt.
Five strangers don’t know where they are. Instead of in a creepy underground crypt, they are in a hotel lounge. Instead of a diverse mix of characters, we get five elder men. You can see a trend here. This is the exact same movie, but worse. The lack of diversity was one thing I was particularly displeased with. The stories themselves had entertaining elements, still lending toward the paranormal. But each character I found to be interchangeable in any story. There wasn’t anything unique about any of them, which made each story unremarkable and unmemorable.
One thing I was surprised at was the special effects. There are actually some really good moments in this film that I thought should look incredibly cheesy but were done very well. One being a rope coming to life to kill a man. Now this sounds cheesy in itself, but the rope is given life, with snake-like movements, a better character than the man it is trying to kill.
Video
Vault of Horrors is presented in 1080p 1.78:1. The begging of the film has some noticeable problems, going from light to dark sporadically in the title sequence. This is corrected once the shorts start, and other than a few blemishes and dust particles, the quality is decent.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS HD Master Audio Mono. Again, the beginning suffers from a few problems. It appears the dubbing is a bit off, but corrects itself and is no longer noticeable by the first short.
Extras
This set includes a Theatrical Version and Uncut Version. It also has:
Theatrical Trailer
Alternate Title
This double feature gives us two different versions of the same story. One being done very well, the other not so much. Tales from the Crypt is the former, containing some really good moments and entertaining stories. Vault of Horrors fails at recreating what made Tales from the Crypt so unique. I highly recommend the first, Vault of Horrors is just an added bonus if you pick it up, regardless of the quality.