Tales from the Crypt (TV Series) This'll Kill Ya (1992) User Reviews

Very different in the story telling but still good

[bellino-angelo2014 · 7/10 · 26 June 2021]

The episode begins with scientist George Gatlin that arrives during one rainy night at a police station with an handcuffed corpse attached to him and then he tells his story: he, with his colleagues Sophie Wagner and Pack Brightman, was studying a potential different killer virus and pushed them for publishing the secrets about it before its possible spreading. However Sophie accidentally injects George with the virus saying that it's his insuline dose but when he finds out, he won't stop at nothing with his anger...

Mostly in the episodes of the series it happens something and then the consequences appear, but this time was told in a flashback mode and it was a bit different, but I appreciated it as well. As usual, nothing more, nothing less.

Decent tale from the crypt.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 20 March 2007]

Tales from the Crypt: This'll Kill Ya starts as medical research scientists Pack (Cleavon Little) & Sophie (SoniaBraga) have an argument with friend, boss & fund raiser George (Dylan McDermott) about him going to the press with false results, George just says they will have to work harder to obtain the results they all want. Annoyed with George Pack & Sophie switch George's insulin for the experimental drug they are working on & inject it into him, they give George the good news that he only has a couple of hours to live & there is no antidote...

This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 2 from season 4, directed by Robert Longo I thought This'll Kill Ya was an OK tale from the crypt but nothing special. The script by A L Katz & Gilbert Adler was based on a story in the 'Crime SuspenStories' comic book & feels more like a thriller than a full blown horror story, This'll Kill Ya is a bit clichéd & predictable for my liking, it felt like a pretty standard morality tale of a practical joke gone wrong where various people end up very much worse off for various reasons by the time the somewhat obvious twist end arrives. It's not the worst Tales from the Crypt episode but it's far from the best, at only 30 odd minutes in length it moves along in a brisk fashion & is worth a watch but This'll Kill Ya just felt a bit too routine & lacklustre for my liking.

As usual this story is well made but unremarkable, there's no gore apart from a head wound & some nasty looking tumours on people's faces & bodies although there's some brief nudity & the usual profanity. Th Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) in his segments gets to spout puns about DIY which he calls 'Boo-It-Yourself' & uses a hammer from his 'Ghoul-Box'... The acting is OK but nothing more.

This'll Kill Ya is a reasonable tale from the crypt, it doesn't really stay in the memory long but it's still just about worth a watch.

"I should have seen it comin..."

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 7/10 · 18 February 2019]

Two scientists who are working in human genetics or something, are being unreasonably pressured by their obnoxious young hotshot boss to publish their findings before they're safely ready, as well as the boss being downright sexually abusive towards the female scientist, and so they decide that they're going to get even with him by playing a little grim practical joke that leads him to believe that he'll soon be dying a horrible death, but then thanks to a misunderstanding he snaps and the prank backfires terribly for everyone.... while easily grasped, the story of this episode feels noticeably weak and unfocused, it doesn't have any sense of structure to the plot, and what little story there is takes a real backseat to the overdone performances, and that's what I just about like about this one and not much else, is the hammy acting! The one moment that did stick in my mind about this tale didn't have anything to do with the very meagre horror, but was when young Dillan McDermott shows off his dazzling sex appeal in a scene that I found kind of hilarious because of how over the top it is with George rather forcefully uh, 'seducing' the fiery Sonia Braga character, no clearly means yes as far as this guy's concerned! I loved the bizarre editing of some of the scenes, like the unnecessary hallucination at the bar, and how the Cleavon Little character "No!" repeats again and again in a goofy distorted voice as George is injected with the phoney concoction of doom. I find that the fairly brutal death scene of Cleavon Little's character to be rather extra unsettling, given how it was the poor man's last ever role. So this certainly is a bit of a sloppy episode all over, but it does have some mildly intriguing elements. Far from one of the show's best, but still just about fun as yet another distinctive chapter in the strange little macabre land of the Crypt, and it is worth seeing just for the weird laughs...it won't kill ya! X

