WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:47.039 Will you wait, miss. 2 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.719 Merry Christmas Midnight viewers, and welcome to our Christmas clip 3 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:25.159 show spectacular. We've covered a lot of anthology series over 4 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:27.280 the years, and odds are you're going to get some 5 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:31.040 holiday themed episodes in there. For this particular holiday. We've 6 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:34.400 gone back through our archives and strung together all the 7 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:37.719 various segments pertaining to the Fat Man in the Red Suit. 8 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.799 God bless us everyone. Now, I said, we've gone back 9 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:45.840 through the archives, which means in the earliest segments you're 10 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:48.879 going to hear evolution at work. We've been at this 11 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:51.159 for some time, so I hope you don't shudder at 12 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:54.159 the quality as much as I did upon re listening. 13 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:56.760 I think I'm calling in over the phone on a 14 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:01.120 few episodes. It's not spectacular, but it gets better. So 15 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:02.599 what we have on tap for you today, all you 16 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.760 major dwelling creeps, are a segment from Tales from the Crypt, 17 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.599 the television series that's and All through the House from 18 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:12.400 the pilot. Then we have and All through the House 19 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:15.840 from the Amicus anthology from from the nineteen seventies that's 20 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.680 also called Tales from the Crypt. Next up is a 21 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:23.120 Rod Serling special from his series Night Gallery, we spent 22 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.159 some time with the Messiah on Mott Street, and finally 23 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:30.800 we've got an entire themed episode from Twilight Zone eighty five. 24 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:34.680 Those segments are Night of the Meek, but can She Type? 25 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:39.879 And the Star from Everyone Here at Midnight viewing Mike White, 26 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:45.840 Chris Statue, HP Antonio Lapour, Ripley, Jane, Jasmine Williams and 27 00:02:45.960 --> 00:03:35.240 myself have a wonderful holiday and a matchit crazy New Year, he. 28 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:40.919 Kitties chest, your old pal the clip Keeper having a 29 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:44.520 little holiday fun. Why else would I be in this 30 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:48.000 get up unless there was a clause. 31 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:49.759 In my contract. 32 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:51.840 In fact, I. 33 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:57.479 Got some Christmas goose for you, goose bumps, that is, yes, indeed, 34 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:02.680 a little terror tale full of holiday fear. I mean 35 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:07.800 dear of course, so good againder of a your tidio. 36 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:11.960 Beyond that goes a little Sunday like, Yes, it was 37 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:16.639 the night before Christmas, and all through the house. 38 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.680 All right, and now we're going to talk about and 39 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.839 all through the house. The episode aired June tenth, nineteen 40 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:26.040 eighty nine, the same evening as The Man who Was Deaf. 41 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.879 It's directed by Robert Zamechis. Yes that Robert Zamechis. He 42 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:33.240 actually helped produce the show as well. It's written by 43 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:37.680 Fred Decker, who also wrote Predator. It stars Mary Ellen 44 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:41.040 Traynor and Larry Drake, along with Marshall Bell pulling his 45 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:44.879 best weekend at Bernie's impersonation, and the synopsis for the 46 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:47.639 episode is a greedy woman makes a mistake of murdering 47 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.839 her husband while an escaped mental patient dressed in a 48 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:54.079 Santa outfit is on the loose. Mike, what did you 49 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:55.040 think of this episode? 50 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.600 This is another one I really enjoy. This is actually 51 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:01.920 one of my favorite comics. And they had adapted this 52 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:05.759 previously when they made the film Tales from the Crypt 53 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:09.800 back in the early seventies. That particular one star Joan Collins. 54 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:15.120 This one is hard to beat story wise. I mean, 55 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:18.720 if you want to talk about manuse, death is kind 56 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.360 of an anomaly in the Tales from the Crypt sort 57 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:26.240 of ec universe. This is pretty much what you would 58 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:29.639 expect from any one of the any one of them. 59 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:36.000 We have a deplorable character who does get their come up, 60 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.959 and at the end it's an interesting setting and then 61 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.920 it's a Christmas time and you effectively have Santa Claus 62 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.759 attempting to kill your lead character. It is pretty fantastically 63 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:52.480 directed by Samachis, and I really like it a lot. 64 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.680 I think it's up there. I do think it suffers 65 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.759 a bit from the lead performance by mary Ellen Trainor, 66 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:02.399 who is who is