Tales From The Crypt
Blu-ray
Director: Freddie Francis
Screenwriter: Milton Subotsky
Cast: Ralph Richardson, Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Roy Dotrice, Richard Greene, Patrick Magee
Scream Factory
Rated PG | 83 Minutes
Release Date: December 2, 2014

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. Starring Joan Collins (Empire Of The Ants), Peter Cushing (Horror Of Dracula), Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) and Sir Ralph Richardson (Rollerball), and directed by Freddie Francis (The Creeping Flesh), Tales from the Crypt is the original, gets-right-under-your-skin creepfest!”

Tales from the Crypt is an anthology film based on stories from EC Comics. Only two of the film’s stories, however, are from EC’s Tales from the Crypt. Three of the film’s segments – “…And All Through the House,” “Poetic Justice,” and “Wish You Were Here” – were adapted from The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear comics.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at TeeFury today is a mash-up of The Twilight Zone and Tales from the Crypt called “Tales from the Zone” by artist ninjaink.

The sale began at Teefury today, Saturday, October 1, 2011, at midnight EST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

Back in 1989, a series called Tales from the Crypt debuted on HBO and would continue to run until 1996. The series was based on the 1950s EC Comics title of the same name, which also spawned a 1972 anthology movie, three feature films in Demon Knight, Bordello of Blood, and a third much less–know title, Ritual, as well as the still–strange–to–think–about Saturday morning cartoon, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, and a kid’s game show called Secrets of the Cryptkeeper’s Haunted House. The Cryptkeeper (voiced by John Kassir) himself was a pop culture horror icon, known for his unsettling appearance and oddly appealing cheesy sense of humor. Even I as a child had a Cryptkeeper mask for Halloween!

Now comes word of a proposed revival of the series now being planned. Gil Adler, a producer on the original HBO series, along with Andrew Cosby, a co–creator of Syfy’s Eureka and co–founder of BOOM! Studios, have teamed up to develop the new Tales from the Crypt, and they will pitch the project to networks soon.

The Gold Box deal of the day over at Amazon today is Tales from the Crypt: The Complete Seasons 1-7 on DVD for only $89.99 (that’s 66% off the list price of $266.98).

Note, this sale is only for today, Saturday October 30, until midnight PST while supplies last.

This 20-disc set includes all seven seasons of the horror anthology series based on EC Comics from publisher William Gaines, that ran on HBO from 1989 to 1996. You’ll probably remember Tales from the Crypt from its popular host, the rotting corpse, the Cryptkeeper.

Math time: $89.99 for 7 season DVDs = appx $12.86 per DVD; super deal!

What stood out about the show is not only that thanks to its being on HBO it could contain adult content, like sex, profanity, and violence, but also that so many popular celebrities guest-starred on the series, like Brad Pitt, Demi Moore, Tom Hanks, and many, many more. Also, some big name directors were behind the camera on a lot of these episodes, like Robert Zemeckis and Richard Donner.

Sad news being reported by The Boston Herald and many other news outlets today. Zelda Rubinstein, the 4-foot, 3-inch tall actress who played the spirit-fighting psychic in 1982’s Poltergeist has passed away at the age of 76.

After suffering a heart attack, she had been in a hospital for two full months with multiple illnesses before recently being taken off of life support. Reports earlier this month that she was near-death were met with contrary reports that she was actually getting better and that rumors of her demise were premature. But as hard as she appears to have fought, she has now sadly lost that battle.