Escape Tales From The Crypt

[Georgeanna Abson]

Thefollowing is a list of episodes for the television series Tales from the Crypt, which aired for seven seasons on HBO from June 10, 1989 to July 19, 1996. A total of 93 episodes and three feature-length films were produced.

Niles Talbot (William Sadler), a prison executioner, is laid off from his job when the local legislature abolishes the death penalty. From there, he becomes a vigilante, administering his own style of justice to acquitted murder suspects.

A carnival daredevil known as Ulric the Undying (Joe Pantoliano) is buried alive for his grand finale. Through a series of flashbacks, he tells the viewers how he was formerly a homeless vagrant who had undergone a doctor's experiment in order to transfer a cat's gland into his brain, giving him its nine lives and the ability to temporarily resurrect a number of times. However, during his final stunt, he suddenly remembers that he may have miscounted just how many lives he has left.

In 1950, gold-digging secretary Cathy Finch (Demi Moore) marries Charlie Marno (Jeffrey Tambor), an overweight, unhygienic, and grotesque slob of a man after being told by a fortune teller, Madame Vorna (Natalia Nogulich), that he will die shortly after inheriting a large sum of money. Vorna's prediction does come true, but not in the way that Cathy expects.

A dying elderly bachelor named Carlton Webster (William Hickey), wants to propose to his crush, a young woman named Linda (Kelly Preston). After being rejected for his age and realizing plastic surgery cannot do much, Carlton ends up meeting a discredited doctor who helps him slowly switch bodies with Hans (Rick Rossovich), an East German refugee. In the end, Carlton discovers that Linda's affection comes at a price he simply cannot afford.

Reno Crevice and Sam Forney (Lance Henriksen and Kevin Tighe), a pair of rival gamblers who hate each other with a passion, face off in a series of increasingly dangerous and gruesome games in order to see who will leave town when all is said and done.

Land owner Logan Andrews (D. W. Moffett) woos the haughty, snobby, and wealthy Margaret Richardson (Pamela Gien) to help finance a development project. While Margaret initially rejects his advances, Logan wins her over with a potion from his ex, voodoo priestess Psyche (Janet Hubert), that contains a deadly warning. Things quickly go awry when Logan does not heed said warning, resulting in an undead Margaret amorously chasing him without end.

Rock promoter Marty Slash (Lee Arenberg) plans to run off with all of the donation money that has been raised and accumulated from a series of "Save the Amazon rainforest" charity benefit concerts, but things unexpectedly become complicated when it turns out that his hearing problems were nothing more than his conscience (voiced by Sam Kinison) trying to get through to him. To make matters worse, his greedy banker (Katey Sagal) soon blackmails him for half of the money, while his conscience is trying to get him to do the right thing.

Jim Korman (Harry Anderson), a cartoonist who works on the Tales from the Crypt comic, is put-upon by his shrewish and abusive wife Mildred (Colleen Camp) to take experimental fertility pills. Later that night, an attractive policewoman, Lorelei Phillips (Cynthia Gibb), is saved from a rapist (Richard Schiff) when a monster suddenly emerges from a washing machine and tears the rapist's head off. Seeing the same monster on an issue of Tales from the Crypt, along with other monsters that were sighted recently, Lorelei interrogates Jim, believing that he is somehow making his drawings come to life.

Enoch (Jeff Yagher) is a two-faced freak living at a traveling sideshow in the early 1900s, where he is abused by his caretaker, Mr. Sickles (Stefan Gierasch). One day, Enoch falls in love with the sideshow's newest attraction: Myrna, a 4000-year-old mummy which is said to be cursed.

Siamese twin brothers Frank and Eddie (Timothy Stack and Jonathan Stark) have differing viewpoints about their condition. The relationship between them also becomes strained when the good-hearted, mild-mannered Frank does not want to be surgically separated from the crass and slovenly Eddie out of fear that the procedure could potentially kill them. However, when Frank finds love and Eddie resorts to murder, the former finally changes his mind.

Theodore (Mike Simmrin), a 12-year-old orphan, is finally able to leave the orphanage he lives in when he is adopted by a rich, childless couple known as the Colberts (William Frankfather and Grace Zabriskie). Unknown to Theodore, his new parents harbor a dark secret. However, unknown to the Colberts, Theodore has a dark secret of his own.

Aspiring screenwriter Edward Foster (Andrew McCarthy) has a crush on his neighbor, aspiring actress Miranda Singer (Mariel Hemingway). After failing to get Miranda to notice him, Edward finally gains her affection with a potion given to him by his woman-hating landlord (David Hemmings). Eventually, Edward begins to regret his choice after Miranda's newfound obsession with him becomes too much for him to handle.