good in small roles. Watching her 67 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.879 try and lead this for the entire episode is a 68 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:07.639 bit of a stacked deck. I know we're not talking 69 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:10.759 about the original movie that I mentioned yet, but there's 70 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:14.199 something that in the comic and in the original one 71 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:16.920 that they did very well, which is they made the 72 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:20.439 she effectively kills her husband in order to get the 73 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:25.120 insurance money. And in the original film they made him 74 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:28.360 the sweetest man on earth. In this one they have 75 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.920 turned him into a in two lines of dialogue, a 76 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.360 total prick where you kind of like concide with her. 77 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.000 They kind of stacked the deck in her favor. Other 78 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:39.879 than those things, those two things that I have against 79 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.959 the episode, I think it's really good. And I think 80 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.360 Larry Drake as these stranged man dressed in a Santa 81 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:48.279 Claus outfit is a really scary. 82 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:52.079 I like parts of this episode, but I think overall, 83 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.120 mary Ellen Trainer falls really flat. I think her scream 84 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:59.240 queen thing that she's going for doesn't work very well. 85 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:02.680 Yeah, I'm yeah, No, I'm with you. I mean, I 86 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:06.000 I think I just made that point, like she's she's 87 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.240 she's not great, Like she doesn't really she doesn't engender 88 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:12.839 this kind of sympathy that you got from William Sadler, 89 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.279 who is also doing horrible things. Like, uh, she's so 90 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:20.040 shrill in the role that I'm kind of waiting for 91 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:23.120 Santa to kill her, and that's not something you want. 92 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.120 Like you can have an anti hero who does horrible 93 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:27.360 things and as long as they're a bit charming, you 94 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:29.759 know you'll go with them and you know, follow them 95 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:33.839 to the end. Not only is her performance like really shrill, 96 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:38.279 but her character as written is a dummy. She kills 97 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.360 her husband and then the first thing she does is 98 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.199 get the will and Testament and then call her lover 99 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:49.399 and spill that she killed him onto his answering machine. 100 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:54.040 In an affectation that is so hokey it's it's beyond hoki. 101 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:56.839 Yeah, I mean it is exposition as dialogue, which is 102 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:01.759 the number one crime in in films, like don't have 103 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:04.279 the character tell us what they're doing, Let's see what 104 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.240 they're doing, and like completely superfluous. We didn't need it 105 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:10.879 at all. Like if she's just killing this guy and 106 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:13.079 then we see her with the will, yeah, we know 107 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:13.800 what's going on. 108 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:14.759 Don't do that. 109 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.720 And it should be noted that the guy that she's 110 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:21.439 calling is answering the machine message I think is something 111 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:25.199 to the effect of leave me your name, number and measurements. 112 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:28.439 Like okay, so she's leaving. She's killing this guy to 113 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:32.080 get the money to go with. Obviously a douchebag, and 114 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:34.519 she's doing it in the stupidest way possible. 115 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:38.720 But he's the nick monster. That's what the that's right, Yeah, 116 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:42.080 it's yeah. So the thing is with this episode, there 117 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:44.159 seems to be a bit of a disconnect in my 118 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:49.159 mind between why she's doing what she's doing and the 119 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:52.159 rest of the episode, like I didn't need I don't 120 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:56.080 know the jex'aposition with her killing Marshall Bell and then 121 00:08:56.279 --> 00:09:00.000 the killer Santa played by Larry Drake coming around the house. 122 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.960 There's like a disconnect in a way that the comic 123 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:05.480 plays up way better, because in the comics she's like 124 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.480 dragging the body around in the house trying to figure 125 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.879 out what she's gonna do with it. In the episode, 126 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:13.840 she like drags him outside and then he somehow survives 127 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:17.519 having an ice pick or a fireplace poker driven through 128 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:18.000 his skull. 