Monday, September 10, 2012

Episode 2: And All Through the House

Episode 2: And All Through the House
Original Airdate: June 10, 1989
Written By: Fred Dekker
Directed By: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Mary Ellen Trainor, Larry Drake, Marshall Bell

Is there any time of year quite like the holidays? Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, your wife murdering you with an fire poker. It really gets you all warm and toasty, doesn't it? 

The second episode of Tales from the Crypt is easily one of the most iconic, and not just because of the all-star team putting it together. Truth of the matter is, "And All Through the House" is a wonderful tale of struggle, revenge, murder, and ironic betrayal. As expected, the story starts with a husband and wife solving their marriage troubles in a most peculiar fashion: the wife Elizabeth (Marry Ellen Trainor) murders her husband Joseph (Marshall Bell) with a swift swing from a fire poker to the brain.

"What are you, deaf? I said let me have it!" -Joseph

Why waste time, mincing words when you can jump straight into the action? Truth of the matter is that Elizabeth murdering Joseph is part of a more elaborate plan to collect on his money with her affair. More on that later. As Elizabeth removes the fire poker, her daughter Carrie prances downstairs and precociously asks what is going on? Elizabeth disguises the poker and the murder, tucks Carrie back into her bed, and smugly makes her way back downstairs. 

In a warm, well-lit cabin during a fantastic snow storm in what is, seemingly, the middle of nowhere, Elizabeth calls her lover and informs him of Joseph's predicament whilst holding his Last Will and Testament. Quickly and not-so-quietly, Elizabeth drags Joseph's body out into the freezing cold and dumps it into a nearby well. But of course, there is a twist coming in the form of an escaped mental patient (Larry Drake) from the Pleasantville Mental Institution just up the road. And to make it even better, he's wearing a Santa Claus costume he stole after murdering a different victim. 

"How about a nice, cold plunge, Joseph?" -Elizabeth

"And All Through the House" may have been the second episode in the Tales production run, but it was actually the pilot for the entire series. In 1972, Amicus Productions out of Great Britain tackled the story as part of its Tales from the Crypt feature length film. It had grown, over the years, to be one of the most identifiable stories of terror that EC Comics ever published. When the producers approached HBO with their new proposal for Tales, it would be Robert Zemeckis who would take the helm for this episode. 

Zemeckis loved the idea from start to finish and had fellow horror fiend Fred Dekker pen the screenplay for an episode that would set the tone for the kind of raw chills and thrills Tales from the Crypt could provide viewers. And they did it well. Even actress Mary Ellen Trainor was on top of her game, unleashing dozens of blood-curdling screams while Larry Drake chases her around as a giggling, axe-wielding psychopath. 

While many EC stories published were known as "preachies," in which characters would do something immoral and eventually meet their maker in a most fitting or ironic fashion, "And All Through the House" took the route of pure horror with a whimsical romp into desperation. Elizabeth's battle towards happiness is filled with bumps, bruises, cuts, at least one or more near-misses. She's the good guy in a story that, in all honest, has no good guys to cheer for. 

It isn't necessarily prophetic that Elizabeth's murder of her husband is sloppy, nor is the paper trail she's leaving by calling her lover or even attempting to fight off the crazed Santa. It is simply the tale of what is awfully likely to be her last moments of sanity on the planet.
"Operator, operator get me the police! You've got to help me! You've got to help me! He's here...my location is..." -Elizabeth
Elizabeth's attempts to call the police about the maniac attacking her are not met with deaf ears. Quite the contrary, in fact, as the authorities begin to contact her after she doesn't respond to her initial call. In between various attempts to break into the cabin from the evil Santa Claus, Elizabeth continues to receive phone calls and finally cracks. She answers to the call of Sgt. Feldstein (A nod to famed EC Comics producer Al Feldstein) who alerts her that the police are on the way inspect the area. 

Only problem is, in case you forgot, Elizabeth murdered Joseph and his dead body remains on the front lawn whilst the insane lunatic roams free round the house. As Elizabeth quickly formulates a plan for how to frame the escapee with the death of her husband, she completely forgets about her daughter Carrie's constant cries to see Santa this very evening. What started as a struggle for her own survival has now turned into a rampage towards protection as Elizabeth foolishly locks herself out of her home and scrambles towards Carrie's window in hopes that the madman hasn't gotten to her. 
"Oh no, officer. I didn't kill him. Santa did it!" -Elizabeth 

Her mad panic towards self-defense, a gun left in the closet, sees two of her greatest fears realized. Not only does she manage to lock herself in the closet, but she watches anxiously as her awakened daughter Carrie invites "Santa" into her bedroom. The juvenile glee Carrie takes in inviting him in seems to completely disregard the scars on his face or the axe in his hands. All she sees is Santa, and the embodiment of happiness for the holidays. 

