It’s even more unusual that this episode occurs during season 2 rather than the later years, when the series was more desperate for content. "The Lower Berth" (Tales from the Crypt #33) gives an account of the circumstances surrounding his birth. In addition, Tales from the Crypt enthusiasts should appreciate this episode for its silly but effective plot surrounding the Crypt Keeper’s birth. “This site was founded on the conviction that if I had complete creative freedom, I could create something special and rare in this crazy-making world of ours. Daniel Kurland is a freelance writer, comedian, and critic, who lives in the cultural mosaic that is Brooklyn, New York. The Crypt Keeper helps introduce and conclude each episode of the series, and is primarily used for comic relief. There is no shortage of different anthology series when it comes to the horror genre, but HBO’s Tales from the Crypt was way ahead of the curve with its mature and exaggerated approach to bringing classic genre tales from the pages of EC Comics to life. By implementing a serious approach to horror, “Lower Berth” succeeds as a remarkably chilling piece. By implementing a serious approach to horror, “Lower Berth” succeeds as a remarkably chilling piece. The anthology structure of Tales from the Crypt allowed for all-star casts and directors to participate with little commitment. “Lower Berth” might just have them all beat. The first season was a hit …
When a sideshow promoter finds out that his main star, Enoch the two-faced man, has fallen ill and will die soon, he finds a new attraction from a shady dealer in the form of a thousand year-old mummy. Tales from the Crypt is a fundamental piece of anthology horror, and one key episode is actually devoted to the Crypt Keeper’s backstory. Notably, Stefan Gierasch portrayed Mr. Sickles as a greedy, malevolent character not unlike the Elephant Man’s abusive manager in the 1980 film directed by David Lynch. In addition, Tales from the Crypt enthusiasts should appreciate this episode for its silly but effective plot surrounding the Crypt Keeper’s birth.
Also worth mentioning is the mummy’s decrepit appearance, which likewise allowed the Tales from the Crypt make-up crew to showcase a variety of ghoulish abilities with regard to creature effects. Yet there is enormous, incongruous sensitivity and even tenderness in the way “Lower Berth” portrays not just poor, child-like Enoch, who just wants to love and be loved and not treated like a monster, but also his “owner” and controller, Mr. Sickles (Stefan Gierasch).
A solid effort, “Lower Berth” offers a clever backstory for the Crypt Keeper. In baby form, he looks more than a little like Chucky, which makes sense since Yagher designed the Child’s Play villain and served as its puppeteer as well. I was a cute little terror tyke though wasn't I? The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. Tales from the Crypt isn't the kind of horror anthology series to feature connective tissue between its story or tease a larger universe of mythology, so “Lower Berth” is an especially strange departure. It’s a very special, very personal episode that provides an appropriately morbid origin story for its universally beloved host, mascot and rotting face. Likewise, a carnival setting works to establish the horror elements in Fred Dekker’s narrative. Jeff Yagher’s portrayal of Enoch is also noteworthy, mainly due to the fact that a range of complex emotional states are conveyed through heavy make-up. Then one day Dr. Zachary Cling (Mark Rolston), a dandy with a decidedly questionable past and aversion to honesty arranges for the sorry sideshow to get a second legit attraction in the form of Myrna, a purloined Egyptian mummy of a beautiful girl mummified at 16 for rejecting a pharaoh’s advances.
Enoch, a man with two faces, finds an unlikely kinship with a fellow sideshow attraction, a 4000 year-old living mummy. However, there’s one episode of Tales from the Crypt that actually works the Crypt Keeper and his history into the narrative.
You’d imagine Enoch’s impending death and Myrna the Mummy having died millennia ago would pose an insurmountable obstacle to these star-crossed lovers ever getting it on but where there’s a will there’s a way.
Though more character driven than most episodes, “Lower Berth” fails to provide sufficient analysis on the human condition to allow for a truly exceptional outcome. The Crypt-Keeper's duties were not limited to hosting. Cast: Lewis Arquette, Stefan Gierasch, Mark Rolston, Jeff Yagher, John Kassir, Cindy Riegel, Alexandra Prager, and Kenneth White. He recently completed work on a noir anthology graphic novel titled, "Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Noir: A Rag of Bizarre Noir and Hard Boiled Tales" and he’s currently toiling away on his first novel. However, this level of experimentation marks Tales from the Crypt trying to see if a slightly larger role for their infamous host could have helped the series. It establishes an odd precedent, and occasional episodes that featured brief pieces of the Crypt Keeper’s development wouldn’t necessarily be doomed to fail. Tales from the Crypt ran for seven seasons and produced nearly 100 episodes that have helped guarantee the series’ place in horror history. “Lower Berth” ends with a good long look at the Crypt-Keeper as a baby at once disgusting and oddly adorable. Old Two-Face was my daddy and the mummy was my mommy! Relationship Facts, Why The Simpsons Halloween Specials Are Called “Treehouse of Horrors”. This feels like a conscious choice to take a risk rather than the series scraping the bottom of the barrel for story inspiration.
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Tales from the Crypt is not generally an empathetic show. The performances in this episode are also commendable and generally free of campy undertones that might have detracted from Dekker’s somber approach to the subject matter. It’s definitely not something that should have become a recurring feature in the show; the Crypt Keeper certainly works better in small doses.
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