Tales from the Crypt (TV Series) Only Skin Deep (1994) User Reviews

Not my favorite storyline, however this is an odd creepy episode.

[TOMNEL · 7/10 · 26 July 2007]

When listening to the plot of this episode, it sounds clichéd and silly, but when actually watching it, the direction and dark sets make it a creepy outing. In this story, bitter Carl goes to a friend's Halloween party to get talk to his ex-wife. When he becomes angry, he leaves only to find another costumed beauty Molly. The first ten minutes of the story are getting to know what an angry character Carl is and learn some background. After going to Molly's apartment, Carl and Molly decide not to take off their costume or reveal who they really are, and they have violent sex to get the rage out. From there I'd just be giving away spoilers, but even though it sounds pretty mild, it's good sets and interesting costumes make it a good episode.

My rating: *** out of ****. 27 mins. Contains sexuality, nudity, profanity and violence.

Very bold, kinky, and startling episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 23 July 2012]

Carl (well played with brooding intensity by Peter Onorati), a brutish, violent, and hot-tempered man with a history of abusive relationships, crashes a Halloween party being held by his bitter ex-wife Linda (a brief, but sharp turn by Diane DiLascio). Carl meets a masked and mysterious, yet alluring and attractive young woman named Molly (a strong and fearless performance by the stunning Sherrie Rose) at said party. Carl goes to Molly's decrepit abode for a passionate one night stand. However, Carl discovers too late that Molly is harboring a very dark secret of her own. Director William Malone, working from a twisted and compelling script by Dick Beebe, relates the compellingly odd story at a steady pace, adroitly crafts a deliciously macabre atmosphere, makes the most out of the rundown house setting, and certainly doesn't skimp on the sizzling warped sexuality and perversity (the coupling between Carl and Molly is quite raw, rough, and raunchy). The grim surprise ending packs a potently disturbing punch. The shadowy cinematography by Levie Issacks provides a slick and stylish look. Nicholas Pike's spare shivery score hits the flesh-crawling spot. However, it's the extremely brave and sterling acting by Onorati and especially Rose which gives this episode an extra unsettling edge. An admirably bleak, adult, and aberrant show.

"Let it go, baby. All of it. The hurt, the anger, give it to me. Take it out on my flesh. Like you want to..."

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 3 November 2011]

I love that line, it's so dark and kinky! This is my favourite episode of the rather lacklustre season 6. It's a deliciously dark and twisted episode and I think its strange twisted ambiance makes up for its very slight plot. Most of the time these episodes didn't really, but you do usually get a few more twists and turns before it gets to the ending. I do love a good psychopathic monster/freak though, and I pretty much rate this episode solely for the character of the demented Molly. William Malone hasn't directed that many features, but his horror work has been mostly good and he has a great talent for gothic fantasy in real world settings. This story is just about this Italian mook thug type person, Carl, who crashes a Halloween party to hassle his ex wife. We hear that he's had a violent history with her and possibly even murdered an earlier wife, so you know that he's basically a bad dude who's gonna eventually get a comeuppance, and he finds her and she tells him to get lost and he storms off in a rage, and then encounters a mysterious and alluring masked lady, and the two chat and hit it right off, but is the bewitching femme fatale all she seems, is she more woman than the brutish Carl can handle? She is! So yep, very small and to the point plot but that's okay, it is really all about the crazy living doll freak lady Molly, and what a striking creation she is. Sherrie Rose's makeup and design still look amazing, her face looks so weird and shiny, almost like glistening wax, just like a mask, which is what you're meant to think when you first see it. And when you know that is her skin, it looks even more creepy, a living mask! Freaking marvellous idea to use in a story. She was definitely one of the weirdest and most sexy creeps in the history of the show. I love how gloomy, desolate and burned out her squat of an apartment is, like it's a reflection of her twisted soul. Her real name is a mystery and she doesn't seem to have any mirrors, and when Carl grabs her face near the end, demanding she take off her "mask", the way the flesh of her face is so delicate and tears as he grabs it looks so painful and disgusting! She looks her eeriest near the end, when she stands poised to slice above her soon to be dead bow-legged brutish assailant, she looks so scary and weirdly angelic... They're both such messed up people that you don't exactly feel bad for the guy. Not sure why Molly does what she does either but I can't say I'd be too stable if I had a head like that on a body like that! The only way she feels she can see herself is through the sightless eyes of others, their disembodied faces frozen, in silent screams. Darkly beautiful...

