This episode is good but is mostly just an excuse to see a lot of actors aged in makeup. It's not really too scary but the ending does have a bit of bite. I wouldn't have ended this season with this episode but what's done is done. I think if was wedged somewhere in the middle of the season it wouldn't be under as much scrutiny.
5 Reviews
Nagging old folks in the Woods
Coventry16 March 2006
This tale opens very promising and macabre but the action never really kicks in and it ends up being one of worst episodes of the entire fourth season. Two elderly couples head for the forest in their camper and all they ever do is bicker and blame each other for their wasted lives. The eventual goal of the camping trip is to restore their youth and beauty, as one of them knows a ghoulish formula to rejuvenate. This premise certainly isn't new but it still could have been fun if only the screenplay wasn't so dull and overly talkative. There only is a minuscule amount of gore and excitement to enjoy during the final 3 minutes and the rest of the episode is just people talking. Margot Kidder ("Sisters", "Black Christmas") seems to amuse herself as the old and young version of Cynthia, but the humor doesn't work and her characters as well as the others can't suffer enough for all you care. Director Elliot Silverstein made several good other "Tales from the Crypt"-episodes, among which a vampire spoof starring Malcolm McDowell, and even the really good long feature horror film "The Car". This is certainly a disappointment.
Poor tale from the crypt.
poolandrews9 April 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Tales from the Crypt: Curiosity Killed starts late one night on a camping trip as elderly couple Jack & Cynthia (Margot Kidder) argue with each other yet again, listening on nearby is Jack's friend Harry & his wife Lucile who have a surprise in store for both Jack & Cynthia. Lucile knows of a way to restore ones youth by making & drinking a potion using a special plant, they intend to use the plant to regain their own youth while not giving Cynthia any to taunt her & pay her back for all the moaning & grief she has given Jack over the past 45 years. However Cynthia wants the potion herself & won't lie down as easily as Jack hopes...
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 14 from season 4, the second of four Tales from the Crypt episodes that were directed by Elliot Siverstein this is a pretty lousy way to end season 4 although at least it's not as bad as King of the Road. The script by Stanley Ralph Ross was based on a story from the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & apart from a gory ending feels more like a feel good Disney film where a bunch of old people find a way to restore their youth & it's not until towards the end when this one actually starts to resemble a tale of horror that it should be. As an episode it's pretty dull, it's slow, it's predictable & the twist at the end isn't worthy of the description. The character's are forgettable as is the dialogue & overall there are better ways to spend 30 odd minutes, a disappointing end to season 4 but generally speaking it's sadly a decline which would continue over the show's remaining seasons as good episodes became fewer & farer between.
This one looks & feels cheap being set within a small studio bound forest, there's no gore at all until the final few minutes where their are some ageing special make-up effects & a half eaten mutilated body. The acting isn't the best & I thought Margot Kidder was awful, she was obviously a middle aged actress in old age make-up trying to act elderly which she doesn't pull off.
Curiosity Killed is a poor tale from the crypt, it has no fun, no gore, no scares & is rather predictable. A weak end to season 4, there are better Tales from the Crypt episodes out there.
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 14 from season 4, the second of four Tales from the Crypt episodes that were directed by Elliot Siverstein this is a pretty lousy way to end season 4 although at least it's not as bad as King of the Road. The script by Stanley Ralph Ross was based on a story from the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & apart from a gory ending feels more like a feel good Disney film where a bunch of old people find a way to restore their youth & it's not until towards the end when this one actually starts to resemble a tale of horror that it should be. As an episode it's pretty dull, it's slow, it's predictable & the twist at the end isn't worthy of the description. The character's are forgettable as is the dialogue & overall there are better ways to spend 30 odd minutes, a disappointing end to season 4 but generally speaking it's sadly a decline which would continue over the show's remaining seasons as good episodes became fewer & farer between.
This one looks & feels cheap being set within a small studio bound forest, there's no gore at all until the final few minutes where their are some ageing special make-up effects & a half eaten mutilated body. The acting isn't the best & I thought Margot Kidder was awful, she was obviously a middle aged actress in old age make-up trying to act elderly which she doesn't pull off.
Curiosity Killed is a poor tale from the crypt, it has no fun, no gore, no scares & is rather predictable. A weak end to season 4, there are better Tales from the Crypt episodes out there.
Funny episode with an unexpected ending
bellino-angelo201427 June 2021
Jack and Cynthia (Kevin McCarthy and Margot Kidder) are an old couple that is camping in the woods with their dog and bicker constantly (and Cynthia wanted to go in an hotel with a restaurant). They soon walk to Harry and Lucille, another couple that is camping in the woods and is producing a special voodoo serum that can make people return young and charming. Unfortunately Cynthia will put a damper on their chances of becoming young again, but the potion will work also on the dog...
There was a very gross shot of Cynthia's severely mauled body as the final scene of the episode but overall it was a very good episode and a fitting conclusion for a great season.
There was a very gross shot of Cynthia's severely mauled body as the final scene of the episode but overall it was a very good episode and a fitting conclusion for a great season.
Enjoyable episode
Woodyanders9 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Two radically contrasting elderly couples -- the bitter and bickering Jack (a terrifically spry and peppery Kevin McCarthy) and Cynthia (Margot Kidder in delightfully cranky and snarky form) and the more content and laid-back Harry (an amiable portrayal by J.A. Preston) and Lucille (a fine performance by Madge Sinclair) -- spend a weekend together in the woods. Lucille and Harry produce a special voodoo serum that can restore one's youth and beauty, but the shrewish Lucille puts a damper on everyone's chances to become young again. Director Elliot Silverstein, working from a witty script by Stanley Ralph Ross, relates the fun story at a steady pace, maintains a pleasingly spooky and mysterious tone for the first two thirds of the narrative, and ably milks a fiercely funny line in spot-on vicious sarcastic humor (the nasty heated exchanges between Jack and Cynthia are simply hilarious). The nifty voodoo theme is well explored right to the logically grotesque conclusion that's capped off by the bitchy Cynthia meeting an especially fitting harsh and untimely end. Rick Bota's sharp cinematography and Walter Werzowa's nicely varied score are both up to speed. A neat show.
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