2/17/2007

As Count Floyd used to say on SCTV- “Saturday night, kids!!!” …and our Universal library brings back one that I know a lot of Sven viewers loved- and most of the local tv listings got wrong. I mentioned the British “Tales from the Crypt” movie of the early 70s…well, the always-lucid local listings seem to like to say we’re running that, and, as much as I love that movie- it ain’t what we’ve got. What we have for you tonight is a collection of the first episodes of HBO’s famous series- you know, the one with the moldy, razor-blade voiced Crypt Keeper puppet introducing the tales that first saw daylight (or is it day FRIGHT!? Heeheeheehee…sorry, I was in Crypt Keeper mode there) as comic book tales in EC horror comics. The HBO series was only planned to run three seasons- but was so popular, it actually ran for seven, and then went into regular tv syndication for a while. This film is actually the first three episodes that ever aired- and were originally intended to be- not a tv show- but a big-screen movie! However, the producers got cold feet when they discovered research that indicated that most anthology films that contained three stories turned out to be box office bombs. So, away to tv they went- and put together these episodes as a theatrical movie only after the show became a success! There is a similarity in this movie and the original British one I mentioned earlier- you get another version of the same classic horror story- “And All Through the House”…in which an escaped killer who broke out of a home for the criminally insane is roaming the streets dressed in a Santa costume! It just happens to be Christmas time, and a woman…well, just tune in. You’ll definitely enjoy the stories, and you’ll notice that the Crypt Keeper isn’t as manic and silly as he would eventually become! I always laugh when I think of the pun-pushing Crypt Keeper that we all know and love- and that, in the 70s British film- the Crypt Keeper was played by the distinguished actor Sir Ralph Richardson! Obviously, the part was totally different in that film!( Also, in the “All Through The House” story in the British flick, the woman was played by a young and gorgeous Joan Collins!) You’ll get all the usual fun Sven stuff tonight , as well- more info about the film, learn about the Crypt Keeper puppet and his voice, get the inside scoop on how the “Tales from the Crypt” show open was made, plus- some vintage Sven stuff from the past, the usual Sven song, some rubber chickens, some guy at the door- and, the commercials you’ve come to know and tolerate. See you tonight, kiddies!