Rising From the Crypt: Dead Right
Ladies and Gentlemen, Gravediggers and Undertakers, we are back for season 2 of Tales From the Crypt. With the whimper that was the season 1 finale, here’s hoping this season starts off with a scream.
Tales from the Crypt
Season 2 Episode 1 “Dead Right”
Directed by Howard Deutch
Starring Demi Moore, Jeffrey Tambor, and Natalia Nogulich
Originally aired: April 21st 1990
Sourced from: Shock SuspenStories #6
Demi Moore stars as Cathy, a wannabe gold digger secretary who’s fed up with her job and her boss. One day for lunch, she goes to see a psychic hoping to find a way out of her dead end job and life. The psychic tells her that she will meet her future husband soon, and while he’s not currently wealthy, he’ll inherit a large amount of money shortly before his death. She later meets Charlie (Jeffrey Tambor) a massively overweight slob who frequents the strip club Cathy just started working at. He mentions his rich uncle, and Cathy pieces together that he’s man the psychic was speaking of. Even though Charlie disgusted her, Cathy marries him in hopes that the inheritance and his subsequent death are soon to follow.
As someone who doesn’t believe in a romantic life, or even love, marriage is especially difficult for Cathy. Charlie, on the other hand, relishes the life style. Cathy waits out her days playing the dutiful wife, counting away the time it takes for Charlie to inherit the fortune.
When Charlie receives the sad news that his rich uncle passed away, Cathy was ecstatic for the coming windfall of cash. However, she’s crushed to learn that Charlie’s uncle had family who will inherit the money instead.
Then in an unforeseen turn of events, Cathy wins a million dollars for being the millionth costumer at a store. Thinking the psychic screwed up, Cathy returns home to pack her things and leave Charlie. During her attempt to leave her old life behind, Charlie proclaims that ‘if he can’t have her, no one can.’ And proceeds to stab her repeatedly in the chest, although only one wound is ever shown.
Charlie did in fact inherit Cathy’s fortune, and then he was quickly executed for her murder, just as the psychic predicted all along.
On to the rating…
Jeffry Tambor has long been an underrated character actor, and this episode was a great showing of that. He’s dressed in a ridiculous fat suit, and the result is equal parts charm and disgust, that make it hard to know how to feel toward the guy. This pays off big time at the end when the ‘innocent’ Charlie kills Cathy.
For her part, Demi Moore played the role as expected and needed. This episode and the previous season paint an interesting picture of the ‘independent’ woman of the early 90’s. Very much different than what we would see today.
Overall the episode was an enjoyable one with some solid acting. It was an interesting twist to see how the psychic’s prediction would come true, especially after learning that Charlie wouldn’t get his uncle’s fortune.
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