Synopsis:

Two of the most venerable names in the horror field, author Stephen King and director George A. Romero, present this anthology of original twisted tales inspired by the E.C. horror comics of the 50's and 60's (themselves a more direct basis for the popular Tales from the Crypt TV series).

The five stories are framed within the pages of a comic book which a boy's insensitive father has thrown in the garbage. The first tale, "Father's Day," features a zombie patriarch returning to claim his Father's Day cake; "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" stars King himself as a slack-jawed yokel whose discovery of a radioactive meteorite turns him into a walking weed; "Something to Tide You Over" presents a deadly-serious Leslie Nielsen as a cuckolded husband who plans an elaborate seaside revenge; "The Crate" unleashes its ferocious man-eating contents on the enemies of a meek college professor; and "They're Creeping Up On You" pits obsessively-clean billionaire E.G. Marshall against a swarm of cockroaches in his sterile penthouse. The chapters are uniformly creative, filmed in garish comic-book colors, and Tom Savini's makeup effects are quite memorable (particularly the monster from "The Crate"), though the campy treatment does become exhausting after two hours' runtime.

The final segment is the most impressive, thanks to Marshall's over-the-top performance, though the planned scope of the cockroach invasion was drastically reduced (no doubt due to budget constraints). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Cast:

Hal Holbrook - Henry Northrup

Adrienne Barbeau - Wilma Northrup

Fritz Weaver - Dexter Stanley

Leslie Nielsen - Richard Vickers

Carrie Nye - Sylvia Grantham

E.G. Marshall - Upson Pratt

Viveca Lindfors - Aunt Bedelia

Stephen King - Jordy Verrill

Ed Harris - Hank

Ted Danson - Harry

Robert Harper - Charlie

Jon Lormer - Nathan Grantham

Tom Atkins - Billy's Father (uncredited)

Chuck Aber - Richard Raymond

David L. Early - White

Katie Karlovitz - Maid

Elizabeth Regan - Cass Blaine

Warner Shook - Richard Grantham

Iva Jean Saraceni - Billy's Mother

Joe King - Billy

Marty Schiff - Garbage Man #1

Tom Savini - Garbage Man

Gaylen Ross - Becky Vickers

Bingo O'Malley - Jordy's Dad

Don Keefer - Mike the Janitor

Christine Forrest - Tabitha Raymond

John Amplas - Nathan's Corpse

Director(s):

George A. Romero

Producer(s):

Richard P. Rubinstein

Trailer:

---