"Tales from the Crypt" was a product that was very successful on radio and as a television series, but never found the formula for success in cinema. The first two releases, still in the 70s, remained faithful to the original product, with a succession of short stories, some better than others. The third film was much more audacious: "Demon Knight" really tried to give us a feature film, and to a certain extent it managed to respond well to that challenge. Then it all came crashing down with "Bordello of Blood", which was a real fiasco and shattered the producers' ambitions. Maybe that's why this movie never really adopted the franchise, and only in the physical versions do we see the opening, with a rigid, cheap and inelegant version of the Cryptkeeper introducing the movie.
Let's face it, this one is not within the parameters of what we could consider a good movie for the cinema. Even so, we are pleased to see that the production has learned something from past mistakes and that the film is committed to a solid story, a consistent and relatively well-structured narrative. It's not a good movie, but it's better than its predecessors and, honestly, it manages to be an average movie, within the quality standard of made-for-TV and DVD movies.
The script begins with Alice Dodgson's medical license being suspended after a medical error in which she was at fault. In order to support herself during the suspension period, she takes a job as a private caregiver in Jamaica to care for Wesley Claybourne, who has encephalitis but believes he is being targeted by voodoo magic. At the same time, she befriends Caro, an attractive, sexually intense young Jamaican woman, and begins to discover that Wesley's delusions may, after all, have some raison d'être.
The film has a very solid cast and some well-known names, but the material given to the actors was relatively weak, several characters were sexualized to the maximum and the director Avi Nesher proved incapable of guiding the actors and getting results. Jennifer Grey, the protagonist, is not an inexperienced actress, but we've seen her do better in "Dirty Dancing" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The material received harmed her, in addition to the fact that the personage was quite sexualized, taking advantage of the physical attributes of the actress. Daniel Lapaine did an average job, committed, but histrionic and lacking in direction. Tim Curry has been underused and only appears once in a while. Craig Sheffer is as supportive as possible, but he's not a good villain. Lastly, Kristen Wilson appears to have been chosen solely on the basis of her svelte and sculpted body, almost entirely visible in the film, where she appears nude several times.
Technically, the film is much more modest and poor than we could have expected, considering the list of actors present in the cast. Thought and produced as a film for TV and DVD, it lacks a cinematic notion, and budget or team to carry it out. Without the staff and money to make a film with a cinematic dimension, the production's options were limited in aspects such as costume design, visual and special effects, digital resources and the choice of filming locations. That's why the voodoo scenes are so few and concentrated. What's good here? We have good set construction (a good medical lab, the magic props, with crosses and herbs and strange objects mixed with candles etc.), we also have a good cinematography (for a TV movie) and, finally, an effective soundtrack.
Let's face it, this one is not within the parameters of what we could consider a good movie for the cinema. Even so, we are pleased to see that the production has learned something from past mistakes and that the film is committed to a solid story, a consistent and relatively well-structured narrative. It's not a good movie, but it's better than its predecessors and, honestly, it manages to be an average movie, within the quality standard of made-for-TV and DVD movies.
The script begins with Alice Dodgson's medical license being suspended after a medical error in which she was at fault. In order to support herself during the suspension period, she takes a job as a private caregiver in Jamaica to care for Wesley Claybourne, who has encephalitis but believes he is being targeted by voodoo magic. At the same time, she befriends Caro, an attractive, sexually intense young Jamaican woman, and begins to discover that Wesley's delusions may, after all, have some raison d'être.
The film has a very solid cast and some well-known names, but the material given to the actors was relatively weak, several characters were sexualized to the maximum and the director Avi Nesher proved incapable of guiding the actors and getting results. Jennifer Grey, the protagonist, is not an inexperienced actress, but we've seen her do better in "Dirty Dancing" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The material received harmed her, in addition to the fact that the personage was quite sexualized, taking advantage of the physical attributes of the actress. Daniel Lapaine did an average job, committed, but histrionic and lacking in direction. Tim Curry has been underused and only appears once in a while. Craig Sheffer is as supportive as possible, but he's not a good villain. Lastly, Kristen Wilson appears to have been chosen solely on the basis of her svelte and sculpted body, almost entirely visible in the film, where she appears nude several times.
Technically, the film is much more modest and poor than we could have expected, considering the list of actors present in the cast. Thought and produced as a film for TV and DVD, it lacks a cinematic notion, and budget or team to carry it out. Without the staff and money to make a film with a cinematic dimension, the production's options were limited in aspects such as costume design, visual and special effects, digital resources and the choice of filming locations. That's why the voodoo scenes are so few and concentrated. What's good here? We have good set construction (a good medical lab, the magic props, with crosses and herbs and strange objects mixed with candles etc.), we also have a good cinematography (for a TV movie) and, finally, an effective soundtrack.