Tales From The Crypt

Synopsis: Five persons are visiting a catacomb following a guide and get lost. They find that they are trapped in a crypt and, out of the blue, they see The Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson) that tells five stories: (1) And All through the House: On the Christmas Eve, Joanne Clayton kills her husband expecting to receive his insurance. She hears on the news that the police are seeking-out a serial-killer posing of Santa Claus. When the man knocks on her door, she can not call the police since the body of her husband lays on the living room, and Joanne locks windows and doors. When she looks for her daughter, she has a lethal surprise. (2) Reflection of Death: Carl Maitland leaves his wife and children and leaves town with his mistress. However something happens during their journey (3) Poetic Justice: The widower janitor Arthur Edward Grimsdyke is a good man that spends his leisure time with the children from the neighborhood. His heartless neighbor James Elliot does not like him and destroys his
Genre: Horror
Director(s): Freddie Francis
Production: Cinerama
 
IMDB:
7.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
88%
PG
Year:
1972
92 min
Website
1,377 Views


Stay as close as you can, please.

In the reign of Henry VIII...

when the monasteries

in England were dissolved...

and the occupants tortured...

beheaded in public

or murdered secretly...

some went into hiding

to worship as they pleased.

It is the decaying bodies and skeletons

of these religious martyrs...

that you will see on your tour.

These catacombs are dangerous.

And I must warn you

to stay with me...

and not lose your way.

Please keep close together.

- My brooch!

- Hmm?

I must have dropped it somewhere.

[Sighs]

Thank you.

Well, which way shall we go?

Well, it's a toss-up.

Let's try this way.

- Dead end.

- Sorry. Wrong guess.

[Banging]

[Door Scraping Ground]

Well, there's no way out of here.

Let's go back.

[Door Scraping Ground]

There's no way out there.

- Who are you?

- Where did you come from?

All in good time.

Look, how do we

get out of here?

- All in good time.

- I'm in a hurry!

It can wait.

- It really can't wait. I have an appointment.

- Sit.

All of you.

Please sit down.

Sit down.

I assure you,

I have a purpose.

What purpose?

Why did you come in here?

I don't know.

I was just driving by and...

something made me.

And what are your plans

when you leave here?

Plans?

Plans.

//[Choir Singing]

"ToJoanne.

The best wife in the world.

Love from Richard."

And a big kiss.

//[Choir Continues]

- [Thudding]

- [Grunting]

//[Choir Continues]

Merry Christmas.

//[Choir Continues]

//[Ends]

[Girl]

Mummy! Mummy!

Just a minute, darling.

Mummy will be right up.

//[Choir Resumes Singing

On Radio]

- Mummy!

- I'm coming, Carol!

- Carol, darling, what's the matter?

- Did Santa come yet?

No, darling, not yet.

You be a good girl and go on to sleep.

- Can I see him when he comes?

- We'll see.

Now you be a good girl and go to sleep.

Otherwise, Santa won't come.

- What's this?

- Nothing. Just a Christmas card from Daddy.

- All right? Good night.

- Good night, Mummy.

- Night, Daddy!

- [Door Closes]

//[Choir Continues Singing]

[Man On Radio] We interrupt

this program for a special announcement.

A man described

as a homicidal maniac...

has escaped from the hospital

for the criminally insane.

He is 6 foot 3 inches tall...

210 pounds,

dark eyes, bald...

and may be wearing

a Santa Claus costume...

taken from a shop

in Burley.

All residents of the county are warned

to be on the lookout for this man...

and to phone the police

if they see him.

We now continue our program

of carols for Christmas eve.

//[Organ]

//[Choir Singing]

[Bell Jingling]

[Knocking]

[Doorknob Rattling]

//[Choir Continues]

- [Grunting]

- [Screams]

//[Choir Continues]

//[Ends]

## [Organ]

[Footsteps]

//[Choir Singing]

Blood.

//[Choir Continues]

//[Ends]

//[Choir Singing]

[Footsteps]

//[Choir Continues]

[Gasps]

Carol.

Carol!

Carol! Carol.

Carol, where are you?

Carol. Carol!

Oh, no.

[Gasps]

[BellJingling]

He's here, Mummy!

I let him in. It's Santa!

[Gasps]

[Screams]

[Screaming]

[Wood Poker Clatters]

Nonsense.

I have no inten-

Hadn't you?

And you?

I'm on my way home

to see my wife and children.

- And then?

- Hmm?

And then?

And then?

//[Easy Listening]

- Well, I'm all set.

- Must you go tonight, Carl?

Can't you leave it

till the morning?

No, I'm afraid I can't.

