Retro Recap - "Tales from the Crypt": "Lower Berth"

Written by Scotty

One of my favorite things to do growing up was going to visit the carnivals that came to town.  With all kinds of booths and being able to do something that was not in the ordinary routine, it was an easy escape for a few hours.  But these groups also would bring the darker side of life to town in form of a freak show.  If this was dead stuff behind glass, I was all about it, but when it was a real, living thing that could reach out and touch me, I would run out of the tent crying my eyes out.  It is too bad there are not many of these events that come to my side of town anymore, I would really like to see if I have conquered my fear of the freak show performers and enjoy what they bring to the table.

Ernest Freeley is running the greatest show of his life and making sure that everyone knows to come and check out the freak show in his carnival.  Although he does not have too many oddities to share with the world, his prize act is a young man named Enoch who has two faces.  But there is a problem with Enoch, since he is able to escape from his cage at will, his keeper, Mr. Sickles is trying to make sure Freeley does not have a show without his freak boy.  Freeley knows all about what is happening in his shows however, and has received word on Enoch’s health, or lack thereof.

Mr. Sickles knows that this will not last forever as Enoch’s time is running thin and is in need of another revenue stream that he can bring into the show.  Being stalked by a Dr. Cling, his next attraction might be closer than he thinks.  Seeing a four thousand year old mummy before him, Mr. Sickles wants to understand what the catch is, and why the doctor needs his help in selling the act.  He also notices the fantastic necklace the mummified woman is wearing and inquires about its validity.  Telling Mr. Sickles that he wants to be kept at arm’s length from the carnival and that the necklace is fake, Dr. Cling just wants to have a taste of the action from his main attraction.  Once word goes out that there is a real life mummy in town, people come from miles around to see her, in all of her glory. 

Mirana the mummy has become the headlining attraction in the freak show and has taken almost all of the pressure off of Enoch.  But Enoch has found something special about his fellow performer, that she is the most stunning woman of he has ever seen, even though she is dead.  Mr. Sickles is tired of the failure that Enoch has become, but notices one of the newspapers in the boy’s cage that has a story about a stolen mummy.  Confronting Dr. Cling about this, Mr. Sickles finds out the only reason that the mummy and the necklace are still in his possession.  The necklace has a curse attached to it and any man that tries to remove it will have their manhood removed instead.  Thinking very little about the curse, Sickles tries to leave, but Cling pulls him back and receives some trimming sheers in his gut.  Needing to cover up the murder of the man, Sickles opens Enoch’s cage and puts the sheers in with the boy.  Wanting to leave the show forever, he then tries to remove the necklace from Mirana, but finds out that the curse is true.  During the next show, Freeley finds that both of his main attractions are missing and replaced by the dead body of Mr. Sickles.  Being met by a police officer as he is ready to move his show, Freeley finds out what happened to his stars, as they will forever be intertwined.

Ever want to know what goes on behind the closed tents at a carnival?  This is the story that will show you the darker side of what happens concerning the different shows and events.  I know that money is a very important thing for everyone, but how far would you go to make sure you will have enough, could you put someone life at risk as long as you are getting paid very well for it?  What a dilemma, but all is not lost when Enoch and Mirana vanish from the show, as they have given birth to one of the finest faces in entertainment…The Crypt Keeper.  Staring Lewis Arquette as Ernest Freeley, Stefan Gierasch as Mr. Sickles, Mark Rolston as Dr. Cling and Jeff Yagher as Enoch, you are left feeling fulfilled as the true love story that is on screen has nothing to do about money, but about family.  Until next time kiddies, Stay Scared.

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