Hello and welcome to the start of a fun journey through one of my all-time favorite TV series, Tales From The Crypt. This episode is a bit of an oddity because the Crypt Keeper doesn’t say the name of the episode, and he isn’t nearly as eccentric as usually is. It doesn’t feel right.
The episode stars William Sadler, who wasn’t all that well known at this point in time, but he would have this episode and The Shawshank Redemption both come out in 1994. That’s pretty F’N legendary. Prior to this, he would probably have been best known for Die Hard 2 or being the Grim Reaper in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Probably the latter.
This episode was directed by Walter Hill, the brilliant mind behind The Warriors. He has been a producer for a lot of amazing projects, but The Warriors is arguably the best thing that he directed.
Something that is very distinct about the music from this show. Not the main theme, but the random music in the episodes. I speculate that most fans of the series would be able to identify a lot of the music due to the style.
We meet Niles Talbot, Sadler, who is the executioner at a prisoner. He tells us the story of Charley and how he killed someone which leads to his execution in the electric chair. Sadler has such a unique performance with his accents and phrasing in this episode, it is really memorable.
We learn that Niles is from Oklahoma, and got a job at the state prison as an electrician. Over the course of 12 years, he ended up being the executioner. He goes to a diner and orders a cheese sandwich and coffee while there is a news report about the death penalty. What the hell is a cheese sandwich? It wasn’t grilled cheese. Also, Niles is losing his job due to the public outcry about the death penalty. Naturally, he goes to a bar. The bartender, Vic, is played by Roy Brocksmith, who was also in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. He’s one of “those guys” that is recognizable but you often never know their name, but you like them.
I like how they have Sadler talk directly to the camera often as part of the narration.
Jimmy Flood gets off on a clerical error. He was clearly guilty of killing some dude. James is a biker. As he is exiting the court, he tells the victim’s sister that her brother was a fag. Now, if you’re a fan of South Park, you may appreciate the irony. If not, well just ignore what I just said. Niles wants justice served to Jimmy, with electricity. The music prior to Jimmy’s death has a Pulp Fiction feel to it. He gets electrocuted when grabbing hold of a gate. Niles celebrates by going to the bar and chatting with Vic.
Cynthia Baldwin and Theodore Carne are found not guilty. You can imagine how this goes. Theodore killed his wife and she had some money. So he had this sexy lady, and we see them celebrating in a tub. She is the first nude girl in the series. As Niles confronts them in the tub, Cynthia blames Ted for the murder. He goes to a strip club to celebrate and we get more tits. This show knows how to appeal to a certain audience, the horror fan. Niles gives us the best advice that he can offer: treat whore like queens and queens like whores. One of the dancers in a cage is guilty, according to Niles and he plans on shocking her, not with the shocker though, unfortunately. He has the cage rigged to some wires, and he turns it on, but the wires were cut. Niles is caught and arrested.
The state legislature has reinstated the death penalty and Niles is the first recipient. As he is being dragged to the chair, the scene is very reminiscent of how Charley was in the opening, by design. It’s a way to show how desperate people are when they’re on the verge of execution. Sadler is showing off some acting range here.
As he sits in the chair, he laments about how he was good at his job. And then they flip the switch while the priest gives his prayer. Sure enough, the Governor didn’t call.
Back to the Cryptkeeper. His voice is too dark, even when he’s being silly. Thankfully they altered John Kassir’s delivery and he became a pop culture icon.
I don’t want to rate these episodes because I have a feeling that many would fall between 6 and 8. What’s the point? I can absolutely recommend this episode though. Sadler carried the episode on his back and he absolutely delivered. Furthermore, when it came time to cast the first film that correlated to the TV series, sure enough, William Sadler was cast as the lead, opposite Billy Zane in Demon Knight. I have never seen the TV series, Dexter, but have long felt that it had some influence from this particular episode.
As is often the case in this series, it had violence, a memorable lead, a little bit of sexuality, and a bit of comedy and irony mixed in. What more could I ask for?