3 Most Underrated Episodes of Tales From the Crypt

HBO’s Tales from the Crypt (1989-1996) was essentially an R-rated The Twilight Zone. Like Rod Serling’s classic show, it had a spooky atmosphere and each week’s episode typically came equipped with two things: one or more big stars and a twisty narrative. Like with any anthology series, some episodes are far, far better than others. When it comes to Tales from the Crypt (a show that is now impossible to watch outside owning the DVDs), the best episodes usually came in the form of a perfect blend of horror and comedy. But, when it tried to be funny, that’s when it would trip up. What follows are the episodes that, of the 93 total, tend to get a bad rap but don’t quite deserve it. In other words, these episodes fell in the bottom third of the series’ episode ranking on IMDb.

The only other episodes in the bottom third that are worth watching are Season 2’s “The Thing from the Grave” and Season 3’s “Loved to Death,” the latter of which only missed the cut because it had been done better the previous season as “‘Til Death.” With that out of the way, these are the lowest-rated Tales from the Crypt episodes that actually possess some merit, even if they’re still never going to be mistaken as top-tier entries.

“Judy, You’re Not Yourself Today” (Season 2, Episode 11)

“Judy, You’re Not Yourself Today” is a fairly light-toned episode, and that works quite well for it. The plot follows an elderly cosmetics saleswoman (played by Frances Bay of Happy Gilmore fame) who visits the home of Judy (Carol Kane of the Bill Murray Christmas classic Scrooged) and Donald (Brian Kerwin). But the saleswoman is actually a witch, and with a magical necklace, she swaps bodies with Judy and attempts to take over her life.

The main assets in the corner of “Judy, You’re Not Yourself Today” are the performances of Bay and Kane. It was rare to see Bay get such a prominent role, and she knocks her character’s convincing charm out of the park just as much as she nails the deviousness. Kane, too, has fun with both the vain, vapid nature of Judy and the conniving body-swapped “Judy.”

“Seance” (Season 4, Episode 4)

“Seance” follows Benny Polosky and Alison Peters, two con artists who are after the fortune of Presco Chalmers, a rich, elderly businessman. Benny pretends to be the lawyer of Chalmers’s deceased uncle Albert, with Alison standing in for the fictional Albert’s daughter. They claim Chalmers needs to pay 10% of Albert’s inheritance (which came from an illegal investment) to the lawyer to keep his mouth shut. At first, the scam plays well, but given the duo’s incompetence, things swiftly go off the rails, resulting in Chalmers’s death before he can pay up. But just because Chalmers is dead, doesn’t mean he’s done with the dim-witted duo.

“Seance” is one of those episodes that probably skews too comedic for many fans’ liking, but it’s really not a dealbreaker. Here, the humor is what helps the comedy of errors’ core plot keep chugging along. Toss in the commanding lead performance by Raging Bull‘s Cathy Moriarty and “Seance” is a winner.

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“Till Death Do We Part” (Season 5, Episode 13)

“Till Death Do We Part” is an odd duck in the Tales from the Crypt lineup. The show had shown audiences its version of Westerns, but never the mob movie. That is, until this Season 5 episode, which features John Stamos (at the height of his Full House fame) as Johnny Canaparo, a young gigolo whose job is to show affection to Ruth Sanderson, a connected older woman.

But Johnny also has eyes for waitress Lucy Chadwick, and when Ruth finds this out, she gives him a very specific task. They drive Lucy out to the middle of the woods, strip her down to her underwear, and Johnny is to put a bullet in her head. Instead, Johnny turns the gun on Ruth’s henchmen and Ruth’s luxury car. Unfortunately, the luxury car speeds off, which means Johnny and Lucy have to team up Bonnie and Clyde style to take out the older woman and all those around her. Except, none of this actually happens — it was all an illusion in Lucy’s (or Johnny’s) mind. Johnny decides to play it safe and kill the waitress, returning to his miserable life as the kept boy of a woman twice his age. The episode is not only cast well, but it also truly makes the audience believe the illusion is real, which makes the abrupt cut all the more impactful.

What are your favorite underrated episodes of Tales from the Crypt? Let us know in the comments below!