Tales from the Crypt: Top Billing starts as down on his luck failed actor Barry Blye (Jon Lovitz) is yet again refused work because of the way he looks, if that wasn't bad enough his wife Lisa (Kimmy Robertson) leaves him & he is evicted from his apartment. Taunted by just about everyone including his good looking acting rival Winton Robbins (Bruce Boxleitner) who gets all the good jobs Barry decides to audition for Hamlet at a local rundown theatre, to prove the point that looks not talent matters Winton also auditions & is given the part straight away by an eccentric director named Nelson Halliwell (John Astin). As the count down to the opening performance draws near a bitter Barry wants to prove his point...
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 5 from season 3, directed by Todd Holland this is another top episode as season 3 improves from a slow start. The script by Miles Berkowitz was based on a story from the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & makes for a fantastic twisted piece of entertainment, the build up is great, it moves along at a nice pace & ends in a terrific twist ending that I genuinely didn't see coming & there's even a bit of Shakespeare in here which the twist ending revolves around to give this story an unexpected touch of class! This is a proper horror themed episode just the way Tales from the Crypt should be & just when I thought it was going to end up as a morality tale about superficial looks vs. talent it completely ditches that theme in favour of a morbid & memorable twist, great stuff from start to finish & the Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) gets to wear a smart suit during his segments complete with the usual puns & jokes.
This episode looks as good as usual & is well made with some good gore at the end including some dead bodies, a ripped out skull & someones sliced off face. This has a good cast including Boxleitner & the alway watchable Astin who has a painted on moustache which becomes a bit distracting when he's on screen.
Top Billing is a great tale from the crypt story, it's certainly one of the highlights of season 3 & a top episode in it's own right, well worth a watch.
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 5 from season 3, directed by Todd Holland this is another top episode as season 3 improves from a slow start. The script by Miles Berkowitz was based on a story from the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & makes for a fantastic twisted piece of entertainment, the build up is great, it moves along at a nice pace & ends in a terrific twist ending that I genuinely didn't see coming & there's even a bit of Shakespeare in here which the twist ending revolves around to give this story an unexpected touch of class! This is a proper horror themed episode just the way Tales from the Crypt should be & just when I thought it was going to end up as a morality tale about superficial looks vs. talent it completely ditches that theme in favour of a morbid & memorable twist, great stuff from start to finish & the Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) gets to wear a smart suit during his segments complete with the usual puns & jokes.
This episode looks as good as usual & is well made with some good gore at the end including some dead bodies, a ripped out skull & someones sliced off face. This has a good cast including Boxleitner & the alway watchable Astin who has a painted on moustache which becomes a bit distracting when he's on screen.
Top Billing is a great tale from the crypt story, it's certainly one of the highlights of season 3 & a top episode in it's own right, well worth a watch.