This week in horror history, fans around the world were introduced to a few of the weirdest, and most iconic characters, to ever hit the screen: The Crypt Keeper, the Creature, and the king of shadowy gentlemen, Nosferatu.
The Freddie Francis-directed Tales from the Crypt is a classic - the best in horror anthologies. Based on the EC Comic franchise, the story kicks off with a group of people taking a tour of a crypt – as you do- who find themselves locked in a room with a strange man who turns out to be the Crypt Keeper come to tell the group how each of them has died. It has to be noted that this original Crypt Keeper is slightly less skeletal than the television we all know and love, but he's memorable in his monk-like ensemble, all the same. Each tales is well-crafted and fun to watch, the most memorable being ... And All Through the House, about an escapes serial killer, dressed as Santa, who stalks a housewife (Joan Crawford) who, in turn, has just finished murdering her husband. Like most Tales stories, each person’s death is some sort of punishment for transgressions in life.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon is the ageless story of beauty and the beast. An underwater dweller sees a lovely lady in a bathing suit and a misunderstood aquatic stalker is born.
Speaking of stalkers … Nosferatu wrote the book on creeping. F. W. Murnau set the bar for Dracula tales with his expressionist masterpiece starring Max Schreck as the count. Shadows elongate the already spindly and hunched Schreck creating the haunting and unforgettable image of the count climbing a staircase in search of his prey.
Title:Tales from the Crypt
Released: March 8, 1972
Title:Creature from the Black Lagoon
Released: March 5, 1954
Tagline: Centuries of passion pent up in his savage heart!
Title:Nosferatu
Released: March 4, 1922