Weird but enjoyable

[bellino-angelo2014 · 7/10 · 9 July 2021]

The episode begins at an Halloween party. Carl Schlag is an accountant that used to have quite a temper and tries to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend. After the failure, he meets a masked woman named Molly that is dressed as a body bag. Carl goes away with her and they have a passionate night, but after a while, when he goes to the bathroom he walks around the house and finds out a closet full of masks made of various men's faces. And then Molly's secret comes out: she snatches men and then cuts off their faces (and Carl won't be an exception).

I had problems in finding a full copy of this episode as they are mostly banned on YouTube because of the steamy scene, but despite the only non-censored version was grainy, it wasn't that much of a problem. A decent episode and nothing more.

Only Skin Deep

[a_baron · 8/10 · 9 November 2014]

Carl is a nasty piece of work, which is why he hasn't been invited to his friend's Halloween party. Very likely the guy who is throwing it is his only friend, but the lady of the house doesn't want him there, and neither does his ex, a lady on whom he appears to have used his fists on numerous occasions.

Angered by the rebuff, he retreats to the kitchen where he meets a young woman who says she has come as a body bag. She certainly has one Hell of a body inside that bag, but she does not remove her mask. When she leaves, she takes Carl with her, and when they are decamped in her Gothic apartment, she makes it clear that she is his for the night.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth, although perhaps it is not a bad idea to look someone in the face when you're doing you know what, but she insists that neither of them remove their masks.

Carl is not happy with this, and is about to make the biggest mistake of his life, but in view of his lightning fast temper, which he is clearly unable to keep under control, it is difficult to feel sorry for him.

Only Skin Deep

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 3 May 2018]

This episode was all about revenge for an abusive husband getting his just desserts.

There was no twist though, and we don't know if this non-masked lady is a renegade justice warrior or if this was the first bad guy she killed and the others were good.

A weird episode, and not a standout one.

Average tale from the crypt.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 22 March 2007]

Tales from the Crypt: Only Skin Deep starts as abusive husband Carl (Peter Onorati) gatecrashes a fancy dress party with the intention of finding his wife Linda (Diane DiLascio), however while there he meets a mysterious stranger who calls herself Molly (Sherrie Rose) & they leave together. Back at Molly's place they have sex & Carl falls in love with her but when the time comes to take their party mask's off & reveal their true identities Carl gets a shock...

This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 2 from season 6, the first of two Tales from the Crypt episodes to be directed by William Malone I thought Only Skin Deep was average at best. The script by Dick Beebe was based on a story from the 'Tales from the Crypt' comic book & isn't amongst the show's finest, the dark humour is absent from this episode & is quite serious in tone. The twist isn't that good & it's never really explained why Molly does what she does, I just didn't get any sort of motivation or proper reason behind what she was doing & there isn't any real connection to Carl other than he's a man. Even at 30 odd minutes his one felt sluggish & not that much really happens.

This episode looks good enough & there's a fairly long sex scene in it although no real gore. The acting was alright.

Only Skin Deep, a title which sounds very similar to season 1's Only Sin Deep although both are very different stories, is an average tale from the crypt.

Only Skin...

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 27 October 2023]

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall... who's the fearest of them all? Looks like I just bought 7 years' bad luck! Speaking of bad luck, it's time for another nasty little terror tale from my crawly collection... and this one's got a message, too. It's a story about greed, death and a girl, who learned that beauty... is Only Sin Deep!"

This story originally appeared in Haunt of Fear #24. It was written by Otto Binder and drawn by Jack Kamen.

Sylvia (Lea Thompson) is a call girl who sells her beauty to a pawn shop operator named Joe (Britt Leach) so that she can get the money she needs to lure Ronnie Price (Brett Cullen) into marrying her. Joe uses a plaster cast of her face to bring his dead wife back and tells her in a few months, if she doesn't pay him back, her face will start to lose its looks. The problem is, she forgets when the money is due and suddenly needs a hundred thousand to get her face back. By this point, no one recognizes her, not even her rich new husband, who she shoots to get the cash. But alas - it's way too late to fix anything.

Thompson's husband Howard Deutch (Pretty In Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Great Outdoors) directed her in this story and she was friends with Cullen for a long time, which made the love scenes somewhat hard to film. This episode was written by Fred Dekker and Steven Dodd.

I have to confess, I've had a crush on Lea Thompson forever and seeing her be a cruel woman who kills a pimp and uses a rich man, well, that adoration is not leaving me any time soon.

"Poor Sylvia, eh, kiddies? Guess she heard the old saying, "if looks could kill"... so she did! Haha! Just goes to show ya, if you wanna sell yourself, take a look in the mirror, first. Eurgh! Well, see you next time, boys and ghouls!"