Tales from the Crypt: Last Respects starts in the Mr Finger's House of Curios shop owned by three sisters, Marlys (Julie Cox), Dolores (Kerry Fox) & Yvonne (Emma Samms) as they find a Monkey's Paw in a box of recently brought stock. Having heard all the stories about Monkey Paw's granting three wishes Dolores wishes for a million pounds, then they get a phone call saying they have inherited three rare fountain pens worth two hundred & fifty thousand each which doesn't add up to a million but they decide to take it anyway. However not all is as it seems & as twisted wishes start to come to fruition the three sisters quickly regret ever having found the Monkey's Paw...
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 2 from season 7 & was notably directed by the late Freddie Francis who actually directed the British anthology Amicus film Tales from the Crypt (1972) which I rate quite highly so I guess it was a natural choice for the producers to hire him to direct an episode especially since production had moved to England. Last Respects was Francis' last directorial credit as it turned out & I have to say Last Respects is maybe my least favourite Tales from the Crypt episode ever. The script was based on a story featured in the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & like the previous episode Fatal Caper (1996) only bears resemblance to it's comic book inspiration in name as the stories are both completely different, anyway I am not too happy with the way season seven is going & already with only two episodes gone I really don't like the camp feel & all the really inappropriate & out of place comedy. I mean there's the start in which it is seen that the three sisters keep their dead dad in a see through coffin in the shop like it's a normal thing, there's the dinner table scene in which an old woman starts to fart uncontrollably which is just embarrassing to see in a once great show, is having an old woman fart for supposed comedy value really what Tales from the Crypt has become? There's the over the top acting in which everyone seems to burst out crying in a very exaggerated way & a bizarre scene which I can't decide if it's there for comedy value or not where Dolores is called to the morgue & told that the police didn't notice that her dead sister had a bullet in her head! The whole story is poor, it's not funny although it tries to be, there's no gore or nudity & the ending is very predictable. The 'wishes that turn bad' story has been done before & usually better.
This episode looks alright & is quite well made but isn't memorable in any way. There's absolutely zero gore or nudity although there are a few swear words. The opening & closing Cryptkeeper sequences are the best part of Last Respects in which he becomes a financial adviser complete with the expected puns like 'I'm going to make a killing on the stock market'. The acting is pretty over the top & rather camp although there's no-one of any note in the cast as far as I can see.
Last Respects is maybe the worst Tales from the Crypt episode I have seen although I still have several from season seven to watch but surely none will be worse than this? A farting Grannie, what has this once peerless show become? Watch Wishmaster (1997) instead.
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 2 from season 7 & was notably directed by the late Freddie Francis who actually directed the British anthology Amicus film Tales from the Crypt (1972) which I rate quite highly so I guess it was a natural choice for the producers to hire him to direct an episode especially since production had moved to England. Last Respects was Francis' last directorial credit as it turned out & I have to say Last Respects is maybe my least favourite Tales from the Crypt episode ever. The script was based on a story featured in the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & like the previous episode Fatal Caper (1996) only bears resemblance to it's comic book inspiration in name as the stories are both completely different, anyway I am not too happy with the way season seven is going & already with only two episodes gone I really don't like the camp feel & all the really inappropriate & out of place comedy. I mean there's the start in which it is seen that the three sisters keep their dead dad in a see through coffin in the shop like it's a normal thing, there's the dinner table scene in which an old woman starts to fart uncontrollably which is just embarrassing to see in a once great show, is having an old woman fart for supposed comedy value really what Tales from the Crypt has become? There's the over the top acting in which everyone seems to burst out crying in a very exaggerated way & a bizarre scene which I can't decide if it's there for comedy value or not where Dolores is called to the morgue & told that the police didn't notice that her dead sister had a bullet in her head! The whole story is poor, it's not funny although it tries to be, there's no gore or nudity & the ending is very predictable. The 'wishes that turn bad' story has been done before & usually better.
This episode looks alright & is quite well made but isn't memorable in any way. There's absolutely zero gore or nudity although there are a few swear words. The opening & closing Cryptkeeper sequences are the best part of Last Respects in which he becomes a financial adviser complete with the expected puns like 'I'm going to make a killing on the stock market'. The acting is pretty over the top & rather camp although there's no-one of any note in the cast as far as I can see.
Last Respects is maybe the worst Tales from the Crypt episode I have seen although I still have several from season seven to watch but surely none will be worse than this? A farting Grannie, what has this once peerless show become? Watch Wishmaster (1997) instead.