Lou Paloma (Bruce McGill), an obnoxious, egotistical, mean-spirited deadbeat who cannot hold down a job, is horribly in debt, and is both unfaithful and abusive (verbally and physically) to his wife, Irene (Teri Garr) ropes her and his brother, Billy (Bruno Kirby), into a plan to fake his own death, collect his life insurance money, and escape to a new life in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, Lou is unaware that both his long-suffering wife and brother, who have developed an attraction to one another, are planning to double-cross him.

Years ago, Carl Fairbanks (Tony Goldwyn) and his brother Martin (Beau Bridges) were medical students. Carl played a prank on Martin which unexpectedly gave him a stroke and paralyzed one of his hands. In the present day, Carl becomes a successful surgeon whereas Martin's paralysis limits him to a medical research job. Martin gets his revenge by injecting Carl with an experimental serum that stops Carl's heart but keeps his brain alive, essentially trapping Carl in his own body.

Barry Blye (Jon Lovitz), a struggling actor with a dull and drab appearance, is fired by his agent, dumped by his girlfriend, and evicted from his apartment. Desperate for work, Barry attempts to receive the lead role in a strange production of Hamlet, but is turned down by director Nelson Haliwell (John Astin), who instead gives the part to his handsome rival, Winton Robbins (Bruce Boxleitner). In a rage, Barry kills Winton to get the part, only to discover that he is actually to, in a literal sense, play the part of the long-deceased Yorick.

Red Buckley (James Remar), a thug with naturally red hair, offers to work for Duvall (John Rhys-Davies), a plantation owner on a tropical island gripped in civil war. Red teams up with Duvall's mistress, Katherine (Vanity), in order to steal Duvall's prized possession: a highly valuable black pearl. Red later double-crosses Katherine, only to be double-crossed himself by a mysterious priestess.

Dale Sweeney (Steven Weber), a sleazy, down-on-his-luck news writer, is currently investigating several bizarre murders of the homeless. Sweeney soon discovers that the murders may be related to the Grateful Homeless Outcasts and Unwanted Layaway Society (G.H.O.U.L.S.), a mysterious organization whose charitable faade hides a horrific secret.

Charles McKenzie (Richard Jordan), a newspaper journalist who has nearly ruined his career after many years of alcoholism, swears to give up drinking in order to get his old job back. He soon meets a young woman, Vicki (Marg Helgenberger), and the two begin having a fling. With Vicki's influence helping him along the way, Charles is offered his job back if he can bring in a murder story. Upon hearing the owner of a diner murder his wife in the diner's kitchen, Charles believes he has his story, at least until he discovers who the wife is.

In 1918, during World War I, General Calthrob's (Kirk Douglas) son, the cowardly Lieutenant Martin Calthrob (Eric Douglas) requests a discharge from the army. Martin's father mentions that while he cannot discharge his son, he agrees to transfer him away from the front if he completes a specific mission. Unfortunately, Martin's cowardice prevents him from warning the men under his command that German troops are approaching, and he leaves them all to die while he runs for his life. After the dying Sergeant Ripper (Lance Henriksen) exposes Martin's actions and labels him "yellow", Martin is arrested, court-martialed, and sentenced to death by firing squad. The night before Martin's execution, General Calthrob tells his son that he has swapped the bullets with blanks, so that Martin can survive the planned execution and escape to a new life, provided that he faces death with dignity.

Howard Prince (Treat Williams) is a sociopathic criminal who routinely marries rich elderly widows, then poisons them and leaves them to die while he steals their money. Deciding to murder one more victim before going on the run, he manages to successfully charm Effie Gluckman (Frances Sternhagen), who is excited to have his company. Eventually, Howard discovers that someone is on to him, since he soon gets a series of notes from someone that knows what he is doing and warns him to stop, or else risk facing dire consequences.

Diabetic scientific researcher George Gatlin (Dylan McDermott) discovers that he has been injected with H-Cell-24, a deadly experimental virus cell, in lieu of his insulin. As H-Cell-24 has no antidote, George learns that the virus will cause tumors to grow all over his body and kill him in a matter of hours. After hearing what he believes to be evidence that his lab partners, Sophie Wagner and Pack Brightman (Snia Braga and Cleavon Little), have purposely injected him with the virus in a plot to kill him, George vows to use what little time he has left to get revenge on his colleagues.

Danny Darwin (Yul Vazquez), the hard-partying front man of the heavy metal band Exorcist, announces at the band's latest show that his best friend, guitarist Nick Bosch, has gotten married. Danny fears that Nick's wife, Scarlett (Tia Carrere), is attempting to break up the band, giving him a burning hatred for her. His groupie, Vendetta (Sherrie Rose), also hates Scarlett, and helps Danny calm down by letting him visit Farouche (Heavy D), a mysterious tattoo artist who ends up giving him a tattoo of Scarlett on his chest. Things quickly become surreal when the tattoo seems to develop a life of its own and will not go away, even after Danny murders the object of his hatred.

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