Tales from the Crypt (TV Series) On a Deadman's Chest (1992) User Reviews

Good tale from the crypt.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 17 April 2007]

Tales from the Crypt: On a Dead Man's Chest is about a rock group called 'Exorcist', lead singer Danny Darwin (Yul Vasquez) is convinced lead guitarist Nick Bosch (Paul Hipp) wife Scarlett (Tia Carrere) is determined to split the band up which leads to all sorts of complications & arguments which does threaten the band. One night Danny meets a groupie named Vendetta (Sherrie Rose) who shows him a living tattoo & if he sleeps with her she'll take him to where she got it, with the dirty deed done Vendatta takes Danny to meet Farouche (Heavy D) & let him work his magic. Unfortunately the finished results aren't quite to Danny's liking...

This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 3 from season 4, directed by William Friedkin this is another fine tale from the crypt. The script by Larry Wilson was based on a story from 'The Haunt of Fear' comic book & is the usual nice twisted tale of horror that we expect of Tales from the Crypt. This episode has just about everything you would hope for, there's plenty of excessive swearing, a good premise & some good gore although it lacks any of the dark humour most of the best Tales from the Crypt episodes have. I'm not sure about some of the character motivations, why did Danny kill Scarlett? Just because he hated her? OK so that's a motivation but you have to admit a pretty slim one. I'm also not convinced that someone would let a complete total & utter strange tattoo their chest in any way they want, I mean I'd imagine most people would at least like to know what they were going to have tattooed on their body, from a personal point of view I would.

Director Friedkin has a cheeky little nod at his own classic horror The Exorcist (1973) by naming the band after it, this doesn't really have many scares but it's a neat little story anyway. There's some gore including a dragon bursting out of someones chest & there's a fair nudity & sex count. This also has a very funny opening Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) segment where he is dressed up as Elvis!

On a Dead Man's Chest is a good Tales from the Crypt episode that is well worth a watch if your looking for some twisted fun.

Big Budget

[shellytwade · 7/10 · 13 April 2022]

I'm not sure of the exact numbers but this seems like a much more expensive episode compared to a alot of other ones in the series. The sets and look of it all just feel wider. Great episode all in all, with some really nasty tattoo stuff going on. If you are thinking about getting ink this episode may convince you not too.

Excellent down'n'dirty episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 26 June 2011]

Arrogant and decadent singer Danny Darwin (well played with convincing swaggering bravado by Yul Vazquez) fronts the popular hard rock group Exorcist. Danny fears that guitarist Nick Bosch's (a solid performance by Paul Hipp) marriage to the disapproving Scarlett (a nicely bitchy Tia Carrere) will cause the band to break up. Sassy groupie Vendetta (a memorably sexy portrayal by yummy blonde knockout Sherrie Rose) sets Danny up with mysterious tattoo artist Farouche (an effectively smooth and creepy turn by Heavy D) in order to calm him down, but the tattoo Farouche puts on Danny's chest proves to be anything but comforting. Director William Friedkin, working from a raw and absorbing script by Larry Wilson, gives the nifty and inspired story in extremely rough, gritty, and profane edge: The full-throttle sex, graphic nudity, coarse dialogue, gnarly make-up f/x, and startling moments of brutal violence (the final image in particular is pleasingly gruesome) are all remarkably in-your-face harsh in their unflinching explicitness. Moreover, the vivid evocation of the trashy rock scene adds an extra kinetic buzz. Gregg Allman has a cool secondary part as foul-mouthed stage manager Toland. Rick Bota's slick and energetic cinematography provides a neat polished look. Merl Saunders' shuddery and spirited score does the shivery trick. A most worthwhile episode.

I got your wife under my skin!

[Coventry · 9 May 2006]

William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" is back! Well, that is to say, in the shape of an L.A. heavy-metal band! For his very own contribution to the successful "Tales from the Crypt"-series, Friedkin cleverly made reference to his one immortal horror classic. "Exorcist" is the name of a very popular band but the members have some severe issues to deal with. Lead singer and incorrigible party animal Danny can't seem to stomach that his live-long friend Nick got married recently and he fears that the new wife intends to split up the band. To take his frustrated mind off of things, Danny's favorite groupie Vendetta (Sherrie Rose, who walks around naked most of the time) suggests him to have a brand new tattoo, brought on by body-magician Farouch. This slightly eccentric tattoo-artist supposedly "feels" the story your body has to tell and he brings it out. When Danny gets saddled up with the tattoo image of Nick's wife Scarlet on his chest, he truly goes berserk. This tale doesn't really compare with William Friedkin's usual style of film-making (maybe that's why he isn't credited??), but it's a very decent story, nevertheless, and it contains some satisfying make-up effects and good acting performances. The setting behind the scenes of a turbulent rock band is fairly original and the well-cast actors make it look very convincing. Worth a look in case you're a fan of the series.

"Your skin has got a story to tell, and I'll find it..."

