Product Description

Monsters. Madness. Mayhem. BAD PUNS! What kind of bonehead would do this? Oh, that kind of bonehead: the Crypt Keeper. Yes, four the beast in humor and horror, this is it: all 14 complete, uncut Season 4 episodes hosted by that netherworld naughty boy, the Crypt Keeper. Offered four your warped amusement are Split Personality, with a lounge lizard getting more than he bargains four when he marries identical twins; Werewolf Concerto, with Timothy Dalton on the hunt four a lupine fiend; Beauty Rest, with Mimi Rogers as an actress who'd kill four a part. Plus Brad Pitt, Treat Williams, and Cathy Moriarty are here four more fright-'n'-fun tales. Did we mention these are all in Season 4? Go four it!

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Featurette

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18964 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-07-25
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Widescreen, Color, Dolby
• Original language: English, Portuguese
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .55 pounds
• Running time: 376 minutes

Features

• Monsters. Madness. Mayhem. BAD PUNS! What kind of bonehead would do this? Oh, that kind of bonehead: the Crypt Keeper.Yes, four the beast in humor and horror, this is it: all 14 complete, uncut Season 4 episodes hosted by that netherworld naughty boy, the Crypt Keeper. Offered four your warped amusement are Split Personality, with a lounge lizard getting more than he bargains four when he marries

Amazon.com
The Cryptkeeper dusts off another set of horror yarns in this fourth collection of Tales from the Crypt, featuring more semi-big-stars, a handful of name directors, and a bevy of excruciatingly bad puns. There are some goodies here if you're nostalgic for 1950s-era comic-book scares (or for vintage 1992 late-night pay-cable), but this fourth season represents diminishing returns for the franchise. The 14 episodes get off to a poor start with the first installments, including "None but the Lonely Heart" (directed by Tom Hanks, who cameos), about a Lothario (Treat Williams) who marries and kills rich old ladies, and "This'll Kill Ya" (directed by Robert Longo), about a nasty drug researcher (Dylan McDermott). The series' very sporadic nudity is provided here by Sonia Braga.

Of the famous directors represented, best in show is John Frankenheimer, whose "Maniac at Large" makes sinuous use of a single set, a large library; Blythe Danner plays a meek librarian in fear of a serial killer, and Salome Jens (star of Frankenheimer's "Seconds") is her shrewish boss. Elsewhere, William Friedkin should be embarrassed by "On a Deadman's Chest," an extremely silly rock & roll thing about a tattoo with a life of its own. And Richard Donner's "Showdown," while providing a welcome bit of Western atmosphere, is either an existential puzzler or an unfinished production. The directorial novelty must be "Split Personality", a story of a con man (Joe Pesci) seducing a wealthy pair of twins. It's one of the more entertaining episodes, and it marks the sole directing outing for Hollywood mega-producer (and Tales exec producer) Joel Silver. For sheer perversity, few segments top "Beauty Rest", in which aspiring actress Mimi Rogers ends up regretting a successful audition (with Buck Henry, of all people).

The biggest rising-star find is probably Brad Pitt in "King of the Road", a lame tale of hotrod racers. Timothy Dalton, then fresh from his James Bond run, stars in one of the better shows in this set, "Werewolf Concerto," a clever piece about a werewolf hunter staying at a lodge terrorized by a lycanthrope. Perhaps the most sustained episode--nailing the series' blend of campy humor and gory fright--is "What's Cookin'," in which Christopher Reeve, the owner of an all-squid restaurant, revitalizes the business by switching to a different kind of meat.

The minimal extras are a commentary track for the Chris Reeve episode (including the voice of the Cryptkeeper, John Kassir) and a perfunctory montage about the season's stars. The show has a loyal following that will be happy to own this set, but for anybody else it must be noted that season 4 is a year of decline, and not the place to start for horror-curious boils and ghouls. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Another great season of HBO's "Tales From The Crypt"....
I remember watching "Tales From The Crypt" re-runs as a kid, Tuesday nights at prime time on FOX, and then Saturday nights after MadTv (1995). Around this time, I started collecting the VHS compilation tapes until I had all of the volumes (they did not contain all of the episodes of the series). Then the re-runs came back on the Sci-Fi channel, and now they are nowhere to be found on basic cable. So, I am very happy that Warner Bros. is finally releasing all the "Tales From The Crypt" seasons on dvd.

Another great season of HBO's "Tales From The Crypt". There was not a season (1-7) that was the best, each season had great episodes and even the episodes that were not great were well worth watching....

