TALES FROMTH

CR
 The Crypt Keeper (Sir Ralph Richardson) wel-
comes five unwary travelers to the vault of hor-
those fiendly folks ror, where they hear hair-raising tales (five in all)
about which YOU may now read.
Those fiendly folks who gave us DR. TERROR’S
HOUSE OF HORRORS, THE SKULL, THE
HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD and other mod-
ern feary tales have now dug up a group of five more
fright fables for the midnight movie set.
In the ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE segment
of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, beautiful Joan
Collins has a beastly time as, on Xmas eve, she re-
ceives an unexpected visit from an unwanted Santa
Claus.
Unwanted because he’s unbalanced.
A maniacal Kris Kringle!
It’s not so merry a Christmas when poor Joan
winds up murdering her husband.
In REFLECTION OF DEATH, the Grim Reaper
himself mans a motorpsycho to run down his vic-
tims.
POETIC JUSTICE features the ever-welcome
talent of horror film superstar Peter Cushing, who
becomes a disintegrating ghoul and rises from his
grave a year after his death to exact vengeance from
the living.
In WISH YOU WERE HERE the Horrorine is
horrified to find that her last wish leaves her hus-
band (Richard Greene) in a coffin, experiencing the
suffering of death throughout eternity!
Finally, BLIND ALLEYS lead to Patrick Magee
who, together with his fellow inmates in a home for
the blind, seek revenge on one who wronged them.

the man from crypt-on

A sort of superman himself is venerable English
actor Sir Ralph Richardson, star of stage, screen &
television.
Sir Ralph has been acting for over half a century
now.
Many of you will be familiar with his classic inter-
pretation of The Boss in HGWells’ famous THINGS
TO COME (1936) but, since it is an almost lost film
(a print does exist in Belgium), not too many of you
will be familiar with his role in THE GHOUL.
THE GHOUL! Vintage Karloff! A pairing of Kar-
loff with Ernest Thesiger a year after they had act-
ed so superbly together in THE OLD DARK
HOUSE and two years before they would repeat
with memorable performances in BRIDE OF
FRANKENSTEIN.
Not only did Ralph Richardson appear in THE
GHOUL with Karloff & Thesiger but the late Sir
Cedric Hardwicke was in it as well. Three years
later they would both lend stature to THINGS TO'
COME.
So Sir Ralph is no stranger to the realms of sci-fi
& horror. But in his 70th year he delivers his most
macabre role as the mysterious crypt-keeper who
reveals horrible futures to a group of tourists lost in
a dark catacomb.
Asked his reaction to playing in this horror film,
Sir Ralph replied: “I had fun doing it but I can’t tell
you how well I did because I never look at a picture.
After all, once it’s rehearsed, shot and done, one’s
performance can’t be changed.”
Karloff never looked at his pictures either when
first released but eventually, any time a couple years
after original showing, by which time he had forgot-
ten the various incidents that took place while shoot-
40 Wm. Rogers wanders into Bloody Blade Dead End in the episode known as "Blind Alleys."
 Motor-Scythe follows one of his victims in "Reflection of Death" segment.

ing, he would view one of his performances if the disguised one bit to make me appear ancient.”
occasion arose. Don’t miss him as the avenging monk in TALES
Of TALES FROM THE CRYPT Sir Ralph ob- FROM THE CRYPT.
served: “Appearing in this horror film brings my
career full circle. In 1933 I did my first movie, THE
GHOUL. I can remember it quite well. I played a joan of aarrrgghh!
charming little minister who went around dynamit-
ing homes.” Joan Collins makes a killing in ALL THROUGH
Be it ever so disassembled there's no place like THE HOUSE.
home! But on the 6th take for the murder of her on-screen
Does he play his role of the Cryptic one with make- husband, she observed, “It’s getting more & more
up? “The producers wanted me complete with beard difficult to kill your hubby these days!”
and everything,” he said, “but I told them: my face, Then she hit him with the brass poker for the 6th
at 70, is quite old enough and doesn’t need to be time.
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 A bit of a joker, she continued: “There’d be a lot
less crime in the world today if film directors were
staging it!”
“Okay, let’s see the murder once more!” called
Freddie Francis, the director. “And this time pause
just a beat before you strike Martin again.”
Asked how she feels about playing in such a ma-
cabre movie, Miss Collins replied: “Actually, I love
horror films. But I do hate seeing blood. It makes
me sick,” she confided as the wardrobe mistress wip-
ed red paint off her dress.
“Tm intrigued by the whole thing of why we love
to go to the movies to be frightened when it really
isn’t a pleasant feeling at all. As an actress & a moth-
er I feel things are going much too far in the area of
violence.”
But as for TALES FROM THE CRYPT, Joan Col-
lins is reportedly happy with it in every way. “It
should be great good fun for audiences and it is nice
that great actors like Sir Ralph and Patrick Magee
are doing thrillers now too. Too often a horror film is
done with bad actors but now they are so popular
that the best in the business want to be in them.”
Applying to which remarks one thinks of Bette
Davis recently in the telefilm MADAME SATAN,
Olivia deHavilland in Ray Bradbury’s SCREAM-
ING WOMAN, Rod Steiger in Bradbury’s ILLUS-
TRATED MAN and the potential casting of Sir
Lawrence Olivier (recently upped to Lord Olivier)
in the MGM remake of DR. JEKYLL & MR: HYDE.

