Tales from the Crypt (1989)

**The Man That Was Death**
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**5 Stars**

> Aww, poor little fellas. When I think of their childhood, all those cute little maggots hahahahaha. Our story is about a man with nobler ambitions. He likes to kill human pests and he does it in front of an audience. Now that's entertainment hahahaha. So hang onto your hats kiddies, this one's a real shocker.

Niles Talbot (William Sadler) is a prison executioner that is just a little too good for his job. He works the electric chair. One of his favorite things in life is pulling the switch and watching the life dissipate from his victims. When the state does away with capital punishment and Talbot is let go from his job. He decides to keep the execution game going and hunts down criminals and doling out punishments on his own.

This is the first ever Tales from the Crypt episode and that makes it pretty interesting. Our main character, Niles Talbot introduces a dark humor to the story when he breaks the fourth wall and conversates with the audience. It's executed really well and it sets the tone for the entire series.

Since Brandon covered episode one, I'll cover episode two!

S01E02 _"And All Through the House"_

Source: _Vault of Horror_

Written by: Fred Dekker

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis (_Back to the Future_, _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_)

Original Air Date: June 10, 1989

Plot: A greedy philandering wife (Mary Ellen Trainor) kills her second husband (Marshall Bell) for his insurance money. Upon getting rid of the body, she is unexpectedly attacked by a hideous escaped mental patient (Larry Drake) dressed as Santa Claus who has been going around killing women. She soon realizes that her own young daughter is in complete danger from within the horrific situation.

Rating: 4/5 (8.0)

This was one of those shows that SHOULD come back.

American Horror Story tires to do it, only on a much larger scale with a new story each season that is supposed to be connected in a grandiose way...and that is fine but...

Tales From the Crypt just offered a new and unique story each week, written and directed and acted by some very talented people. Some are science fiction, some were westerns, some were monster stories, some were comedies, but all were exceptionally well crafted.

Part of the draw to it was that missing a week didn't mean you had to catch up at all. And part of it was that, if you didn't like a particular episode you could come back next week and see something entirely different.

The quality never failed and it allowed for an absolute originality.