TV
Channel 4 Previews Dramatized Doc Series “True Horror”
Channel 4’s new show “True Horror” begins TXing on April 19, for 3 episodes.
From the BAFTA nominated producers of “The Enfield Haunting”, this dramatized documentary series will take you into the heart of four terrifying true horror stories.
Ep. 1 Hellfire Farm – TX (April 19th)
This dramatized documentary tells a terrifying true horror story: An artist, his new wife and their young children find a rural idyll in a Farmhouse in the Welsh hills. But it becomes a nightmarish crucible of demonic activity which drives the family apart
Liz and her partner, artist Bill Rich move into a dream home – a farmhouse nestling in the hills of the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Two children arrive in quick succession. Liz collects a menagerie of rescued farm animals. Bill, at last, has a proper studio space.
But almost immediately, things start to go sour in their perfect home: Things move around the house inexplicably; Bill’s artwork stops selling; animals begin to die. Their precarious finances are hit by insanely high electricity bills – which no-one can explain.
Bill retreats into his painting, which gets darker and darker, fuelled by the weird visions the farm conjours. Liz, meanwhile, is absolutely petrified and turns to the local priest for help. As the marriage crumbles, the haunting reaches a terrifying climax.
Ep. 2 Ghost In The Wall – TX (April 26th)
This dramatized documentary tells a terrifying true horror story: A young mother fears that her dead father-in-law has returned, with a horrific plan: to steal her children.
Jason and Sam are teenage sweethearts. Jason’s dad, Jimmy doesn’t approve of the relationship. Jimmy is desperate for grandchildren. Before Sam can make her peace with Jimmy, he dies suddenly of a heart attack. Meanwhile, Jason’s dreams are plagued by visions of demonic figures.
Sam and Jason are joyous when they finally have children – just sorry that Jimmy isn’t around to see them. Or is he? For Sam, Jimmy’s desire for grandkids takes on an apparently sinister turn. When one of her children is seriously ill in hospital, Sam becomes convinced that Jimmy has come to take her children. As Jimmy intrudes on their lives in more and more sinister ways, Sam realizes she will have to fight to protect her children from the ghost of their grandfather.
Ep. 3 Terror In The Woods – TX (May 3rd)
This dramatized documentary tells a terrifying true horror story: Two prank-obsessed teenagers escape suburban boredom into their fertile imaginations. When they dare one another to spend the night in some haunted woods, they experience terror beyond their wildest imaginings.
Stephen is always trying to persuade Todd to go camping with him in the woods outside their small hometown of Horsham. The forest has a reputation for being haunted, and are some say they are home to mass graves. Todd thinks Stephen might be setting him up for a prank, especially when they end up pitching their tents near the haunted church in the middle of the woods but he goes along for the ride.
Late that night, their torches and phones stop working and they are surrounded by all kinds of terrifying noises and apparitions. As the night goes on and the activity becomes more and more disturbing, both of them are left shaken and traumatized – breathing a sigh of relief when dawn comes and they can return to the safety of their suburban homes.
But a week later, Stephen – still pale and not eating – has the uncanny feeling that something has followed him home. He calls in paranormal investigators, which leads to the boys’ most horrifying experience of all.
Ep. 4 The Witches’ Prison – TX (October, Halloween special)
This dramatized documentary tells a terrifying true horror story: A single mother’s battle to protect herself and her defenseless baby boy from a haunted house with a tormented past.
Successful saleswoman Vanessa Mitchell buys a house which is rumored to be a former Witches’ prison in St. Osyth, Essex, the village she grew up in. ‘The Cage’ is a cute Tudor cottage but as soon as Vanessa and flatmate Nicole move in, they witness increasingly strange events. Flying objects, mysterious pools of blood and an invisible entity that rattles doors and pushes people downstairs are enough to spook anyone.
As friends and housemates are gradually scared away, Vanessa is left virtually alone. Before she finds that, to her astonishment, she is five and a half months pregnant.
Increasingly isolated and oppressed as a working, single mother in a house besieged by paranormal activity, Vanessa vows to let nothing hurt her new-born child. But can either of them survive the increasingly vicious attacks they endure?
Editorials
Tales from ‘Tales from the Crypt’: Exhuming The Final Season’s “A Slight Case of Murder” Episode
All good things must come to an end—yes, even Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996). That iconic horror show finally concluded after airing ninety-three episodes. As we all know, traditional anthologies aren’t too common to see on TV anymore, much less be that long, so this kind of endurance is even more impressive.
Now, I would be remiss to not bring up how very off that last season felt, in comparison to past ones. If not for the Crypt Keeper’s bookends, it was like a different show at that point. Essentially, it was when you assessed how much had changed. Producer Gilbert Adler was responsible for those divisive renovations; his moving production to England was an attempt to give Crypt “a shot in the arm”. What he instead did was create obstacles for both himself and the series. Some could be overcome, whereas others were less yielding.
