Tales From The Crypt (1972)

Tales From The Crypy is a 1972 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis and starring by Joan Collins Peter Cushing Roy Dotrice Richard Greene Ian Hendry Patrick Magee Barbara Murray Nigel Patrick Robin Phillips and Ralph Richardson as the Crypt Keeper.

Intro
Five strangers go with a tourist group to view old catacombs. Separated from the main group, they find themselves in a room with the mysterious Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson), who details how each of the strangers may die.

...And All Through the House
Joanne Clayton (Joan Collins) kills her husband (Martin Boddey) on Christmas Eve. She prepares to hide his body, but hears a radio announcement stating that a homicidal maniac (Oliver MacGreevy) is on the loose. She sees the killer (who is dressed in a Santa Clauscostume) outside her house, but cannot call the police without exposing her own crimes.
 * Taken from The Vault of Horror #35

After cleaning up her crime, Joanne finally attempts to call the police. However, her young daughter (Chloe Franks) - believing the maniac to be Santa - unlocks the door and lets him into the house, whereupon he starts to strangle Joanne to death.

Reflection of Death
Carl Maitland (Ian Hendry) abandons his family to be with Susan Blake (Angela Grant). After they drive off together, they are involved in a car accident. He wakes up in the wrecked car and attempts to hitch-hike home, but everyone he meets reacts with horror upon seeing him. Arriving at his house, he sees his wife (Susan Denny) with another man.
 * Taken from Tales from the Crypt #23

He knocks on the door, but she screams and slams the door. He then goes to see Susan to find out that she is blind from the accident. She says that Carl died two years ago in the crash. Glancing at a reflective tabletop, he sees he has the face of a rotted, hideous corpse and screams in horror. Carl then wakes up and finds out that it was a dream, but the moment he does, the crash occurs as previously seen.

Poetic Justice
Edward Elliott (David Markham) and his son James (Robin Phillips) are a snobbish pair who resent their neighbour, dustman Arthur Grimsdyke (Peter Cushing), who owns a number of dogs and entertains children in his house; James, in particular, strongly detests the old man. To get rid of what they see as a blight on the neighbourhood, they push Grimsdyke into a frenzy by conducting a smear campaign against him, first resulting in the removal of his beloved dogs (one of them returns to him), then persuading a member of the council to have him removed from his job, and later exploiting parents' paranoid fears about child molestation.
 * Taken from The Haunt of Fear No. 12, (March–April 1952)

On Valentine's Day, James sends Grimsdyke a number of poison-pen Valentines, supposedly from the neighbours, driving the old man to suicide. One year later, Grimsdyke comes back from the dead and takes revenge on James. The following morning, Edward finds his son dead with a note that said, "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY--YOU WERE MEAN AND CRUEL-RIGHT FROM THE START-NOW YOU REALLY HAVE NO--!"Edward opens up the folded end of the note and realizes that the final word of that note is "HEART," represented by James's heart, which has been torn from his body while still beating.

Wish You Were Here
Ineffective businessman Ralph Jason (Richard Greene) is close to financial ruin. His wife Enid (Barbara Murray) discovers a Chinese figurine that says it will grant three wishes to whoever possesses it; Enid decides to wish for a fortune; surprisingly, it comes true. However, Ralph is killed, seemingly in a car crash, on the way to his lawyer's office to collect it. The lawyer (Roy Dotrice) then advises Enid she will inherit a fortune from her deceased husband's life insurance plan. She uses her second wish to bring him back to the way he was just before the accident, but learns that his death was due to a heart attack immediately before the crash (caused by fright when he sees the figure of "death" following him on a motorcycle).
 * Wish You Were Here (The Haunt of Fear #22, November–December 1953), a variation on W. W. Jacobs's famed short story "The Monkey's Paw".

As she uses her final wish to bring him back alive and to live forever, she discovers too late that he was embalmed. She tries to kill him to end his pain but because she wished him to live forever, he cannot be killed. She has now trapped him in eternal pain.

Blind Alleys
Major William Rogers (Nigel Patrick), the mean new director of a home for the blind made up mostly of elderly and middle-aged men, makes drastic financial cuts, reducing heat and rationing food for the residents while he lives in luxury with his German Shepherd, Shane. When Rogers ignores the pleas of resident George Carter (Patrick Magee) for help, another resident dies from the cold and a stone-faced Carter leads the others in exacting revenge. Carter and his group subdue the staff, then lock Rogers and Shane in separate rooms in the basement as they construct a small maze of narrow corridors between the two rooms. Rogers and Shane are starved, leading to the dog becoming ravenous.
 * Taken from Tales from the Crypt No. 46 (February–March 1955)

After two days, Rogers' door is unlocked and he must find his way through with the lights off. He yells out in pain as Carter turns the lights on, discovering one corridor is lined with razor blades. Rogers makes it past, but finds Shane being let out from the room in front of him. He flees back towards the razors, but Carter turns the lights off and Rogers is heard screaming as the hungry dog catches up with him.

Finale
After completing the final tale, the Crypt Keeper reveals that he was not warning them of what would happen, but telling them what has already happened: they have all "died without repentance". Clues to this twist can be spotted throughout the film, including Joanna wearing the brooch her husband had given her for Christmas just before she killed him. The door to Hell opens and Joanna, Carl, James, Ralph, and Major Rogers all enter. "And now, who's next?" asks the Crypt Keeper, turning to face the camera as he says "Perhaps...YOU?" The scene pulls away as the entrance to the Crypt Keeper's lair is in flames.

​Cast
Wraparounds: ...And All Through the House: Reflection of Death: Poetic Justice: Wish You Were Here: Blind Alleys:
 * Ralph Richardson – Crypt Keeper
 * Geoffrey Bayldon – Tour Guide
 * Joan Collins – Joanne Clayton
 * Martin Boddey – Richard Clayton
 * Chloe Franks – Carol Clayton
 * Oliver MacGreevy – Santa Suit Maniac
 * Robert Rietti – Radio Announcer (voice, uncredited)
 * Ian Hendry – Carl Maitland
 * Susan Denny – Mrs. Maitland
 * Angela Grant – Susan Blake
 * Peter Fraser – Motorist
 * Frank Forsyth – Tramp
 * Robin Phillips – James Elliot
 * David Markham – Edward Elliot
 * Peter Cushing – Arthur Edward Grimsdyke
 * Robert Hutton – Mr. Baker
 * Manning Wilson – Vicar
 * Clifford Earl – Police Sergeant
 * Edward Evans – Constable Ramsey
 * Irene Gawne – Mrs. Phelps
 * Stafford Medhurst – Mrs. Phelps' son
 * Richard Greene – Ralph Jason
 * Barbara Murray – Enid Jason
 * Roy Dotrice – Charles Gregory
 * Jane Sofiano – Secretary
 * Peter Thomas – Pallbearer
 * Hedger Wallace – Detective
 * Nigel Patrick – Major William Rogers
 * Patrick Magee – George Carter
 * George Herbert – Greenwood
 * Harry Locke – Harry the Cook
 * Tony Wall – Attendant
 * John Barrard – Blind Man (uncredited)

Production
Milton Subotsky of Amicus had long a fan of the comic book and eventually persuded his partner Max Roseberg to buy the rights. The over of the comic book William Gaines, insisted on script approval. The budget £170,000 was highter than usual for an Amicus production but was partly funded by American International Pictures. Peter Cushing was originally offered the part palyed to Rchard Greene but wanted to try something differente and played the elderly Grimsdyke instead. Filming started 13 September 1971 and finished in 1972.