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80%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #3,235
...out of 20,698 movies
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Tales of horror based on the gruesome E.C. comic books of the 1950s presented by the legendary Crypt Keeper, a sinister ghoul obsessed with gallows humor and horrific puns.
--IMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: November 2, 2007
Finally, Tales fans can sleep soundly at night knowing that they have each and every last season of the show sitting on their DVD shelves. Honestly, it seems like only yesterday that I was reviewing the first season, and here we are at the end of the line only a couple of years later. Sadly, however, the show didn't go out with a bang; in fact, I'd go so far as to call this the worst season of the show. Actually, that's a fairly easy statement to make as even the best episodes of this season are only average when compared to the better offerings that the show has given us.
You all know what this show is and how it works by now (and if not, just read a couple of reviews for the previous seasons), so let's just get straight down to business. The list of episodes goes a little something like this:
1. Fatal Caper (directed by Bob Hoskins)
2. Last Respects (directed by Freddie Francis)
3. A Slight Case of Murder (directed by Brian Helgeland)
4. Escape (directed by Peter MacDonald)
5. Horror in the Night (directed by Russell Mulcahy)
6. Cold War (directed by Robin Bextor and Andrew Morahan)
7. The Kidnapper (directed by Robin Bextor and James H. Spencer)
8. Report from the Grave (directed by William Malone)
9. Smoke Wrings (directed by Mandie Fletcher)
10. About Face (directed by Thomas E. Sanders)
11. Confession (directed by Peter Hewitt)
12. Ear Today... Gone Tomorrow (directed by Christopher Hart)
13. The Third Pig (directed by Bill Kopp and Patrick A. Ventura)
The first thing that viewers may notice upon popping in the discs is the fact that the episodes were filmed in England and that everyone has thick British accents. Yes, the filmmakers went overseas to film these episodes, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, it does mean that the "name" actors and directors are all but absent this season. The noticeable actors include Ewan McGregor, the voice talents of Bobcat Goldthwait, and... well, that's really about it. As far as directors go, we have Freddie Francis (the original Tales from the Crypt movie), Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction), William Malone (FeardotCom), and... again, that's really about it. You know, nothing against the British guys and gals found throughout this season, but when Bobcat Goldthwait is one of only two "name" actors and when William Malone ranks in the top three directors, things really aren't going so well. I wouldn't have griped about this in any other television show, but seeing big names in front of and behind the cameras was always one of the selling points of the show for me, so needless to say, I was a little disappointed.
When it comes to the actual episodes, it wouldn't be entirely accurate to describe the season as a hit or miss prospect; a better way to describe it would be "foul", "strike", and "beaning the batter in the head." There are some decent episodes (Horror in the Night and Cold War) but the rest of them range from mediocre to disgustingly bad. Take William Malone's episode, for example: this one was so atrocious that I was actually embarrassed when the woman of the house turned around and asked "what are you watching?" Wrapping up the season and the show as a whole was The Third Pig, which wasn't exactly bad, but it's an animated story and just doesn't feel right in the series. It would have still felt out of place in another season, but it wouldn't have been quite so bad; however, ending the entire show on this note just felt downright wrong.
As has become the norm with these DVD releases, the special features are extremely lacking: the only offering being another one of the virtual comic books (Fatal Caper). Again, these things are enjoyable, but I have to admit that I was hoping for a little more, especially with this being the final season and all.
Overall, this season is for completists only. If you've picked up the last six seasons, you really should have this one on your shelf to complete the collection, but even then, you should probably wait until it drops down to about ten bucks as it's easily the worst of the seasons.
Season Rating: 1.5/10.
DVD Package Rating: 3/10.
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