'Tales from the Crypt' Retro Recap: 'Half-Way Horrible'

​Written by Scott Edwards

Creating great advances can and often come with great risks. Not knowing how they will be perceived by the public, much less if they can make it out of the testing phase, a great deal of money can be thrown towards them and never be returned. It does not matter what the situation is as there is so much that can go wrong at every stage of the process, even it if it is something that can change the world for the better, there will be speed bumps that can keep it from being created on a large scale. Make sure to keep your inventions and break throughs small to start with, that is until you are able to get a backer that is willing to lay it all on the line for you, or else you can lose everything, even your research when something goes wrong.

Needing to find the next big thing, Roger Lassen and his team venture down to the rain forest to see what they can find in the way of preservatives. Joining a local tribe, the group has found something that may be able to change the world forever, but it will come with a price.  Seeing how the enzymes of this new compound work on the human body, since everyone that is buried in the rain forest do not deteriorate, Roger and his team have practical applications that they will have to test to make sure it will work for what they want it to do, but that will have to be done in America. Needing to leave, Roger knows that he will have to give the tribe a proper tribute for their time and effort with the new compound, meaning that he will have to leave one of his crew behind to be sacrificed by these native people and he chooses Alex for that honor.

Six years in the making and Roger has his new cash cow ready to reveal to the world, but there is a little hiccup in the process when one of his workers has been found dead, injected with the preservative.  Not having any idea who could have been behind this and seeing as to how the note that is left on the body does not make sense to Roger, the Detective assigned to the case needs to know if he has any enemies. Not knowing of any, at least any that are alive, Roger returns home to see someone has broken in and vandalized the place. With the same phrase being written on the wall, 'I have not forgotten or forgiven', Roger knows that it has to be the same person who committed the murder, but does not know who that person could be. Finding a special gift for him as well, a two faced voodoo doll that bares a brief resemblance to him, all he can come up with is that it has to be someone from his visit to the rain forest that wants to cause him harm.

Getting word from his right-hand man Colin that the FDA has put the brakes on the approval of the compound is not helping Roger’s cause and he needs to find a way to get it pushed through as soon as possible. Being urged to see an old friend who was on the expedition to the rain forest, Roger finds another dead body that has been filled with the compound, along with having the same note left on his body. As his headaches continue to grow out of control, Roger is forced to call a doctor for help, but before he can return home from the office, he gets a visit from a special friend that he believed was long gone. Alex has been waiting six years to see his old boss and this time he has a message for him. He reveals that Roger has been cursed and that he is the true killer that everyone has been searching for, and a quick demonstration with Roger's handwriting proves this to be true. Knowing that this specter of past employee could be right, Roger passes what he knows on to Dr. Beneloy who may have a way to free the high powered evil man from the spell and shadow of death that have been released on the world, but does Roger really want it to go away?

Kind of a dark look at how far somebody would go to make a profit, but I would not be surprised if this really happens on a daily basis. Wanting to be the first group to roll out the preservative of the future, Roger Lassen will stop at nothing to make it his find and no one else’s, but when he finds out that he may be the mad murderer, he tries to change his views. I would like to say that when the evil is released from Roger that he is a better man, but nothing seems to change in his eyes and he wants to preserve what is best about him, it’s actually really sad. Starring Clancy Brown as Roger Lassen, Martin Kove as the Detective, Charles Martin Smith as Colin, Jon Tenney as Alex and Cheech Marin as Dr. Beneloy.  I really like how this cast was able to showcase their talents to the max and Cheech in war paint is just a sight to see. Until next time Kiddies, Stay Scared.

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