Editorials
Revisiting Demi Moore’s “Tales from the Crypt” Episode ‘Dead Right’
Star gazing is unavoidable whenever watching Tales from the Crypt. In this beloved anthology series, you typically find actors who were in the early days of their career, but there were also occasions where even more established celebs were dying to work with the Cryptkeeper. One notable instance of the latter was in Season Two’s opener “Dead Right” — this macabre delivery of just deserts featured Demi Moore after she starred in Ghost, the top-grossing film of 1990, and it was shortly before she would go on to become the highest-paid actress of the decade.
Unlike other actors who sought out their spots in Tales from the Crypt, Moore was directly asked to star in an episode. “We were looking for the perfect person, and it occurred to us that the role [of Cathy Marno] was tailor-made for Demi Moore,” recalled Crypt producer William Teitler. And as luck would have it, Moore was a friend of co-producer Joel Silver. As he told Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives, Teitler first suspected Moore would decline a TV show, even a one-off, however, she not only accepted the offer, she brought “something very unusual and wonderful” to the production.
“Dead Right” was a series milestone because it was the first episode to have a period setting, which made it feel more in tune with the source material. And if there was ever a perfect past decade to house a character like Cathy Marno née Finch, it would have to be the 1950s. Moore played a down-on-her-luck single gal who hadn’t been touched by the so-called “booms” of the era. Yet despite her cynicism in life, Cathy stops by a fortune-teller one day — an activity people would have done more readily and commonly earlier that century. By then, though, clairvoyance was passé in the public’s eye, and until the renewed interest in the ‘70s, perhaps only the desperate or deeply curious would fork over their hard-earned cash to someone like Madame Vorna (Natalija Nogulich).
Image: A page from “Dead Right” in Shock SuspenStories #6.
Tales from the Crypt was a magnet for talent both behind and in front of the camera. Demi Moore, whose acting résumé is only dusted with horror, didn’t seem too out of place in Crypt; only two years before “Dead Right,” Moore had starred in The Seventh Sign. This episode’s director, on the other hand, is more of a surprise; Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful helmer Howard Deutch made his horror debut with this series. Deutch’s first offering, “Only Sin Deep,” starred wife Lea Thompson in a role that, coincidentally enough, resonates with Moore’s future horror film The Substance. “Dead Right,” however, is played for laughs, albeit cheap ones.
Humor is, of course, another blessing of this episode. After the more severe “Only Sin Deep,” director Deutch emphasized the levity of Andy Wolk’s script. Moore as a would-be femme fatale takes no stretch of the imagination, but a sardonic personality only improves the characterization. Mind you, the Cathy from the comic inspiration, the sixth issue of EC’s Shock SuspenStories, is also a beautiful wiseass and swindler. Nevertheless, “Dead Right” brings the darkly fun and campy energy that Tales from the Crypt is now celebrated for.
As much as Moore steals the show here, her co-star in this near two-hander also deserves praise. A good ten-plus years before he became the patriarch in Arrested Development, Jeffrey Tambor was Charlie Marno, the one man who could make Cathy a wealthy woman. And juxtaposed with Moore’s knockout self is the theatrically grotesque Tambor, whose hulking and off-putting appearance is really the work of makeup artist Greg Cannom and costume designer Linda Benavente-Notaro. The latter would, coincidentally, cook up a similar physical getup for Robert John Burke’s afflicted character in 1996’s Thinner.
Image: Demi Moore as Cathy and Jeffrey Tambor as Charlie in “Dead Right.”
The clairvoyant Vorna predicts Cathy will inherit a hefty sum of money if she weds an oaf like Charlie. This chancy proposal then becomes the intended horror of this episode; the idea of a gorgeous woman getting with a repulsive and obese man is meant to unsettle you. That idea is aimed to be more dreadful and plausible than the many uncanny terrors found throughout this anthology. Nowadays, most assuredly, more enlightened viewers will think twice about this episode’s message, not to mention the depiction of Charlie — one achieved with a “fat suit.” It should go without saying that the show’s basis is a product of its time, so expecting these 1950s comics to be morally sound and sensitive is asking too much. EC, and in turn Tales from the Crypt, also didn’t get where it was by holding back and playing nice.
Despite a rather straightforward execution, “Dead Right” sits high in fans’ Crypt rankings, although that assessment may be based on Moore herself than the actual story. After all, there are no amazing twists in this relatively grounded rehash of the ol’ “be careful what you wish for” pitch. Even that plot curveball concerning Cathy’s sudden as well as brief windfall reeks of W. W. Jacobs’ story “The Monkey’s Paw,” albeit less clever. Even still, “Dead Right” is an enjoyable case of waiting for that other shoe to drop; there’s also a feeling of anticipation to Cathy’s foreboding choices. And despite the episode all but telling the fate now awaiting Cathy, that grisly comeuppance is the kind of instant gratification that Crypt always did so well. There are no ifs, ands or buts about being a bad person in this universe — you get exactly what you deserve.
When it comes to anthologies, Tales from the Crypt was like the hottest club in town — for a short time, everyone wanted to be seen there. Not every star made an impression once they got through the door, but Demi Moore isn’t like every star. Simply put, “Dead Right” just wouldn’t have been the same without her singular presence.
Image: Mike Vosburg’s comic cover for “Dead Right.”
The penultimate season of Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996) aired its first three episodes on October 31, so it’s understandable that at least one of those three stories is set on Halloween.
Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.
“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.
What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.
Mike Vosburg’s EC-style comic cover for “Only Skin Deep”, as seen in the Tales from the Crypt episode.
Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.
Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.
Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.
How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.
A page from “…Only Skin Deep!”, as seen in EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt.
While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.
As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…
Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.
For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.
Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.
Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.
Carl discovers Molly’s collection of human ‘masks’ in the Tales from the Crypt episode, “Only Skin Deep”.
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