129 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:20.320 Well. I kind of like that, Shaka. I like that 130 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:22.679 in that one moment that you know, I mean, you know, 131 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:25.080 you talk about brain injuries. Who knows that the person's 132 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:28.279 actually dead, They might not be. That was fine as 133 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:30.879 far as I'm concerned. Her plan to throw him into 134 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:34.399 the well, however, negates her plan of him being dead 135 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.519 and her collecting the money because he was just a 136 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.039 missing person. It's gonna take like a year or two 137 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:42.600 for her to collect, like in the comic and again 138 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:47.039 in the sort of Joan Collins original film. She's got 139 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:49.200 a plan and she's affecting it. In fact, in the 140 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.399 Joan Collins once she takes his body and just throws 141 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.759 it down the basement stairs, like that's what happened. He 142 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:56.200 fell down a flight of stairs. This one. You know, 143 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:58.600 did she have a plan? I don't know, and she 144 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:01.480 goes about it in like a really lame way. I 145 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:07.200 will say, however, yes, these are problems. Nevertheless, once Santa 146 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:10.440 shows up and is menacing her, I think it works 147 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:13.799 really good as like a nice sort of a snowy 148 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:15.600 cat and Mouse episode. 149 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:17.960 Yeah, so that's that's my thing. Like I said, parts 150 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:19.679 of the episode don't work, but parts of it do. 151 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:22.399 I really like, Like you said, Larry Drake is great, 152 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:25.120 but the way that they did it in the comic, 153 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:28.240 I actually liked it a little bit more than in 154 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.759 the episode. For in certain respects, I like what Larry 155 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.639 Drake did with his serial killer Santa. But in the 156 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:37.799 comic you've got this dread of her just looking outside 157 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.519 and seeing him. Yeah, and then you see him right 158 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:43.720 at the end. The final panel is the final shot 159 00:10:43.720 --> 00:10:47.000 of the episode. They're minuted, and I think that would 160 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:48.879 have worked better in some respects. I mean, I get 161 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:52.360 why they didn't do it, because showing is better than telling. 162 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:55.360 And they needed twenty two minutes. Like the comic is like, 163 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.440 you know, it's snapped your fingers and it's gone kind 164 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.279 of a thing where there's not too much meat to it. 165 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:03.080 So I mean they had to add in these other 166 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:06.519 little beats and stuff like you know, which she has 167 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:08.639 to like go get the gun which she can't really reach, 168 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:10.960 and she accidentally locks herself in the in the in 169 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.200 the closet or like when she's outside, And I actually 170 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:15.879 really like this beat where she has the keys to 171 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:17.919 the house and she drops them onto the stairs and 172 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:19.840 it falls into the snow, and then she discovers that 173 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:22.639 there's actually a knothole underneath the snow and it's fallen 174 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:24.360 all the way through and she can no longer retrieve 175 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:27.320 those like those little moments that that I think work 176 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.039 ultimately it is. I like it. I think it's a 177 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:30.679 good episode. 178 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:31.879 I think I. 179 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:36.399 Appreciate what's going on, even though some of the major 180 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:37.559 elements are flawed. 181 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:40.600 And what I guess the biggest disappointment for me is 182 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:44.639 is you've got Robert Zemeckis who's directing, Fred Decker who's writing, 183 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:47.559 and this episode isn't like a superstand now, It's not 184 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:48.759 like The Man Who Was Dead. 185 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:52.360 They rely a little too much on the setting and 186 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.480 the twist of it. I'll definitely give you that. Lately, 187 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:57.399 there have been a lot of like Christmas horror movies, 188 00:11:57.480 --> 00:12:00.519 you know, other than Black Christmas and maybe Silent Knight 189 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.000 Deadly Night. In the early eighties, like, there hadn't been 190 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:09.399 too many takes on that shiny, kind of brightly colored 191 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:13.480 holiday and the horrors that can sort of lurk or 192 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:16.799 come loping out of the night for you. And I 193 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.080 think this really worked. I mean I liked it a 194 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:22.159 lot more when I was, you know, fifteen, I didn't 195 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:23.919 not enjoy it while I was watching it. 196 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.360 Yeah, and again I think Larry Drake is great and 197 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:28.360 he's kind of the saving grace of the episode. 198 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:29.679 Yeah, he's real scary. Man. 199 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:32.000 If you're a fan of the dark Man series, you 200 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:35.159 know that he plays Durant in the dark Man series. 