Tales from the Crypt

Five strangers wander into a dim English catacomb and are drawn into a circular chamber. The Crypt Keeper explains that each of them will die in a different way, a macabre pattern that unfolds through four stories and a twist ending. This framing sets up the grim tableaus that follow.

Joanne murders her older husband Richard on Christmas Eve to claim his life insurance. She frantically tries to hide the body while a radio warns of a homicidal maniac on the loose. The killer, dressed in a Santa Claus suit, stalks the house just outside as she huddles in fear.

Joanne hopes to hide the crime, but her young daughter Carol believes the maniac is Santa and unlocks the door to let him in. The intruder corners Joanne, and she is strangled by the killer beside the fire. The morning light would reveal the truth, but tragedy comes first.

Carl Maitland deserts his wife and children to be with his secretary, Susan Blake, slipping away together. Their affair ends when a catastrophic car crash occurs on the road. Carl awakens outside the burning car, tries to hitchhike home, and is confronted with a world where truth and perception blur. A reflective surface later reveals a corpse's face, and Carl screams as the terrible truth dawns.

James Elliott wages a cruel campaign against Arthur Grimsdyke by sending a flood of venomous valentines, falsely attributed to neighbors. Grimsdyke, who dabbles in occult arts, holds a seance to speak with his late wife. On Valentine’s Day, Grimsdyke drives James to suicide, and the elder man dies, setting up a curse of revenge.

Exactly one year after Valentine’s Day, Grimsdyke rises from the grave to exact revenge on James. The next morning, Edward discovers James dead with a note that taunts his cruelty and hints at Valentine’s Day. The message ends with an unfinished line, while James’s still-beating heart is revealed inside the crumpled paper.

Ralph Jason, a ruthless businessman, is on the brink of ruin while Enid discovers a Chinese figurine that grants three wishes. Enid uses the first wish to secure wealth, and Ralph dies in a car crash on the way to claim the payout. A lawyer warns that healing Ralph could be catastrophic, but Enid ignores the counsel.

Against the lawyer’s warning, Enid uses the second wish to restore Ralph to life, only to find him embalmed and condemned to perpetual life. The unnerving revival traps Ralph in an unnatural existence as Enid contemplates the consequences of meddling with fate.

Desperate, Enid makes a final wish to let Ralph live forever, but the embalming curse binds them both to an endless life. When she tries to end Ralph’s life, she discovers she cannot and becomes a prisoner of the same immortality. The couple endures an eternity of suffering together.

Major William Rogers imposes strict rationing and control over a home for the blind, inciting growing resentment. George Carter leads a revolt, subdues the staff, and traps Rogers and his dog Shane in a maze of basement corridors. Days pass without food as the maze closes in, and the hungry hound finally tears through the barriers, sealing Rogers's fate.

Rogers is forced to navigate the razor-thin corridors while the dog gnaws at his restraints. The revolt tightens around him as he staggers through the claustrophobic maze in a desperate bid for escape. In the end, the merciless animal claims the tyrant's life.

The Crypt Keeper reveals these stories were records of what has already happened: each of the five has died without repentance. Joanne, Carl, James, Ralph, and Major Rogers step into Hell as the lair burns, with Ralph leading the way into a fiery abyss. The Crypt Keeper turns to the camera and asks, 'And now, who’s next?'