My individual episode rating system:
4 out of 4 stars is great
3 1/2 out of 4 stars is very good
3 out of 4 stars is good/enjoyable
2 1/2 out of 4 stars is okay/fair/decent/not bad
2 out of 4 stars is not very good
1 1/2 out of 4 stars is poor
1 out of 4 stars is bad

TALES FROM THE CRYPT SEASON FOUR (1992)
Episode 39: None But The Lonely Heart ***1/2 Starring Treat Williams, Frances Sternhagen, Henry Gibson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tom Hanks, Constance Pfieffer, Don Perry, Edward Penn, Louise Fitch, Gracia Lee; written by Donald Longtooth, directed by Tom Hanks
A sneaky man is obsessed with wedding rich older women then killing them. His business partner fears that he will be caught soon. He finds himself in hot water when he starts getting threatening notes, so he kills off those he suspects and soon realizes the meaning of the saying revenge is sweet.

Episode 40: This'll Kill Ya ** Starring Dylan McDermot, Sonia Braga, Cleavon Little, Ricky Aiello, Scott Williamson; written by Gilbert Adler and A L Katz, directed by Robert Longo
A man walks into the police department dragging a dead body. He tells the officers that he is dead, and the man he dragged in killed him. He then tells them his story to come only find the shocking surprise that awaits him.

Episode 41: On A Deadman's Chest *** Starring Tia Carerre, Paul Hipp, Steve Jones, Dwight "Heavy D" Myers, Sherrie Rose, Gregg Allman, Yul Vasquez, Don Michaelson, Ricahrd Danielson, Karen Kalensky; written by Larry Wilson, directed by William Friedken
A rocker fights with his manager. His groupie girlfriend shows him a special tattoo and convinces him to get one at the place she got hers. The tattoo has a picture of a dragon but with a cartoon face that looks like Scarlett. He tries to remove the tattoo, but it keeps coming back. Eventually it drives him to murder Scarlett.

Episode 42: Seance ***1/2 Starring Cathy Moriarty, Ben Cross, John Vernon, Ellen Crawford, Tim Ahern, Lupe Ontiveros, G.F. Smith; written by Harry Anderson, directed by Gary Fleder
Two con artists pose as mediums decide to use a man named Chalmers as their next victim. The woman seduces Chalmers, and the man takes pictures of them together in bed. Then Chalmers finds out about their scheme, and he is killed in an accident. The con artists discover that Chalmer's wife is blind. They decide to pull off a fake seance on his wife to get Chalmer's money. The plan works but not the way they expected it to.

Episode 43: Beauty Rest *** Starring Mimi Rogers, Kathy Ireland, Jennifer Rubin, Robert Trebor, Buck Henry, Micahel Wiseman, Anders Hove, Marcia Pecci; written by Donald Longtooth, directed by Stephen Hopkins
An obsessed wannabe model grows bloody red with envy when her roommate lands a part she thought she was going to get. She forces her roommate to overdose and steps in to take her place in a beauty contest that she was set up to win. She becomes the target of another jealous model and kills her too. Now, there's no one in her way, and she is crowned, but she soon discovers something shocking about the talent show.

Episode 44: What's Cookin' **** Starring Christopher Reeve, Bess Armstrong, Judd Nelson, Art LeFleur, Meat Loaf, Jeannette Lewis, Helen Nasillski; written by A L Katz and Gilbert Adler, directed by Gilbert Adler
Fred and Erma own a squid café and find themselves in trouble because their business is failing and their landlord has evicted them. That is until one of the employees encourage them to serve meat - people in particular. Suddenly, business is booming, and the cops are closing in.

Episode 45: The New Arrival **** Starring David Warner, Twiggy Lawsen, Joan Severence, Zelda Rubinstein, Robert Patrick; written by Ron Finley, directed by Peter Medak
An arrogant radio child psychologist is obsessed with proving to his manager that he is the best. He gets a new patient, a woman and her daughter. When he goes to her house, he assumes that the daughter is the woman's imaginary friend. He learns that her daughter died years ago, but her mother's love keeps her alive.

Episode 46: Showdown *1/2 Starring David Morse, Monty Bass, Mel Coleman, Paul T. Murray, Tommy Townsend, Grant Gelt, Roderick Cook, Thomas F. Duffy; written by Frank Darabont, directed by Richard Donner
A gunman is being chased down by another quickdrawing gunslinger in an old abandoned western town. The gunman wins the duel, but he soon learns a new meaning to the phrase "ghost town" as the spirit of all his victims come back to haunt him.

Episode 47: King Of The Road ***1/2 Starring Raymond J. Barry, Brad Pitt, Michelle Bronson, Jack Kehler, Alva L. Petway, Michelle Johnson; written by J. Randal Johnson, directed by Tom Holland
A courageous drag racer challenges a cop who used to be a racer. When the cop refuses, the racer decides to make him change his mind by kidnapping his teenage daughter. The cop proves that he hasn't lost his talent by tricking him to change his course.

