Editorials
[TV Terrors] “Tales from the Crypt” Became an Animated Series for Kids With “Tales from the Cryptkeeper”
Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank in to obscurity.
This week, we revisit the animated series “Tales from the Cryptkeeper”…
- Aired from: 1993 – 1999
- Aired on: YTV, ABC Network, CBS Network
There was a weird movement in the eighties and nineties to take adult properties and transform them into kid friendly franchises. They tried everything from “Rambo” and “Kid and Play,” to “Conan” and “RoboCop,” who went from an X rated action picture to a lunchbox superhero. Yes, they even tried it with horror properties like “Beetlejuice” and “Tales from the Crypt.” Not only did the Cryptkeeper get his own game show a la “Double Dare,” but there were even action figures, collectible dolls, a series of young adult novels from Scholastic, and the entertaining G rated “Tales from the Cryptkeeper.”
The show, which ran simultaneously with the adult version of the series in many markets, originally premiered on ABC Saturday Mornings. It’s pretty much like those tame “horror” comics that filled store shelves after EC Comics shut down in the seventies, and the Comics Authority Code took over. It was mostly generic horror in the way of Frankenstein monsters, werewolves, demons, and vampires sans all the blood, gore, and grue. I think we can all agree that the original HBO show is one of the all time great horror series ever made, even thriving in syndication for many years on local stations and cable TV.
And to its credit, “Tales from the Cryptkeeper” was a nice treat for Saturday mornings where time slots were typically reserved for tamer programming like “Free Willy: The Animated Series.” In this new format, the Cryptkeeper (John Kassir returned to voice the character), who now shockingly resembled Beetlejuice, didn’t just introduce the scary tales, but he’d also set the course for said tales of terror. He lived in his massive mansion rigged with traps and monsters and would deliver some comical preamble for classic EC Comics morality tales. Often during the episodes he’d either appear as a plot device that would set the story in motion, or would cameo as a delivery man.
What I love about the series is not just that the Cryptkeeper is kind of a puppet master who sets the wheels in motion, but with a little tweaking, every episode could be a very violent and gruesome episode of the original HBO series. The animated series shied away from the more violent beats the comic was known for like death, murder, and infidelity, and tackled more youth oriented themes. A lot of the stories revolved around greed, bullying, deceiving role models, or the cost of lying.
In the pilot “While the Cat’s Away,” a pair of teenagers are filled in on a fortune hidden in the catacombs of the mansion of a rich man named T. Charles Kingman. They venture inside to look for the treasure to pay for new bikes, and soon realize the house has no intention of letting them leave thanks to its monstrous security system. I have a sentimental attachment to this episode as it played during the Saturday morning previews on Friday night’s TGIF line up, and my ten year old horror fanatic self salivated during the preview. “The Weeping Woman” is probably the best episode of the series, involving a pair of friends staying at a hotel that is being haunted by a wailing ghost.
“Sleeping Beauty” is a fun take on the classic fairy tale where two brothers seek to awake the slumbering princess for the sake of glory—only to find out that she’s a blood sucking vampire. “Vampire Express” finds two “surfer dudes” sneaking onto a train to go skiing, only to find out the train is hauling a wagon filled with vampires. There’s also “Hyde and Go Shriek,” about a science nerd named Wendell who, when pushed one time too many, strikes back at his bullies with a mysterious tea that turns him into a wolf monster.
Executive produced by “Tales from the Crypt’s” own Robert Zemeckis, Joel Silver, Richard Donner, David Giler, and Walter Hill, the series nonetheless lasted twenty six episodes on ABC before it was cancelled. In 1999, CBS rebooted the series as “The New Tales from the Cryptkeeper.” Believe it or not, this iteration was even lighter than the previous one with a bigger focus on the antics of the Cryptkeeper, as he’s forced to live with his obnoxious and intrusive relatives, the Old Witch and The Vault Keeper. “The New Tales from the Cryptkeeper” got a lot of slack from horror fans for being considered inferior to previous incarnations.
It’s a fair criticism, but “The New Tales…” is not without its merits; we finally do get to see the Old Witch and the Vault Keeper in animated form, and they also take over for the Crypt Keeper during various episodes. The reboot (technically the final season of the 1993 animated series) dabbled in the same themes involving kids and morality lessons, as well as ideas about getting back at bullies, and learning to be careful what you wish for.
Despite the toned down aesthetic, which ABC seemed proud of at the time of its development, “Tales from the Cryptkeeper” maintains a look very reminiscent of the classic EC Comics, with some genuinely creative episodes. While the grim tone and grue are missing, the series has the same menacing aura with John Kassir doing a great job as the Crypt Keeper as always. While it may not satisfy the appetites of all hardcore EC fans, it’s a fun novelty, and still holds up as a solid introduction course for potential horror fanatics.
Is It On DVD/Blu-Ray? The majority of the episodes are available on YouTube by way of YTV Direct and TBEntertain, and various episodes can also be streamed on Amazon Video. The series is also available in numerous, separate volumes on DVD.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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