Does the mere idea of stepping into another mall, watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the zillionth
time, or talking to your loved ones make you throw up? Then settle your bowlful
of jelly into the La-Z-Boy® and deck your hall with today’s installment of Psychobabble’s 12 Days of X-Mas Episodes instead!
Merry vegetating!
Series: Tales from the Crypt
Episode: “And All
Through the House”, in which HBO’s adaptation of classic EC Comics debuts with
its best-ever episode. This was not the first screen adaptation of Johnny Craig’s twisty tale
of a murderer having to dispose of her
husband’s corpse while also protecting herself and her child from a psycho Santa on
Christmas Eve, but it is even better than
the excellent one in the 1972 Tales from
the Crypt feature film. Director Robert Zemeckis gets both the nerve-wracking suspense and
the warm-and-wonderful X-Mas atmosphere absolutely perfect. The opening shot of Christmas decorations as Nat King Cole's “Christmas Song” plays on the soundtrack is as beautiful and nostalgia-stoking as a Currier and Ives print. The way Zemeckis shatters that
visual with a sudden shock of violence is just as beautiful. A perfect half
hour of holiday TV.
