During a museum tour, five strangers get separated and lost from the others. Trapped inside a strange tomb, they all meet a mysterious monk who begins to tell them of how they are going to die.The Good Story(s): Reflection of Death-After saying he has to go out for the night on business, a man instead heads out to see his mistress. Deadly tired from a long day of work, she offers to drive instead. While sleeping, his nightmares accidentally force them off the road and they crash. Stumbling away from the wreckage, everyone he meets acts like he is the devil incarnate. Making it back to her apartment, he learns that she survived the accident but became permanently blind. Seeing his face on a picture, he realizes that he is a zombie which wakes him up from his dream. This has to be my favorite of the stories, for the punch-line at the end is so well thought out that it simply hits and hits well. This is the one I don't won't to spoil, and is the main reason why this is a recommended.Poetic Justice-After spying on his neighbor, a man is appalled at how well like he is by all the neighborhood kids and frames his dogs digging up a neighbor's roses. After further acts of hatred against him leave the man even more humiliated, he simply vanishes on Valentine's Day after suffering his greatest humiliation. Wondering where he is, he goes over to check and see that he has hung himself in the bathroom. On the anniversary of his wife's death, the man returns for his final vengeance. What really sold this one was how well Cushing did in portraying Arthur. He really brought out a certain kindness and sympathy in his role. I not in the remotest a sentimental person for movie roles, but I really did feel a little sad for him during the movie. This was a very real performance, as it was a short story that he appeared in. I can't speak enough about how well Cushing was in this story, and is a major reason for watching this particular one. The story might be a little cliché and can be seen coming a mile away, the supernatural vengeance here seems the most appropriate based on the treatment within, and the finale's pretty tense as well.Blind Alleys-Inheriting a retirement villa, a former Army Major runs it so shabbily that the residents are appalled at their treatment. Deciding to get rid of him, they build a giant tunnel full of razor wires that he has to successfully get through in order to live. Even though it is the longest of the stories, nothing of real importance happens until the very end. This is where the famous still shots of the movie come from, and it is a real famous one too, which means that I won't spoil it for you.The Bad Story(s): And All Through the House-After murdering her husband on Christmas, a woman tries to hide it from her daughter. While trying to dispose of the body, she hears an announcement that a killer has escaped from a mental institution and is on the loose. Realizing that the killer is right outside her door, she tries to hide both the body and herself. After an attempt to break into the house, she finally hides the body in the basement and cleans up the crime scene. After a strange set of keys on the table alerts her that the killer is on the house, who is dressed as Santa Claus, her daughter inadvertently lets him into the house. What ruins this for me is that the Christmas music that is blaring throughout the entire story, while appropriate, is completely intrusive on the rest of the action. Suspense is shattered when music plays during scenes where tension should be. Instead, the happy Christmas sounds take you right out of the moment anything happens. It is, in fact, so loud that all other sounds except for a small amount of other noise is drowned out by it being played at the same volume as well. When she is three rooms away from the radio, we still hear it at the exact same level.Wish You Were Here-In danger of declaring bankruptcy, a man finds a rare Chinese statue on his mantle-piece of acquisitions and learns that the statue is very similar to a monkey's paw. A wish is made for him to come into money, but on the way to receive it, he is accidentally killed. His wife wishes him alive again, but he is in so much pain that he can't stop screaming. Trying to hack him to pieces, she realizes that her wish was for him to be alive forever. What ruined this one was that it really only served to me as a way of introducing a swift punch-line at the end. It never gave me a jump as the other one's did, and I never really felt any emotion other than boredom during this story. It does have a cool gore scene when she hacks him up and we can see his insides, but it is so obviously a set of pig intestines used. It is recommended only for that one cool scene, but it sticks out from the other scenes for its fake-ness.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence and Adult Situations.