grim humor
Standing above her movie husband’s dead body
On the anniversary of his death, Arthur Grims- during a third “take,” Miss Collins glanced down
dyke rises from the grave. at the “corpse” and remarked, “You sure have it
a don’t you, just lying there during all my act-
ing?”
“You should have my worries,” the corpse replied.
“Im afraid flies will start collecting on my dead
body!”
Santa gets his claws on Joan Collins in "All Joan ‘smiled sweetly and topped him.
Through the House." “Don’t worry about flies, my dear—we may be
here so long that... well, let me put it this way: the
time to worry is when you hear the flap of vultures’
wings!”

peter the great

Peter Cushing decided to become an actor when
he was only 21 but it took almost another 20 years
of hard work till his talent was recognized.
In 1953 in England he was selected as “Best Actor
of the Year.” This led to his casting in THE CURSE
OF FRANKENSTEIN and the well-known succes-
sion of horror films that have made his name, like
Karloff, Lee, Lugosi, Chaney, Price, a household
word.
In sober matter of fact Mr. Cushing is a quiet,
gentle man, much like the late Boris Karloff, who
enjoys gardening. However, even if completely un-
justified, Mr. Cushing doesn’t mind the monster
image. His name on the marquee, along with that of
his good friend Christopher Lee, is like having the
Good Horrorskeeping Seal of Approval on a film.
In POETIC JUSTICE Peter Cushing plays a Mr.
Grimsdyke, a kindly old character—at first. But
after being driven to death by a pair of greedy neigh-
bors, he comes back from the grave to get bloody
revenge on the evildoers.
"Poetic Justice" (emphasis on the Poe) is what Grimsdyke seeks. The living corpse is the latest role for
Peter Cushing.

For his segment as the risen Ghoul, Peter Cush- Blind. He’s previously had a spooky part in SE-
ing wears his most horrific make-up to date. The ANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON and a hair-rais-
over-all application took several hours daily and ing one in the current kinky future film called A
when the mild-mannered Mr. C. saw himself in the CLOCKWORK ORANGE
mirror, he reports “I myself was horrified!”

diabolical director
greene sees red
The director of TALES FROM THE CRYPT,
Richard Greene, seen in the WISH YOU WERE Freddie Francis, has established quite a reputation
HERE segment, was last seen in THE BLOOD OF for himself as one of Europe’s leading exponents of
FU MANCHU. On TV he’s appeared in two fantasy suspense, terror & horror films.
plays, one involving time travel—the well-known His previous excursions into the fantastic & per- -
BERKELEY SQUARE—and the other life after verse include:
death, PETER IBBETSON. —THE SKULL
—THE PSYCHOPATH
—THE DEADLY BEES
magee can't see —DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS
—THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE
—TORTURE GARDEN
Patrick Magee can’t see in BLIND ALLEYS, — PARANOIAC
as he portrays a sightless man who leads fellow — NIGHTMARE
patients in a terrifying revolt against the brutally —HYSTERIA
unjust & selfish Superintendent of a Home for the ..and VAMPIRE HAPPENING.
 Hands of horror reach out for villain who forced man to take his own life in Grimsdyke tale from the
Crypt.

creepy co-producers “But we're only interested in those stories that

deal with imagination & fantasy. Explicit & brutal
violence is out.”
Rosenberg & Subotsky. It is the terror team of Rosenberg & Subotsky
A team that’s been responsible for quite a few that soon will bring us the new version of DR.
pictures teeming with terror. TALES FROM THE JEKYLL & MR. HYDE called I, MONSTER—with
CRYPT is the 7th in which they’ve used Freddie Christopher Lee!
Francis as director.
In addition they were responsible for the very fine
sci-fi film, which many thought compared favorable
with CHARLY: THE MIND OF MR. SOAMES. harpy ending
Speaking for himself & his partner, Mr. Subotsky
says: We'll be creeping off now.
“We intend to continue with horror movies. See you in the Crypt!
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