Tales from the Crypt: Escape is set in England during 1945 as World War II dominates world events at Havenhurst P.O.W. Camp where German P.O.W. Lieutenant Luger (Martin Kemp) is sent after an escape attempt in which he informed on his own men in order to spend the rest of the war in a prison camp with privileges. However new Havenhurst commander Major Nicholson (Roy Dotrice) thinks Luger is a traitor & a coward only out for himself & goes back on the deal & places him back in the general population. It turns out that the German prisoners are actually planning an escape of their own & ask Luger to lead them but when one of the men he betrayed is brought to the camp hospital Luger realises his betrayal will be exposed to his fellow German P.O.W.s unless of course he can escape for real this time...
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 4 from season 7, directed by Peter MacDonald one has to say that the incredibly disappointing seventh season continues with this lacklustre story of a P.O.W. Camp escape. Imagine The Great Escape (1963) with a few added thriller style twist's, there's certainly zero horror here & I can't see why this was adapted for the series. The script was based on a story from 'The Vault of Horror' comic book although the main difference being the comic book story was set in a prison rather than a prisoner of war camp & was not war themed at all, I must say I found Escape rather predictable & far too straight forward. The meagre twist's that are here are forgettable & not that surprising with the ending being particularly poor. The basic premise of the escape plot & the hole the cowardly Luger finds himself in & how/if will get out of it keeps it just about watchable but since when did Tales from the Crypt ever settle for 'just watchable'? Another disappointing none horror episode in a frankly very poor final season. Also why do all the German P.O.W.s speak English all the time?
Set in what looks like some English Castle somewhere which doubles up as a P.O.W. camp this looks nice enough I suppose. Not being a horror themed episode there's no scares & apart from a slit throat no gore. Escape is the second Tales from the Crypt episode in a row after A Slight Case of Murder (1996) which used the very tired clichéd of having a supposedly dead character miraculously comes back to life although not once but twice. In Escape the Cryptkeeper is seen dressed as a Drill Sergeant in the army shouting at & insulting various soldiers. The acting varies, I am not too sure about some of the German accents here I'm really not. 80's pop group Spandau Ballet front-man turned actor Martin Kemp stars & does alright to be fair.
Escape is another thriller themed Tales from the Crypt episode that feels so far removed from the excellence of the first five or six seasons that at times I was wondering if I was watching the same series.
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 4 from season 7, directed by Peter MacDonald one has to say that the incredibly disappointing seventh season continues with this lacklustre story of a P.O.W. Camp escape. Imagine The Great Escape (1963) with a few added thriller style twist's, there's certainly zero horror here & I can't see why this was adapted for the series. The script was based on a story from 'The Vault of Horror' comic book although the main difference being the comic book story was set in a prison rather than a prisoner of war camp & was not war themed at all, I must say I found Escape rather predictable & far too straight forward. The meagre twist's that are here are forgettable & not that surprising with the ending being particularly poor. The basic premise of the escape plot & the hole the cowardly Luger finds himself in & how/if will get out of it keeps it just about watchable but since when did Tales from the Crypt ever settle for 'just watchable'? Another disappointing none horror episode in a frankly very poor final season. Also why do all the German P.O.W.s speak English all the time?
Set in what looks like some English Castle somewhere which doubles up as a P.O.W. camp this looks nice enough I suppose. Not being a horror themed episode there's no scares & apart from a slit throat no gore. Escape is the second Tales from the Crypt episode in a row after A Slight Case of Murder (1996) which used the very tired clichéd of having a supposedly dead character miraculously comes back to life although not once but twice. In Escape the Cryptkeeper is seen dressed as a Drill Sergeant in the army shouting at & insulting various soldiers. The acting varies, I am not too sure about some of the German accents here I'm really not. 80's pop group Spandau Ballet front-man turned actor Martin Kemp stars & does alright to be fair.
Escape is another thriller themed Tales from the Crypt episode that feels so far removed from the excellence of the first five or six seasons that at times I was wondering if I was watching the same series.
