Two of the most venerable names in the horror
field, author Stephen King and director George
A. Romero, present this anthology of original
twisted tales inspired by the E.C. horror comics
of the 50's and 60's (themselves a more direct
basis for the popular Tales from the Crypt TV
series). The five stories are framed within the
pages of a comic book which a boy's insensitive
father has thrown in the garbage.
The first tale,
"Father's Day," features a zombie patriarch
returning to claim his Father's Day cake.
"The Lonesome Death of
Jordy Verrill" stars King himself as a
slack-jawed yokel whose discovery of a
radioactive meteorite turns him into a walking
weed.
"Something to Tide You
Over" presents a deadly-serious Leslie Nielsen
as a cuckolded husband who plans an elaborate
seaside revenge.
"The Crate" unleashes
its ferocious man-eating contents on the enemies
of a meek college professor.
"They're Creeping Up On
You" pits obsessively-clean billionaire E.G.
Marshall against a swarm of cockroaches in his
sterile penthouse.
The chapters are
uniformly creative, filmed in garish comic-book
colors, and Tom Savini's makeup effects are
quite memorable (particularly the monster from
"The Crate"), though the campy treatment does
become exhausting after two hours' runtime. The
final segment is the most impressive, thanks to
Marshall's over-the-top performance, though the
planned scope of the cockroach invasion was
drastically reduced (no doubt due to budget
constraints).
Directed by: George A. Romero
Written by: Stephen
King
Produced by:
Maureen Andersen, Salah M. Hassanein, Richard P.
Rubinstein, David E. Vogel
Original music by:
John Harrison
Cast:
Father's Day
Carrie Nye .... Sylvia Grantham
Warner Shook .... Richard Grantham
Viveca Lindfors .... Aunt Bedelia
Ed Harris .... Hank Blaine
Elizabeth Regan .... Cass Blaine
Jon Lormer .... Nathan Grantham
John Amplas .... Nathan's Corpse
Nann Moog .... Mrs. Danvers
Peter Messer .... Yarbro
The Lonesome Death of
Jordy Verrill
Stephen King .... Jordy Verrill
Bingo O'Malley .... Jordy's
Father/Professor/Doctor
The Crate
Robert Harper .... Charlie Gereson
Don Keefer .... Mike the Janitor
Hal Holbrook .... Henry Northrup
Adrienne Barbeau .... Wilma Northrup
Fritz Weaver .... Dexter Stanley
Christine Forrest .... Tabitha Raymond
Chuck Aber .... Richard Raymond
Cletus Anderson .... Host
Katie Karlovitz .... Maid
Something To Tide You
Over
Leslie Nielsen .... Richard Vickers
Ted Danson .... Harry Wentworth
Gaylen Ross .... Becky Vickers
They're Creeping Up On
You
E.G. Marshall .... Upson Pratt
David Early .... White
Epilogue
Iva Jean Saraceni .... Billy's Mother
Joe King .... Billy
Marty Schiff .... Garbage Man #1
Tom Savini .... Garbage Man #2
Tom Atkins .... Billy's Father (uncredited)
Darryl Ferrucci .... "Fluffy" (uncredited)