201 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.720 He was Doctor Giggles in that movie. 202 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:39.559 The eponymous Doctor Giggles. 203 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.440 Yeah, he's you know, he was a great actor. He's 204 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:44.720 one of the he's one of the better character actors. Again, 205 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:46.840 to me, that's the one thing about this show that's 206 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:51.000 very similar to a show like Twilight Zone or even Kolchak, 207 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.440 another show that I talk about once a month. They 208 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:56.159 got a lot of really good character actors from the 209 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:57.080 eighties and nineties. 210 00:12:57.159 --> 00:12:59.519 Yeah, it did, and it allowed them to maybe play 211 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:01.840 against like, you know know what he was going to. 212 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:03.799 I mean, obviously with Layer Drank the cast him, but 213 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.039 just a couple of years later as a psychonic killer. 214 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.720 But at the time he was mainly known as a 215 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:13.000 like a basically an autistic character on La Law. Like 216 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.279 we've gotten to know him only as sort of this 217 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:19.080 gentle giant character. And I think this pre dates Dark 218 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.080 Man as well, where he played a villain. Yeah, that's 219 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:23.399 that's that's a pretty good hallmark of the series where 220 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.759 they allowed these people to sort of jump in and 221 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:31.679 play and actually sort of like expand the public's perception 222 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:34.200 of what they were as performers. I don't think anyone 223 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:38.120 was expecting that performance from that guy when this episode aired. 224 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:41.879 Yeah, no, definitely not again looking at it now twenty eighteen, 225 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:46.039 different story, but then completely out of the kind of 226 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:47.480 blue for him as an actor. 227 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.240 Yeah, yeah, he's real good in the episode Mary Ellen 228 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:52.559 Trainer Not so that should be pointed out that that 229 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:56.919 was Robertson Meckis's wife at the time, not go well, 230 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:57.399 you know. 231 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.159 I you know, smacks a little bit of Kate capsh 232 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:01.000 to me a. 233 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:02.840 Little bit, But you know what, Kate Capsure is fucking 234 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.000 great in Indiana Jones's Sembl of Doom. I mean, that 235 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:08.039 character is shrill and awful, but that's what it's supposed 236 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.399 to be. So that that worked, And you know, I 237 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:16.639 don't I don't necessarily believe in dismissing out of hand 238 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:21.080 like a filmmaker casting their spouse in something, because sometimes 239 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:25.320 it works, fucking like Gangbusters, like I loved Adrian Barbo 240 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:27.480 and The Fog and then Escape from New York when 241 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:29.480 she was with John Carper at that. Those are good 242 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:30.639 performances from her. 243 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.320 Emily Blunt in a Quiet Place. 244 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.200 Yeah, she's really good in that movie, Like why wouldn't 245 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.279 he cast her? And she's fucking really good actress. In 246 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:40.480 this case, it speaks to Mary Ann Trainer not being 247 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:42.720 that great, although he put her in smaller roles in 248 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:45.519 a lot of his movies and she appeared in that. 249 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:47.639 It should be pointed out that the Tales from the 250 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:51.240 Crypt themselves this series, like the executive producers behind it 251 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:54.039 were in fact Robert Semkis and Walter Hill and Joel 252 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:56.720 Silver who was like v mega producer in the mid 253 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:59.039 to late eighties, and Joel Silver used her a lot too. 254 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:01.000 She's in all the legal up in movies and of 255 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:03.320 Richard Donner and that's the other guy who is sort 256 00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:06.840 of behind this series. Was nice of him to like 257 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:10.159 let her play the role, but like it's it was 258 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:12.279 the wrong It was the wrong way to go, like 259 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.000 Joan Collins in the original one, like John Collins is 260 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:17.440 kind of like, you know, her character is kind of 261 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:21.159 like the bitch character and we're not supposed to like her, 262 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:24.720 but as horrible as a human being is who's killing 263 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:27.120 their nice husband in order to get the money. Like 264 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:30.000 through with her in that original take on it, like 265 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:32.600 from beginning to end, like one dance shows up, like 266 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:35.919 I don't care what she's been doing, Like she as 267 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:38.679 a person like draws me in and has that bit 268 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.240 