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 26 October 2014]

For some of us, tattoos are a rite of passage, for others they signify rebellion, for most they are merely a fashion accessory, but the inky work of art to feature in this gruesome tale of sex, violence and death is none of these, but is a painful and poisonous branding upon a man's very soul, and one that will never go away... Okay then, for a start I absolutely love the idea of deadly magic karma tattoos that appear as a true reflection of the bearer's nature, I thought it was a really cool and distinctive concept to base an episode on and they explored the idea in a pretty interesting and brilliantly visual way in the story which frankly isn't all that much of one at all, and it's what I take the most enjoyment from with this grungy visceral tale, which I personally consider to be a much better rock-and-roll themed story than the obnoxious "For Cryin' Out Loud." It's about this seedy rock singer dude who grows ever more unhinged as he develops an irrational hatred for his band partner's beautiful wife, as he believes she's driving a wedge between them and threatening to "do a Yoko" and break up the band. So a conniving foxy lady talks him into getting a tattoo which turns out to be that of the image of his enemy, being attacked by a ferocious dragon, and upon seeing this he really begins to lose his mind, and eventually murders her quite horribly, and then proceeds to cut all the skin from his belly in order to finally remove the torturous image of her battered face that haunts him for good, and he holds it up in victory, presumably close to death as his entrails are hanging out, and there endeth the tale. It's definitely one of those ones with a plot line that's very noticeably thin, which I guess most of them probably are as they were fairly short, but there were certainly ones where you noticed it more, and this was one of 'em, but I don't care too much in this case, as I like this one for its tattoo theme and the special effects used in it. My favourite part is the sequence where the shamanistic tattooist played by the late Heavy D gives "Danny" not the engraving that he wants, but the cursed one that he deserves, and he does it the old-fashioned way with tools instead of technology, and I love the subtle slow-build of tension in the scene which is established in a very simple but effective way as you hear a little "tic-tic-tic-tic" sound as he etches out the tattoo, and it kind of puts you in the guy's shoes as his pain increases, and it's a very impressively done and memorable scene. "You'll pay later", "Faroush" the mystic tat-artist coolly says after Danny storms out in a rage without even giving him his money after he gets a look at what's on his chest. Oh, how delightfully and dreadfully true that was for many an unfortunate denizen of this fine show! Funny thing about this one, it has an excess of blood and nudity in it, much more of the latter than in any of the others I'd say, it does seem to rely on those qualities more than much else. It's the only story where you can briefly spot a man's junk, I'll put it that way.. Sherrie Rose did *not* have any issues when it came to modesty! She would later kick some kinky serious ass in "Only Skin Deep." I really don't like the Tia Carrere character's death scene, it's just ugly and unpleasant, and its stark maturity is a lot different from most of the violence you get on Crypt, which mostly had a bit of a tongue-in-cheek edge to it, and it was more raw and believable this tine around. I love the goofy but awesome practical effect of when the Chinese-style dragon bursts out of his chest, it's really bizarre and was reminiscent of Alien. I think it was all his continuing hatred for "Scarlett" even after he'd killed her, manifested in physical form and come back to devour him, which I think would have been a far better ending if that dragon had bit off his head or something, instead of what does happen, which is fine enough.. So like it or hate it, I'd say it's for sure one of the more interesting and memorable entries of the later seasons. Rock 'N 4-evah!!!

Rock 'n Roll trouble

[SleepTight666 · 16 August 2011]

A pretty average episode, not as strong as the previous ones. But still quite entertaining.

This is the only episode with full frontal male nudity, albeit very brief.

The story is about a rock band, and it's lead singer has trouble getting along with the to-be-wive of the guitarist.

One of his lady friends shows him her new tattoo, which is a snake that comes across as being alive.

He likes it so much that he goes to the tattooist and his tattoo ends up being Scarlett. She is that deep within his skin.

After removing the tattoo, it just keeps coming back and even after killing her, she continues to live within his skin.

I enjoyed the ending very much, which practically saves this episode from being forgettable.

Very good and surprising despite its reputation

[bellino-angelo2014 · 8/10 · 27 June 2021]

I had trouble in finding the full episode on YouTube as it had the banner with age restriction but however I found it on another website. When I found it I supposed that it must have been very disgusting (even more than TIL DEATH) but in the end, I found it ok on that matter.

Danny Darwin is the frontman of the hard rock band Exorcist and he is very arrogant and irritable. One day he suspects that his guitarist Nick's marriage with Scarlett could break up the band. The groupie Vendetta sends Danny to tattoo artist Farouche for calming him down, but the resulting tattoo is incredibly revealing: it depicts a dragon with a woman's head on the other side of its tail. Even when he tries to wash it away with a shower it returns after a while and Farouche was right!

While watching the episode I expected something very gross and disgusting coming out in any moment. However, the part where the dragon comes out of his chest didn't turn me off at all and I felt normal. I really can't understand the age restriction this time.