Fans decry Season Seven, but in all fairness, Season Six wasn’t all roses, either. And like Six, Seven does have a few bright spots. The move to merry England couldn’t completely undo what we love about the series. Yes, there was a decline in gore; the dial had especially been turned down on those big, bloody conclusions we all love. It must be said, though, that the final season was hardly the only one to be gruesome-lite. Plenty of past episodes also did without copious amounts of the red stuff.
At the time, traveling abroad may not have been seen as a bad thing. The new season was off to a strong start, based on favorable reactions to the premiere. The Natasha Richardson-starring opener, “Fatal Caper” (Bob Hoskins, Colman deKay, A. L. Katz, Gilbert Adler), is as ridiculous as it is clever. However, it would soon become apparent that not everything to come in Season Seven was up to the same standards as that first episode. It was going to be a bumpy ride, to say the least.
Most will agree that the seventh season wasn’t a complete bust. The blood-soaked “Horror in the Night” (Russell Mulcahy, John Harrison) is atmospheric and trippy; there, a jewel thief (James Wilby) experiences a nightmarish evening while hiding out in a haunted hotel. Then there is what many consider to be the season’s standout, and perhaps even the last great episode of the series. In the gritty “Confession” (Peter Hewitt, Scott Nimerfro), a detective (Ciarán Hinds) suspects a screenwriter (Eddie Izzard) is behind a string of murders. Although it is a strange way to end things, “The Third Pig” (Bill Kopp, Pat Ventura) also has its admirers; this animated entry is a demented new spin on the classic fairytale “The Three Little Pigs“, as opposed to anything out of EC Comics‘ vault.
Another fine episode is “A Slight Case of Murder”, which I find a bit lighthearted for Tales from the Crypt. In spite of all the killing, of course. It also makes good use of the scenery change; an upside of the show’s relocation is the real estate. A Tudor-style home sits at the heart of this amusing episode, written and directed by Brian Helgeland (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 976-EVIL). Cozy mystery lovers should be quite smitten with the story’s choice of venue.
A common complaint about Season Seven is its lack of star power. Gone were the days when anyone who was anyone in Hollywood stopped by and played a role. That said, it wasn’t as if the series was now just hiring nobodies off the street; the problem was that many American viewers weren’t as familiar with the new casts. “A Slight Case of Murder” was such a case, given how Francesca Annis, Elizabeth Spriggs, and Christopher Cazenove weren’t exactly household names in the States. Naturally, the English would have an easier time recognizing the leads of this and other Season Seven episodes.
“A Slight Case of Murder” is an example of a crabby author getting what’s coming to them. Generally speaking, the horror genre has never cared much for depictions of kind writers. And here, Annis plays that rather irritable novelist whose next bestseller is at risk of being published posthumously. After brilliantly insulting her neighbor, an aspiring author named Mrs. Trask (Spriggs), Sharon Bannister detects a prowler. She then takes no comfort knowing the intruder is just her ex (Cazenove). He’s not here to reminisce about old times.
The last page from “A Slight Case of Murder!”, as seen in EC Comics’ The Vault of Horror.
The episode, while amusing, feels like it belongs in another anthology. The one I’m thinking of, on account of the British actors and the story being centered around jealousy, is Tales of the Unexpected. That series, by the way, also eventually went overseas; some later episodes cast Americans and were set in the U.S. So, yes, “A Slight Case of Murder” isn’t a thing like classic Crypt, but it is awfully charming.
By now, no one should be shocked to learn that an episode of Tales from the Crypt is different from its basis. In fact, the “A Slight Case of Murder!” found in EC’s The Vault of Horror bears no resemblance to Helgeland’s adaptation. An old doctor returns to his hometown to solve a bunch of murders—the victims were all women. At each crime, there was no sign of a break-in, seeing as how the women’s doors and windows were locked from the inside. The sheriff says the only other way in, in one case, was a hot-air vent. He concludes no human could have fit through that, but the doctor suggests the culprit is “not an ordinary human”.
The doctor meets with the sheriff at an old house formerly known as the Bates Mansion. Yet before revealing the killer’s identity, the doctor tells a story about a local widow named Amelia Bates. After her newborn turned out to be—and I’m merely quoting writers Bill Gaines and Al Feldstein—a “misshapen monster”, Amelia asked the doctor to tell everyone her child was a stillborn. She kept that underdeveloped, slithering boy a secret from everyone; only the doctor knew.
Years later, that same child went on to murder a series of women. All of whom rejected his love. And who, pray tell, did that baby become? The town’s sheriff, that’s who! The last frame of the comic, one showing the sheriff’s hidden mechanical body, is so startling that it’s actually disappointing that Tales from the Crypt didn’t properly adapt this story. It would have fit in so well with the older seasons.
As they say in the biz, the show must go on—and Tales from the Crypt did just that, even when the quality had noticeably dropped. But like I always tell myself during the lesser episodes, any Crypt is still better than no Crypt.
Along with Seasons One through Six, Season Seven of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 12.
A delightful shot from “A Slight Case of Murder” suggests Elizabeth Spriggs’ character, Mrs. Trask, is more devilish than she first seemed.
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