of charm that we were sort of discussing like an 269 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:46.120 anti hero needs Marion trainor just maybe it's a combination 270 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:48.879 of what we were saying where the character is so 271 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:53.559 dumb and she's portraying it so shrilly that like I 272 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:56.519 can't wait for Santa to put an axe in her head. 273 00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:59.000 That is a terrible thing for your lead character for 274 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.120 the audience to want. Nevertheless, there it is. 275 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:05.440 I agree. It's it feels like a missed opportunity for 276 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:07.639 her in the in the episode, it's just one. It's 277 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:09.279 very one dimensional and very flat. 278 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:11.879 Right And now having said that, I do think the 279 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:14.679 direction in the episode is really spot on. Uh, you know, 280 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:18.200 obviously Robert Beakers is a great filmmaker. I don't care 281 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:21.039 what anyone says, like, you know, when he's on, he's 282 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:23.039 really on, and I thought he was on in this episode. 283 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.360 And he indulges in something at the beginning, which I 284 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:27.320 really like that he does in a lot of his movies, 285 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.639 and nobody does this as well as him. He'll take 286 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:32.679 a credit sequence where he just pans a room and 287 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:36.120 just showing you the artifacts that people have in their home. 288 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:38.360 He tells you their entire story, which he does at 289 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:40.720 the beginning of this episode, not to the degree he 290 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:43.000 will in some of his other movies. No one does 291 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:43.440 that better. 292 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.559 Yeah, no, I I completely I completely agree. I mean again, 293 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.240 I agree with Uzebacas is a good film film director, 294 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.200 So you're not going to get any complaints set of 295 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:53.080 me on that one. So I mean, come on, back 296 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:54.039 to the future, come. 297 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.919 On, and he will direct in one of the later episodes. 298 00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:00.799 Uh is also one of my favorites. And obviously we'll 299 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:02.320 talk to that about that when we get it. But 300 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:04.039 so you know, he had his hand in a couple 301 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:06.359 of other episodes that I thought were a little more 302 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:12.519 assured than this one. But I did like coming off 303 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.400 of Man who is death who? You know, there are 304 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.400 horrific elements too, but it's not a horror tale specifically. 305 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:23.200 I like this one sort of coming on the heels 306 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:26.279 of it and diving kind of head on into what 307 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:29.359 the horror genre is supposed to be, which is Stephen 308 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:32.039 King always said, like you chase the character up a 309 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:34.319 tree and then you start cutting down the tree like that. 310 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:36.759 I think this works on that level of horror, and 311 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:40.119 so I would recommend this episode ultimately. 312 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:44.759 Yeah, I would not. Oh, I would say that the 313 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:48.720 Larry Drake stuff is good, but the Mary Ellen Trainer stuff. 314 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:51.240 Is so Yeah, it's hard to get fast, I know. 315 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:57.480 Yeah, her character is so unredeemable and so boring. Unfortunately, Yeah, okay, 316 00:17:57.640 --> 00:17:59.480 it's yeah, it's just kind of a it's a skip, 317 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:03.559 it's a soft skip, but it's not downright atrocious like 318 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:05.680 some of the episodes we're gonna watch, even some of 319 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:07.079 the episodes later this season. 320 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:11.480 So yeah, well we're not my friend right off the bat. 321 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:12.039 There we go. 322 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:14.759 This episode is not garbage. 323 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:43.039 By the way we're introduced to the characters. 324 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.079 They meet the criptkeeper after wandering off from a tour 325 00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:48.920 in the catacombs, even though they're told not to, and 326 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:53.359 so the first story is the original telling. The first 327 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:57.200 screen telling of a story that is very near and 328 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.359 dear to your heart, and all through the house. Instead 329 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:02.759 of Mary Ellen Traynor, it is Joan Collins. 