Wolff rating: FAIR
Plot summary: Five stories of 50s pulp-style horror.
Biased, pithy comments: It's funny how pilots turn out to miss the point of the episodes that follow. In this case, this is the zeitgeist pilot for the successful HBO series ``Tales from the Crypt.'' Horror pulp comics, crushed under the heel of the Comic Code Authority in later decades, were gory, vile, simple, and full of obvious stereotypes. King and Romero have combined to make a comic-book movie with the same kind of feel, complete with odd color washes during dramatic moments and cartoon gutters during scene transitions. It's kitchy, and it doesn't quite work---``Tales'' got the feel they wanted later with the wisecracking undead host in later years. The stories themselves are obvious and simple---they lack the depth of character that King brings to even his good short story work. It would have helped, I think, if the effects were either more intentionally campy or more polished, but they managed to make me nervious about whether they are or aren't supposed to be believeable. Skip, I suppose, although I like the mood and the attitude, and it's always funny to see Nielsen playing straight and young Danson and Harris in supporting-actor roles.
Other Notes: Yep, that Stephen King himself as Jordy Verrill in the plant segment. King wrote the screenplay.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Hal Holbrook, Fritz Weaver, Adrienne Barbeau, Leslie Nielseon, Carrie Nye, E.G. Marshall, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Harris, Ted Danson, Stephen King, Warner Shook, and many others.
Directed by: George Romero