Episode 48: Maniac At Large **** Starring Blythe Danner, Salome Jens, Christopher Williams III, Adam Ant, Obba Babatunde, Dion Basco, Laurie Franks, Irwin Keyes, Harper Rosiman; written by Mae Woods, directed by John Frankenheimer
A shy library clerk is obsessed with a serial killer, fearing that she will be the next victim. She thinks that the boss, the security guard, and the patron all might be the killer.

Episode 49: Split Personality **** Starring Joe Pesci, Kristen Amber Citron, Jacqueline Alexandra Citron, Burt Young, Troy Evans, Heidi Thomas, Michael Klastorin, Reginald Hunter, Bill Cho Lee; written by Fred Dekker, directed by Joel Silver
Stetson is a conman who likes to date twins. He finds himself in the arms of twin sisters and creates of twin of his own, pretending to be his own brother. He weds both of them and decides to knock them off, but these twins share and share alike.

Episode 50: Strung Along *** Starring Donald O'Conner, Patricia Charbonneau, Zach Gillian, Tom Dugan, Lisle Wilson; written by Yale Udoff and Kevin Yagher, directed by Kevin Yagher
An aging puppeteer gets a new assistant. When he learns that his wife has a boyfriend, the assistant promises he will do something about it. The puppeteer spends most of his time with his favorite puppet Koko. When he discovers that his assistant is his wife's lover, the two make him think that Koko has gone on a murderous rampage.

Episode 51: Werewolf Concerto *** Starring Timmothy Dalton, Beverly D'Angelo, Reginald VelJohnson, Lela Rochon, Dennis Farina, Charles Fleisher, Wolfgang Puck, Jason Iorg, Marci Simon, Walter Gotell, Andre Bustanoby; written by Scott Nimerfro, directed by Steve Perry
A man is killed outside the woods of a hotel. His death is suspected to be the work of a werewolf. The manager says that there is a werewolf hunter at the hotel who will deal with the problem.

Episode 52: Curiosity Killed *** Starring Margot Kidder, Kevin McCarthy, J.A. Preston, Madge Sinclair, Marshall Teague, Constance Wiggins; written by Stanley Ralph Ross, directed by Elliot Silverstein
On a camping trip, a man asks his friend to keep a youth potion away from his wife, but she suspects that they are trying to kill her.

Special Features:
- Commentary on "What's Cookin'?" by the Crypt Keeper, writer Alan Katz & series choricler Digby Diehl
- Stars of Season 4 montage hosted by the Crypt Keeper

Season Four of "Tales From The Crypt" is another great edition to one of television's best series.

Another fantastically ghoulish season
The fourth season of Tales From the Crypt was another fantastically ghoulish season of horror vignettes based on the classic EC horror comics. As before, season four features a bevy of talent in front of and behind the camera, beginning with the Tom Hanks directed "None But the Lonely Heart", which stars Treat Williams as a paranoid killer who fears that someone is out to get him. The great William Friedkin directs "On a Dead Man's Chest" which stars Tia Carerre as a groupie who convinces her rocker love toy to get a tattoo, and at what a cost! Stephen Hopkins offers up another entry in the series, with "Beauty Rest" which stars Mimi Rogers as an aging wanna-be model who goes to great lengths to secure herself a spot in a beauty pagent, and she gets much, much more than she bargained for. David Warner stars as a radio child psychologist in the "The New Arrival", called in to a special case, and well, let's just say that this is no ordinary child. Richard Donner and Frank Darabont team up for "Showdown", as a murderous cowboy learns a new definition for the word ghost town, and a young Brad Pitt makes a memorable appearance in "King of the Road", as a drag racer blackmailing a former racer turned cop into one last ride, at any price. Season four features three classic episodes as well, including "What's Cooking" in which a drifter (Judd Nelson) changes the lives of husband and wife diner owners (Christopher Reeve, Bess Armstrong) by helping them put something new on the menu, the Joel Silver directed "Split Personality" which stars Joe Pesci as a con artist working a pair of twins, and the season closing "Curiousity Killed" which stars Margot Kidder as an elderly, nagging wife who believes her husband is trying to kill her, but learns something else even more startling instead. All in all, season four of Tales From the Crypt is yet another excellent season of fun frights, and just like the previous volumes, this is a must own for fans of the series.

Truly entertaining
I can remember those free weekends HBO would allow the cable companies to have every so often. I would go over to my friend's house have some pizza and soda and stay up late watching the free cable. Along with other hopes that pre-teen would see on cable, this was another show I was hoping to feast my eyes upon. Though these shows were a little bit scarier in my youth, the episodes contained here entertained as well as brought back memories from a time all but forgotten. These stories are great to watch with the family around Halloween or to watch while having as few guests over during the summer. Fun for all I say, fun for all!