User Reviews

Okay, I've been watching one episode after another from this series for the past few weeks and I've been mostly keeping quiet about its generally steady stream of watchable mediocrity (with a few exceptions for the better, and a few for the worse), but this time I felt compelled to speak out, because the story of "The Swap" is particularly poorly thought-out: why would the body of the "young stud" handyman begin to develop the calluses and other deformities of the old man's body, if what the old man had accomplished was getting his spirit inside a young body? Can the screenwriter even tell the difference between mind and body? It's bad enough that the entire plot is obvious from the first 5 minutes. This episode is (barely) worth watching only for the sexy Maria Manuche - a pity this was her only screen credit ever! *1/2 out of 4.

Tales from the Darkside: The Swap is set in a Louisiana swamp town where the rich, old & ugly wart covered Bubba (Charles Ludlam) lives with his attractive young wife Annabelle. Annabelle married Bubba for his money & is having an affair with the handyman Claude (James Wlcek) until Bubba dies & she can inherit his millions. However Bubba isn't keen on dying & experiments with Voodoo in order to swap bodies. Annabelle & Claude devise a plan to make Bubba's death a lot more premature then Bubba would like but their plan doesn't turn out as they had hoped...

Episode 20 from season 3 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during March 1987, directed by John Drury one has to say The Swap is one of the most predictable & routine Tales from the Darkside episodes from it's entire four season run. The script by Dick Benner feels like an EC horror comic with it's Luisiana swamp setting, the Voodoo aspect & the plot revolving around cheating lovers who get their comeuppance in a rather predictable ending that finishes the episode on a satisfactory if uninspiring note. At only twenty minutes in length it's short & it passes the time harmlessly enough but it really does feel very routine & it's nothing that horror anthology show's haven't done to death before.

This one looks quite nice with decent production values although not that much really happens. The acting is alright, Charles Ludlam apparently died two months after The Swap originally aired from AIDS.

The Swap is a watchable enough Tales from the Darkside episode, it's not the worst one but it's not the most memorable one either. It felt very familiar to me like I had seen it all before which I had.

Devious Bubba (a lecherous Charles Ludlam), living in wealth in the Louisiana swamp thanks to oil found (it seems through the use of black magic), is married to smokin' blond stunner, Anna Belle (Marie Manuche; every bit the trophy wife). Anna and hired hand, Claude (young stud James Wlcek), are having an affair; they aren't exactly hiding it as Bubba (and even his judge pal) finds them going at it (or in various stages of embrace) in parts of the house! While Bubba demands that Anna continues to have "sexual relations" with him and expects her not to run off with someone else, as stated by the will, she and Claude plot to use a book of poisons to get rid of their nuisance once and for all. The two provisions are met but in a concealed plot to use a poison and make it seem like death accidental (not murder), the money all goes to Anna. What Anna and Claude don't realize is that Bubba has been concocting a "transference potion" in the hopes of "swapping bodies". Ludlam has a grand ole time as the black-soul Mr. Moneybags Voodoo Practitioner, with some type of grotesque skin malady (leprosy?), while Manuche looks delish in her body-revealing dresses. Wlcek is man candy for Anna, but he's portrayed simply as a muscled lug Bubba plans to use for his body when the swapping potion is perfected. The twist is that other traits of Bubba also transfer…the hideous taints the physique and Anna is still screwed over. This episode doesn't have a single character without some type of angle they are working, so Bubba really isn't any worse than Anna or Claude. They have sex under his roof and discuss the possibility of enjoying his wealth once he kicks the bucket…they're not exactly patron saints. So the twist doesn't necessarily happen to an unworthy victim. The makeup work on Ludlam is appropriately ghastly…reflecting just how ugly Bubba is on the inside as well is what the twist reveals. Wlcek went on to star on Walker, Texas Ranger. This is more on the dark comedy side, but it features mere caricatures using Nawlins accents, acting underhanded and always plotting against each other. Not a nice bunch of folks we spend time with here.

Old and ugly rich guy Bubba (well played with lip-smacking gusto by Charles Ludham) uses voodoo in order to turn the tables on his attractive, but adulterous wife Anna Belle (a pleasingly tart portrayal by the fetching Maria Manuche) and her hunky handyman lover Claude (a solid performance by the handsome James Wlcek) after he finds out that they are planning to kill him for his money. Director John Drury, working from a tangy script by Richard Benner, relates the enjoyable story at a snappy pace and does a sturdy job of evoking a flavorsome downhome Southern atmosphere. The fairly edgy subject matter provides an extra racy kick while the ending serves up a highly satisfying piece of poetic justice on the two-timing Anna Belle. All three leads do sound and commendable work in their roles, with deliciously oily support from Timothy Jenkins as the smarmy Judge Jean Baptiste. A fun show.