"Tales from the Crypt" Forever Ambergris (1993)

Director:

Gary Fleder

Writer:

Scott Rosenberg (writer)

TV Series:

"Tales from the Crypt" (1989)

Original Air Date:

2 October 1993 (Season 5, Episode 3)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A jaded, has-been photographer plots the demise of his younger, talented protégé when they go on assignment in Central America. |

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Infection | Rifle | Shot In The Chest | War Zone

Cast

Tim Ahern	...	Uncle Sally
Lysette Anthony	...	Bobbi
Marshall Bell	...	Rock
Kevin Benton	...	Little Wing
Steve Buscemi	...	Ike
Roger Daltrey	...	Dalton
Paul Dooley	...	Randolph
John Kassir	...	Crypt Keeper (voice)
Luis Ramos	...	Pirate
Titus Welliver	...	Salucci

Decent tale from the crypt.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Tales from the Crypt: Forever Ambergris starts as the once great war photographer Dalton Scott (Roger Daltrey) & his hotshot apprentice Ike (Steve Buscemi) return from 3 months away in a war zone, however it's not long before they are back on a plane heading towards their next assignment in Central America. Once considered the best Dalton is now regarded as a has been & Ike is the up & coming photographer who everyone wants a piece of so when he is told of a village that was decimated by germ warfare he senses his chance to kill two birds with one stone by getting rid of the competition & getting some top shots as well, the village is still contaminated so he tricks Ike into going there to take the pictures, contract the horrible disease & get the photo's back which he intends to pass off as his own to him before he dies. All goes well until he gets back home & tries to seduce Ike's ex girlfriend Bobbi (Lysette Anthony) who got something interesting in the post from her dead boyfriend...

This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 3 from season 5, the second & last Tales from the Crypt episode to be directed by Gary Fleder I rather liked this gruesome little story. The script by Scott Rosenberg was based on a story from the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & is a great little horror fable about jealously, double crosses, sinister schemes & just deserts which are typical Tales from the Crypt themes. I liked Forever Ambergris as a whole, the build up is pretty good, the character's are decent & there's a fair amount of exploitation in this episode with Forever Amergris being one of the gorier & grosser stories. While neither new or amazingly original as far as the show goes I still reckon this is a pretty damned fine episode & is one of my favourites. The character's are good here especially the sleazy Dalton Scott & the likable Ike which also makes this episode very watchable along with the nastiness. Having said that it feels like an action film on occasions & not enough like horror & the black humour present in a lot of the best Tales from the Crypt episodes is sadly lacking.

This one looks as good as usual, a lot of it is set in a forest somewhere which doubles up as a jungle nicely enough I suppose. There's some top gore here & some of the best seen throughout the 93 Tales from the Crypt episodes that were made, someones eyeball literally oozes out of it's owners socket, there are various melted & rotting skin effects, there's bubbling & bursting vein effects, there's plenty of blood spurting around & someones nose falls off! The special effects are well done & look pretty gross at times. There's some nudity & sex here as well if that's your thing. The acting is good by the two 'name' leads, the great Buscemi is as watchable as aways & The Who founder British rocker Roger Daltrey does a decent job as the slimy villain.

Forever Ambergris is probably one of my favourite tale from the crypt stories, as a whole things started to go downhill from season 5 onwards so Forever Ambergris is a shining light in the show's latter seasons & I reckon this ones worth watching as just about any other episode from any other season, definitely recommended.