"I am dead and this is the man who killed me"

[Coventry · 26 April 2006]

says Dylan McDermott's character as he stumbles into a police station, dragging a dead body behind him. This is a promising and very sinister intro to a "Tales from the Crypt"-episode that regretfully becomes boring and unoriginal very quick. McDermott plays an obnoxious and greedy researcher whose two-headed crew is on the verge of a medical breakthrough. Only, it's not going fast enough for him and he gives false information to the newspapers in order to put more pressure on Sophie and Pack. In response, they want to teach him a lesson that naturally goes horribly wrong! George is a diabetic and when he finds out Sophie messed with his insulin, he totally goes out of his mind. This episode features quite a few popular topics that often reoccurred in the "Tales from the Crypt"-series (blackmail, murderous scientists, poisoning…); only they're not handled very well here. The medical project these scientists are working on remains vague and we don't get much background information about the characters. We can't really consider McDermott's character to be a super-villain, since he's petrified of needles and needs Sonia Braga to give him the insulin injections. "This'll Kill Ya" was the second episode of season four, and a huge disappointment compared to the first one which was stuffed with gore and black humor ("None but the Lonely Heart").

Average

[shellytwade · 6/10 · 13 April 2022]

Maybe even slightly below average considering the caliber most of these TFTC episodes are. Acting is pretty good from everyone, the problem lies more in the slow moving screenplay that takes it's time getting to the end and doesn't really give us a lot of fun to play with on it's way there.

Very mediocre episode

[Pythe · 4/10 · 29 February 2008]

This'll Kill Ya is a substandard episode of Tales from the Crypt, the main problem being that it's way too predictable. As soon as the trouble begins, you already know how it's all going to turn out, as this particular twist has appeared time and time again--probably even somewhere else in the series. From watching her performance, I get the feeling Sonia Braga didn't speak very good English at the time of filming: she puts emphasis on all the wrong words, the effect of which is rather irritating after a while. The characters are mostly bland, their interaction feeling superficial at best, and there was a lot of filler, including a rather long sex scene that felt more obligatory than anything else. After the great dark humor and grotesque delight of the season premiere, This'll Kill Ya is very much a letdown.

Fun episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 23 June 2011]

Sophie Wagner (a pleasingly fiery and sultry portrayal by the lovely Sonia Braga) and Pack Brightman (an excellent turn by Cleavon Little in his final role) are a couple of scientists who work at a research center with their sleazy and sadistic diabetic boss George Gatlin (nicely played to the slimy hilt by Dylan McDermott). Sophie and Pack decide to teach George a lesson by lacing his insulin with an unstable experimental serum that they have been working on. Director Robert Longo, working from a tight and involving script by A.L. Katz and Gilbert Adler, relates the engrossing story at a constant brisk pace, builds a good deal of tension, and really pulls out all the freaky stops in the second half when Sophie and Pack turn the tables on George. Rick Bota's crisp and lively cinematography provides an attractive polished look and delivers several effectively grotesque images as George suffers from horrific visions of people covered with hideous tumors. Ira Newborn's shivery score does the shuddery trick. The neatly ironic conclusion packs a pretty wicked punch. As a tasty added plus, the dishy Ms. Braga shows a little skin. An enjoyable show.

Prank gone wrong

[SleepTight666 · 16 August 2011]

A very enjoyable, and somewhat trippy episode.

It's about a research team, the leader, George, is somewhat of a dick.

After his two co-workers discover the cure they were looking for. They decide to play a prank on him and inject him with, what he thinks, are tumors.

He finds out and thinks that they tried to kill him, so he murders one of them and takes him to the cops.

In the end, he turns out to be OK and he murdered someone for no reason.

Dylan McDermott did a great job as George and I enjoyed the little twist. Fun episode.