'Tales from the Crypt' Retro Recap: 'Death of Some Salesman'

Written by Scott Edwards

Working in sales is not for everyone. You have to be kind, courteous, charismatic and above all, smarter than the person you are trying to sell something to. This especially applies to jobs that have you sell on commission since you have to be better than everyone that works with you. I don’t know how people have done this all of these years as the customers are getting smarter, but as of late the consumer has found a happy place to shop and the internet is starting to make the salesmen a thing of the past.

Judd Campbell is at the top of his game, as a salesman and a con man wrapped up in a neat little package. Being able to convince anyone that what he has is worth more than their money, he is ready to make a bigger score. Going door to door and selling cemetery plots that don’t exist with the promise of a huge payout, Judd has the spiel down to a science. But Judd is in for the ride of his life when he knocks on the door of the Brackett family who just might be looking for something more fulfilling.

As Judd has been invited into the home to give Ma and Pa Brackett his sales pitch, he notices that they might have more money than he originally thought and he needs to help them in parting with it. Upping the down payment price with the promise of double the payout for each family member, Judd believes he is going to get out free and clear with more cash in his pocket. But while in the kitchen Judd finds something that he was never supposed to see, the head of a salesman in the microwave. As he looks around the house closer, he finds that every salesman that has come around the house has never left.

Being tied up and waiting for his fate, Judd hears that their daughter is looking for a suitor and he would love to meet the young woman. Winona has never been lucky at love, but Judd is ready to take a try at it, but when she appears, he has to try to prove that he loves her more than any woman in the world. With the promise of freedom at stake, Judd has to do things that no other salesman before him has had to, but Winona has a secret that she will only share with her new love, her parents have a dowry on her and the lucky man that marries her will receive a large sum of money. Agreeing to get married, Judd’s eyes light up as he is able to escape the crazy couple and break his new wife’s heart to collect the cash, but he does not know what is buried at the bottom of the hole and may find that there is more to life than just money.

Wow, an ending that only Tales from the Crypt can deliver and it is fitting. With a salesman that is not used to being told no, he is able to use his charm to gain his freedom from the crazy family, but once he crosses the line, there is no going back, much less any way to escape. Maybe the lesson here is to tell the truth, or something like that, since Judd is never off of his game and does not know when to stop the lying.  Starring Ed Begley Jr. as Judd Campbell, Tim Curry as Pa Brackett, Tim Curry as Ma Brackett and the great Tim Curry as Winona Bracket, I don’t know how this story would have played out if Tim Curry was not the family Brackett and you know what, I don’t even want to think about it now because it was a magical story with him in all those lead roles. Until next time, Stay Scared.

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