My appointment's in the morning.

I'll have to drive all night to make it.

When will you be back?

I, uh- I don't know.

We'll have to see how it works out.

I'll, um- I'll phone you.

Did you say good night

to the kids?

No. I was just going to.

Good night, Daddy.

Good-bye, darling.

Don't forget to ring me

when you get there.

I will. Good-bye, darling.

- Bye. Drive carefully.

- Yes, right.

[Sets Parking Brake]

The removal men came this morning.

Yeah, well, so I see.

- It should all be there by the time we get there.

- Yeah.

- A shame to give up a nice flat like this.

- Yes, I know that, darling.

But we've both had to give up

quite a bit, haven't we?

I love you, Susan.

You know that, don't you?

Yes, of course I do.

You meet someone,

and suddenly that's it.

I kissed my kids tonight

and- and-

Oh, for hell's sake! I mean, it will

be worth it, won't it, for both of us?

Of course it will.

You are tired.

Let me drive.

Yeah, okay.

No. No.

No. No!

No.

No. No!

I'm sorry. Bad dream.

[Horn Honking]

- Look out!

- [Tires Screeching]

[Screaming]

[Loud Crashing]

[Shuddering]

Susan.

Susan, where are you?

[Gasping]

[Screaming]

You crazy fool!

Do you want to get yourself kill-

[Panting]

[Footsteps Approaching]

- Darling.

- [Screams]

[Gasping]

[Gasps]

[Woman Sobbing]

What's the matter then?

Look.

- Well, pull yourself together. What's the matter?

- [Sobbing]

Come on now.

[Doorbell Buzzing]

- Yes?

- Susan!

- Who is it?

- It's me, Carl.

Carl?

Carl- It can't be.

"Can't be"?

What do you mean?

Carl was-

Where have you been?

Please go away.

Look, I've been worried

out of my mind.

What's happened?

The furniture.

I don't understand.

How'd it-

I brought it back

after the crash.

- Huh?

- And I was blinded.

Blinded?

And Carl was killed.

Killed?

Two years ago.

[Screaming]

I'm sorry. Bad dream.

[Horn Honking]

- Look out!

- [Tires Screeching]

[Screaming]

[Loud Crashing]

So that is why

you were in a hurry?

- To leave your wife and children?

- What do you mean?

How do you-

Who are you?

I assure you,

I have a purpose.

- What sort of game are you playing?

- Game?

You're trying to

frighten us in some way.

What do you want?

To show you something.

Something in your own mind.

Something you are capable

of doing.

I don't wanna know.

Oh, but you must know.

You must.

[Children Chattering, Laughing]

[Chattering, Laughter Continue]

Thank you.

- We knew it was you.

- You knew it was me?

Dear old Punch though,

he's very nice, isn't he?

Ah, I know some of you

have to get home rather soon.

So there's your little present,

my dear. There.

- Thank you, Mr. Grimsdyke.

- That's all right.

Now shall I tell you something?

My wife's name was Helen. Mary Helen Grimsdyke.

I always called her Helen.

It's a nice name, isn't it? Yeah.

- Bye-bye then.

- Come on, Mark. Come on, Julie.

Come and sit here.

Bye-bye, Mark. Bye-bye, Julie.

- [Barking]

- Bye.

Bye.

Two little dickey birds

sitting on a wall.

One named Peter.

One named Paul.

Fly away, Peter.

Fly away, Paul.

Come back, Peter.

Come back, Paul.

That's it. [Laughs]

You think you could do that?

[Chattering]

What are you looking at?

Grimsdyke, of course.

His usual shell out

to the kids.

He does it every year

on his birthday.

- I don't know how you stand it.

- Stand what?

Living across the road

from that man.

He's a rubbish collector.

A dustman.

His place is an eyesore.

The toys he give those kids he finds

in the rubbish heap and repairs.

- Why doesn't he sell out?

- I've made him offers.

He's- He's sentimental

about that old dump.

Says he and his wife lived there

for their whole married life.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Milton Subotsky

Milton Subotsky (September 27, 1921 – June 27, 1991) was an American film and television writer and producer. In 1964, he founded Amicus Productions with Max J. Rosenberg. Amicus means "friendship" in Latin. Together, they produced a number of low-budget science fiction and horror films in the United Kingdom. more…

All Milton Subotsky scripts | Milton Subotsky Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Tales From The Crypt" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/tales_from_the_crypt_19347>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Tales From The Crypt

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    What is a "treatment" in screenwriting?
    A The first draft of the screenplay
    B A detailed summary of the screenplay
    C The character biographies
    D The final cut of the film