Tales From The Crypt
Season 3, Episode 14: Yellow
Dir: Robert Zemekis
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Erik Douglas, and Lance Henrickson
Adult horror television…I did all I could, at the impressionable age of nine, to find and watch every episode. However, my parents thwarted my attempts at every turn. It took until syndication for me to finally catch up on what I was missing out on. And, by the time I got around to watching them, all the “good stuff” was taken out for cable!!! I didn’t stop me from watching however; I had VHS tapes with as many episodes as I could possibly fit on a tape, all in the gloriously spectacular format with fuzzy lines and no auto-tracking. This was a special time for television.
The theme music for this show is still on every Halloween soundtrack that I make, and the terrible cheesy Crypt Keeper rap song finds its’ way on there too. The Crypt Keeper embodied every goofy mannerism that I loved, the over-the-top comic book introduction made every episode, whether good or bad, interesting. The Crypt Keeper was a welcome horror show with a host that had the perfect blend of humor and fright.
The episodes that I remember most were probably the Christmas episode called “And All Through The House”, which featured a memorable ending and serial killer in a Santa Claus suit, and the WWII themed “Yellow”. Whenever a film blends elements of reality and true-life horrors, I always find the results all the more disturbing. Though “Yellow” didn’t necessarily try to scare, and blended humor into the tale, it dealt with real elements. Kirk Douglas is great in this simple role as a hard-nosed General trying to teach his cowardly son how to be a proper soldier. The outcome is unexpected and makes a simple idea into a memorable television episode. If you don’t watch another episode of Tales From The Crypt, make it a point to watch “Yellow” before you stop. Day 25 from the Crypt.
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