The Kidnapper (7 Jun. 1996)

An anti-social man takes in a homeless pregnant woman in hopes to cure his loneliness. But once the woman gives birth... See full synopsis »

Director:

James H. Spencer

Writers:

John Harrison (screenplay), Scott Nimerfro (screenplay)

Stars:

Steve Coogan, Julia Sawalha, Tim Stern

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Steve Coogan	...	Danny Skeggs
Julia Sawalha	...	Teresa
Tim Stern	...	Baby Broker
Serena Gordon	...	Mother In Park
John Kassir	...	Crypt Keeper (voice)
Matthew Scurfield	...	Detective
Gerry Crampton	...	Snaps

Storyline

An anti-social man takes in a homeless pregnant woman in hopes to cure his loneliness. But once the woman gives birth... See full synopsis »

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 1996 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Below average Tales from the Crypt episode.

Tales from the Crypt: The Kidnapper starts as a homeless & pregnant woman named Teresa (Julia Sawalha) walks into Danny Skeggs (Steve Coogan) pawn shop, there Teresa tries to pawn a bracelet left to her by her Grandmother. Danny takes pity on Teresa & offers her a place to live, with him in his flat. Teresa accepts & they quickly fall in love, however that all changes when Teresa has the baby & she switches all of her attention to it rather than Danny who starts to feel left out. Danny arranges for the baby to be kidnapped, taken out of their lives & for things to go back to the way they were but it doesn't quite work out as he had hoped...

All the sevens this Tales from the Crypt story was episode 7 from season 7, directed by James Spencer (the IMDb also lists Robin Bextor but only Spencer is credited on the actual episode) I have to say The Kidnapper really isn't anything special or particularly memorable. The script by John Harrison & Scott Nimerfro was based on a story in the 'Shock SuspenStories' comic book & is more of an ordinary forgettable drama with a twisted ending, well that's the theory but there's not much of a twist here at all. The actual plot is rather poor with some guy thinking if he has his girlfriends baby kidnapped she will forget about it & go back to loving him, inevitably that doesn't happen & there's a pointless ending which really isn't that much of a twist. As a whole The Kidnapper is a forgettable way to pass twenty five minutes, the story is weak, the twist is weak & there's no real horror element here at all. It's also noticeable that even though Teresa is supposed to love her baby she never even gave it a name, in fact it's always referred to as a 'baby' rather than by it's name (if it even has one) by everyone in this episode which feels & sounds odd.

Director Spencer does alright, there's a few silly comedy relief chase moments including a couple of mime artists & a big guy with a handlebar moustache. Since the Tales from the Crypt production moved to London for season seven onwards English locations & actors are used throughout. I was surprised to see British comic Steve Coogan appear in this while Julia Sawahla is well known on British telly as a presenter & actress. The Cryptkeeper sequences are fun as usual, this episode his opening & closing segments revolve around him playing tennis.

The Kidnapper is a poor Tales from the Crypt episode, there's no blood, gore or horror & the story is pretty weak but at least it's short. There are better episodes out there if you look.