330 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.240 Joan Collins, who is one billion percent better than Mary 331 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:11.079 Ellen Trayer in this role, represents a level of sophisticated 332 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.160 evil in all the ways that Mary Allen Traynor was 333 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.400 kind of a bumbling fool. It completely lacks any of 334 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:22.319 the sort of boring expositional dialogue that was peppered through 335 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:25.680 the American version of Roberts Ecca's version. The story is 336 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:30.720 effectively exactly the same. It is a wife murders her 337 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.319 husband on Christmas Eve. She has a young daughter. There 338 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:36.240 just so happens that a mental patient has escaped from 339 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.960 an asylum and has donned a Santa Claus costume, although 340 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:42.000 in this case it's Father Christmas. Because these stories all 341 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.960 take place in England, this movie is an English production. 342 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.480 Amics was in the English company. All the acting, in 343 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:50.119 all the settings are all in England. However, where it 344 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:54.640 differs from the American one is how skillful and stylished 345 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:57.880 the whole thing is, particularly the set design. Let's sort 346 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:00.000 of point to that it's sort of that retro fuere 347 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:03.720 tourist early seventies, sort of passing out of the mod 348 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:08.079 phase in England and into a more contemporary design. 349 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:10.279 I love the look of the house in this one. 350 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:13.319 When we talked about the American version, they I said 351 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:15.599 that they kind of stacked the deck in favor of 352 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:18.799 the heroine or the villain, if you will, because they 353 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.720 made her husband to be kind of a prick, like 354 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:25.160 from the get go, and in this case they don't 355 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:28.079 do that. They go in just in the opposite direction. 356 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:31.240 They make him like really really sweet, like he's bought 357 00:20:31.240 --> 00:20:35.200 her this brooch, and like he's written this sweet card. 358 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:38.240 This line always sort of sticks in my head where 359 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:41.359 they're showing you the note and at the bottom he's 360 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:44.519 written like an X, like for a kiss, and he 361 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:47.519 narrates it in his head to us and he says 362 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:49.200 and a big kiss at the very end. 363 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:50.559 What does you think of this version of it? 364 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:53.279 I mean, obviously it's much better than the Mary Ellen 365 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.359 Trainer one, but again that's not really hard, like you said, 366 00:20:56.440 --> 00:20:59.440 it's You've got Joan Collins who is much more of 367 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:03.240 an evil character, which I think works in this telling 368 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:06.000 of the story. And it also helps that they downplay 369 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:09.519 the idea that her husband is an asshole. I think 370 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:12.799 playing up the fact that she's just really mean spirited 371 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:16.319 and a murderous and downplaying that he's just kind of 372 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:19.359 like an asshole works in its favor, which is a 373 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:23.000 lot of fun for kind of flipping the original shows 374 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:26.759 or the show's premise on its head, because it's not 375 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:28.960 what you're expecting if you're going into this expecting it 376 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.000 to be similar to the show. Everything else is the 377 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:33.799 same a century pretty much, which is good. And it's 378 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:36.680 also feels shorter than the episode, which is also good. 379 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:37.720 I believe it actually is. 380 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:39.279 Yeah, that was one of the problems I had with 381 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:41.519 the episode is that it feels like they were padding 382 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:43.799 it out for time, and in this it's pretty straight 383 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:46.119 to the point. There's not a whole lot of dicking around, 384 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:48.079 there's not a whole lot of wheel spinning. Straight to 385 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:50.440 the point, really straightforward. I liked it a lot. I 386 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.880 thought it was really good, and Joan Collins is really good. 387 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:55.480 Joan Collins definitely is the standout. 388 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.759 The character in the American version, like she kills her 389 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:00.000 husband and then doesn't really seem to have a place 390 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:04.319 beyond that, whereas this character has thought it through. She 391 00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:05.799 knows that she's going to hit him in the head 392 00:22:05.799 --> 00:22:07.599 with this thing, and then she's going to make it 393 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.359 look as if he tumbled down the stairs. Now, I mean, 394 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:15.880 obviously she gets some blood everywhere and that was unforeseen. Nevertheless, 395 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:19.119 she's ready to scoop it all up into a champagne 396 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:21.359 flute and then pour it at the bottom of the 397 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:23.920 stairs so it looks as if he had just fallen 398 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:28.359 down and died, Whereas the Mary Allen Trainer characters was 399 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:31.440 going to take his body into the backyard and then 400 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.640 dump him into a well, thus ensuring that she would 401 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:37.400