Original British horror anthology based on EC's 'Tales from the Crypt' which would eventually lead to the more well known US TV series and films. As usual Amicus are behind the tales of terror.Being a British version of the old comic its naturally slightly reserved and a little more serious or gloomy. The cast is made up of some classy stalwartly Brits such as Peter Cushing and Ralph Richardson and many well known characters actors of British film, TV and theatre.The five short stories are interesting but not wild effects packed thrillers as the later movies. The first has Joan Collins murdering her husband at Xmas but being strangled herself by an escaped loony dressed up as Santa who was let in the house by her little girl. Second has a cheating husband seeing his own death and coming back as the undead. Third shows Peter Cushing as an old man being hounded by his snobby neighbours to move as they dislike his scruffy presence next door. The old man commits suicide then comes back from the dead to exact revenge.Fourth story is a variation on the famous short 'The Monkey's Paw' (also spoofed by 'The Simpsons' so well in their Halloween episodes). A recently widowed woman makes bad choices or wishes with a small Oriental statue causing herself much grief. The last story shows what happens to a mean money pinching man who runs a home for blind men very badly. The residents get their revenge on the Scrooge-like director of the so called care home.The stories are told as predictions of the future by the crypt keeper to a group of people visiting some old catacombs, the frame/wrap plot. The keeper is a much more serious take on what you may be used to these days, very monk like, a normal human face, well spoken, almost like the Grim Reaper. The stories are also quite tame and not overly exciting by today's standards. Some blood on show but its pretty clearly red paint and the odd good bit of makeup/prosthetics on the undead. Peter Cushing's small performance as a zombie is actually extremely unnerving down to the quite ghastly makeup applied to his gaunt face, kudos there.The film isn't as fun I thought, its kinda dull and takes itself too seriously. The stories are fair but lean more towards simple revenge without much visual gore or goo, that's perfectly fine but I always thought these anthologies need at least one or two good monster/creature features. The finale vignette for example, about the care home for the blind, is very strange. At first you feel sorry for the elderly men being pushed around by the new director, but when they take their revenge it seems way too extreme and nasty frankly, you end up feeling sorry for the director and his dog.The same can be said for the woman and her Chinese figurine. She's not a bad person, she merely makes wishes that turn sour on her so again you're not too sure how to feel towards that character, you feel for her in the end. As for the Joan Collins short story...that's just unscary and bloody obvious right from the start (no pun intended), just a dull murder tale. The best and most inventive tale must be 'Refection of Death' with the man seeing his own death, brilliant twist at the very end there.In the end the bookend plot involving all the people in the catacombs has a nice eerie twist which isn't overly original as this twist does pop up in other anthology movies. Never the less it works really well despite the dodgy sets and effects of the time, rather predictable though methinks. An Interesting set of horror stories, not a thrilling set but fun to watch all the over acting and reactions. Certainly one of the better made horror anthologies if a bit bland in places.5/10

Tales From The Crypt features a good cast, 5 quirky stories, only 3 of which work well but are briskly told, and excellent (as usual) direction from Freddie Francis. Producer Milton Subotsky gained the rights to produce an adaption of the E.C. comic from WIlliam B Gaines' stable. And they would follow this a year later with Vault Of Horror, which is also an enjoyable if far from perfect portmanteau movie.Best of this bunch for me are the stories featuring Joan Collins, Peter Cushing and Patrick Magee. Cushing in particular is movingly effective as Arthur Grimsdyke - it must be the only time in his career he played a dustman! The wonderfully sepulchral Magee lends his considerable acting chops to the final tale of the residents of a home for the blind turning on its parsimonious superintendent. Both these stories are agreeably nasty, and the theme is bad people getting their comeuppance in various equally nasty ways.Richard Greene's story is an acknowledged re-tread of The Monkey's Paw, but is too brief to be effective. And Ian Hendry's turn as a husband leaving his wife and kids for his mistress is rather poor, but doesn't really detract from the movie in general.Perhaps not quite as good as The House That Dripped Blood or From Beyond The Grave this is still a watchable and occasionally (suprising, considering Amicus usually shied away from such things) gruesome film, Well worth a blue-ray issuance!

Five strangers are separated from their tour party while touring ancient catacombs. In attempt to find the others, they end up trapped in an eerie crypt where they meet the Cryptkeeper (Ralph Richardson), a sinister monk who shows them their grisly fortunes and then sends them to hell at the end for their evil deeds.Rather like From Beyond The Grave, another memorable portmanteau from the same era as Tales from the Crypt, this film is a portmanteau of five stories where the five main characters have committed crimes ranging from driving someone to suicide to murder. Joan Collins is top notch in And All Through The House as an evil housewife who murders her husband for his insurance policy and who in turn is murdered by an escaped murderer in a Santa suit. ( It is a bit odd watching this story in March and hearing Christmas music).However, the best story in the portmanteau has to be Blind Alleys, where a cruel ex army officer takes over a home for blind men, allows the men to freeze and almost starve, while he spends the funds on himself and his Alsatian guard dog. When an inmate dies due to the cold and malnourishment, the inmates turn on the superintendent and trap him in the cellar with his dog locked in a room next door. Eventually the superintendent is allowed out of his makeshift prison, but has to try and escape through a narrow passage lined with razor blades and after trying to get out, the prisoners switch the lights off and release the Alsatian on him, which tears him apart.Also good and made better by Peter Cushing is Poetic Justice, where Cushing plays an elderly binman who lives in a rundown house with his dogs and is popular with local children. Yet a snobbish neighbour played by Robin Phillips wants to drive him out and has his dogs confiscated by the police and also spreads a rumour that the old man is a child molester, which drives him to suicide. However, the old man comes back from the dead in the night a year after he dies and kills his snobbish neighbour by ripping out his heart, leaving a message stating that he had no heart.Reflection of Death is a decent cautionary tale about adultery, where Ian Hendry plays an adulterous husband who takes off in his Jaguar with his mistress and is involved in a car crash, but is ignored when he asks for help and leaves his girlfriend for dead. Later on it is revealed his girlfriend has been blinded in the accident and Hendry is visiting her from the dead as the story flashes back to the car crash. Not so good is Wish You Were Here. I found the story to be flimsy and with unnecessary gore at the end, as the whole film had managed with only a minimal amount of bloodshed. I'd advise people to skip this as it's weak and predictable, which drags down the rest of the film. On the whole, Tales on the Crypt is a decent British horror and it's nice to see Catweazle( Geoffrey Bayldon) in a cameo as the guide in the catacombs. Also using Bach's Toccata and Fugue as the introductory music is an excellent touch.