When Elizabeth breaks free, she dashes to her daughter's room only to find...nothing. A momentary calm is overwhelmed by widespread terror when Carrie presents Santa at the bottom of the staircase, holding his hand with a smile oblivious to the fate her mother is about to sustain. 

"And he didn't even have to come down the chimney. I let him in!" -Carrie

Parallels to the EC Source Material: 
"And All Through the House" was originally published in the EC Comics release The Vault of Horror #35 (24th issue overall). The story is adapted almost scene for scene to the television series, with Joseph's death and a great deal of the paranoia Elizabeth feels explored during the story. In fact, the frantic pace at which Elizabeth (who has no name during the comic version) attempts to protect her home and her daughter leaves her with less options for Joseph than the TV story had done. 

In fact, we don't even see the psycho-Santa until the final few panels of the story, wherein it becomes painfully obvious as to the destiny of Elizabeth in the story. William M. Gaines, the creator and original publisher of EC's line of horror comics, served as an on-set adviser during the television production of this episode. At Gaines' request, Zemeckis finished the episode with actress Mary Ellen Trainor screaming repeatedly into the dark of the night.

Parallels to the 1972 Amicus Film:
The story presented in Tales from the Crypt (1972) is, again, almost identical in every way to the original comic book and the 1989 HBO episode. Differences, though miniscule, include the lead character's name being Joanne and her fate being death by strangulation from the deranged Santa Claus. It would be the only of the three endings that conclusively killed off the lead character.

Horror Alumni Roll Call: 
-Mary Ellen Trainor (Elizabeth) played various moms in both television and film throughout the decades, taking on roles in various pictures directed by Robert Zemeckis himself. She had a small role in the minor, black-horror/comedy Death Becomes Her, as well as the horror/comedy The Monster Squad, written and directed by Fred Dekker.

-Larry Drake (Santa Claus) was a character actor for most of his career before switching to voice acting in his more recent roles. Drake played Robert G. Durant in Sam Raimi's Darkman franchise and even dabbled in science fiction in episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and The Outer Limits (1995). He even appeared in a second Tales from the Crypt episode titled "The Secret."

-Marshall Bell (Joseph) is known for his roles in science fiction cult classics Starship Troopers and Total Recall (1990). Bell, probably the most accomplished actor in this list, also appeared in another Tales episode, "Forever Ambergris," in 1993 and was Coach Schneider during A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

-Lindsey Whitney Barry (Carrie) only ever acted in two other films, one of which was Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future Part II as one of the hoverboard girls during Marty McFly's Cafe 80's escape.

-Robert Zemeckis (Director) has long made a living off of the horror and science fiction genres. Aside from directing the Back to the Future trilogy, Zemeckis directed two other Tales episodes, "Yellow" and "You, Murderer." He directed the thriller What Lies Beneath and served as executive producer on Peter Jackson's The Frighteners, which was written initially to be a Tales from the Crypt episode. He also wrote the original story for the second Tales movie, Bordello of Blood. Zemeckis is also a co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment, where he served as a producer for such films as House on Haunted Hill (1999), Thir13en Ghosts, Ghost Ship, House of Wax (2005), and The Reaping.

-Fred Dekker (Writer) is a horror movie icon thanks to B-Movie classics The Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps, both of which he wrote and directed. Dekker was always more of a writer than a director, taking on screenplays on four other Tales from the Crypt episodes as well as producing credits for consultation on Star Trek: Enterprise.

Number of puns delivered by the Cryptkeeper: 5 (including a terrible starter about being Santa, and a conclusion involving the word "axe.")

In Summation: What more can be said about a pitch-perfect pilot for a budding young television series? There are reasons, only so obvious and only so many, as to why the source material underwent sparse revisions for it's numerous adaptations. "And All Through the House" is chilling, riveting programming that combines elements of drama and suspense with all-out psychological horror. To an adult, the idea of an raving lunatic is enough to have you shaking in your boots, but dress him up like Santa Claus, and a child's eyes see no transparency. A child see her murdered stepfather and thinks he's sleeping. A child sees her mother struggling and thinks it's all a game. And a child sees Santa Claus approaching the door and lets him in, with or without a bloody axe in hand. 

-Benjamin M. Benya

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