Retro Recap - "Tales from the Crypt": "Korman's Kalamity"

Written by Scotty

I have a great respect for people that are able to draw.  All of my life, I have never been able to put the images in my mind down on a piece of paper.  Stick figures are the extent of my artistic talent, and even those have issues as well, so for the most part, I don’t even try anymore.  But there are plenty of people out there that have the talent to do this and most are willing to share their visions with the world.  I will never be able to do this, but for those who are able to, I applaud you since you have been given a great gift.

Jim Korman is an artist for the ever so popular Tales from the Crypt comic and is great at his job.  Being able to bring the monsters from his mind to life in the books, he loves what he does, but he knows that there is more to life than just drawing scary things.  His home life is completetly different, since he and his wife Mildred are not able to have kids, Mildred is taking it all out on him.  Forcing him to take fertility pills, she is running his life into the ground.

Jim feels like there is something wrong with the pills, as whenever he takes one, it seems to take over his mind and makes him draw uncontrollably.  Mildred does not care about any of the side effects that the pills may have, she wants to start a family and end this streak of Jim fooling around on her, and so she forces him to continue taking them.  But there is a side effect to the pill, as Jim finds out when a young woman from the laundry mat tracks him down with a story that seems unbelievable.  Having one of the monsters  show up from the comic, young officer Lorelei Phelps brings all of the copies of Tales from the Crypt to show Jim and is convinced that everything he draws is coming to life.

Although Jim does not believe this, he plays along since Lorelei is a beautiful young woman and he will do anything to impress her.  Drawing a slim covered zombie for the officer, nothing happens during her visit, so Lorelei is forced to leave with her ego in check.  But Jim is infatuated with the young woman and tells her to call him whenever, as he is trying everything to get out of his abusive relationship. When the zombie surfaces in a junk yard and scares some kids off, it is a fact that whatever Jim is drawing is coming to life.  But Jim is in a loving mood, so his next drawings are of him and Lorelei sitting, drinking and falling in love which is not good news for the editors, or his wife.  Seeing the new drawing, Mildred is ready to take her threats to the next level towards her husband.  While getting a surprise out of her purse, Jim draws his wife as a disgusting monster and it comes to save him as Mildred comes back with a loaded gun.  When Lorelei arrives at the office, Jim is trying to escape the assault that is occurring behind locked doors, wanting to start his life over again, he takes the young woman out for a night on the town.

Quite the story as you get a brief look into the inner workings of an artist.  Not knowing where all of the fantastic ideas for their drawings come from, I really enjoyed seeing it, if even for a second.  Feeling sorry for Jim and his current status, I can understand why he would not want to go home, ever.  But when his wife would not stop hounding him over every little thing, I can see why she would be thinking he is having an affair on her. But knowing this is not the life he wanted, Jim finds the woman of his dreams and will do anything in his power to be with her and if it has anything to do with the pills he is being forced to take, he will make sure to get it all down on paper before it is too late.  Staring Harry Anderson as Jim Korman, Colleen Camp as Mildred and Cynthia Gibb as Lorelei, this has a great feeling of a love triangle that never fully got off the ground.  Until next time kiddies, Stay Scared.

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