"Doctor of Horror" overall ranks as a pretty good episode out of the 6th season, plus it was nice to see country music superstar Travis Tritt in a guest role! Travis Tritt and Hank Azaria star as two loser security guards who work the graveyard shift at a morgue of dead people. Only new things happen aboard the shift when an eager and evil doc(Austin Pendleton) starts a gory scheme in which he steals the souls from the dead! One by one when trying to scalp the souls, the bodies are disposed of by a well. Only shortly the journey enlists the two guards only the scheme backslides as the greed and need for money and power destroys all. Nice to see in the end a nice person like Travis get his revenge! Overall pretty good crypt episode nice to see a musician like Travis Tritt as a guest star it was well done.
6 Reviews
The quality is starting to wane but this is still a decent episode.
poolandrews6 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Tales from the Crypt: Doctor of Horror starts as two bumbling mortuary security guards Richard (Hank Azaria) & Charlie (Travis Tritt) are hired by a mad Doctor (Austin Pendleton) who they affectionately nickname 'Orloff' to steal a corpse in order to surgically remove it's soul gland. Richard senses the opportunity to make money while Charlie is uneasy about stealing people's soul's while Orloff is single minded in the pursuit of proving his theory, with all three pulling in different direction with differing motives it's bound to end badly...
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 12 from season 6, written & directed by Larry Wilson one has to say that Doctor of Horror is an entertaining if ultimately forgettable way to pass twenty five minutes. The script was based on a story appearing in 'The Vault of Horror' comic book & by this stage, the end of the sixth season of Tales from the Crypt, one can notice that the quality has dipped. Maybe all the best stories from those old horror comics had already been adapted for the show & what was left were the less than successful comic strips, Doctor of Horror certainly isn't bad as a grim darkly comic horror story but isn't anything amazing. It's a bit unlikely, the character's are average & the twist ending just doesn't feel that ironic, that satisfying or particularly clever. Doctor of Horror is a decent Tales from the Crypt episode for sure, it moves along at a good pace & it has some good gore, but when you compare it to some of the wonderful stories from the earlier seasons it doesn't really stand up that well.
As usual the production values are very good & there's some nice gore, from a couple of decapitated heads, a zombie made up from different people's body parts, some brief surgery scenes involving people's backs cut open & there's some blood splatter too. The opening & closing Cryptkeeper sequences feature him in Sweeney Todd mode as a barber with a straight razor spouting plenty of bad puns like 'scaredo's' & some gore including a fleshy skeleton & a severed ear. The acting is good from a familiar cast, Hank Azaria is better known as one of the regular voices on The Simpsons while Travis Tritt is better known as a country singer in the US.
Doctor of Horror is a good Tales from the Crypt episode, it's not up there with the best but it's far from the worst & still much better than most TV horror anthology programmes. Well worth a watch.
This Tales from the Crypt story was episode 12 from season 6, written & directed by Larry Wilson one has to say that Doctor of Horror is an entertaining if ultimately forgettable way to pass twenty five minutes. The script was based on a story appearing in 'The Vault of Horror' comic book & by this stage, the end of the sixth season of Tales from the Crypt, one can notice that the quality has dipped. Maybe all the best stories from those old horror comics had already been adapted for the show & what was left were the less than successful comic strips, Doctor of Horror certainly isn't bad as a grim darkly comic horror story but isn't anything amazing. It's a bit unlikely, the character's are average & the twist ending just doesn't feel that ironic, that satisfying or particularly clever. Doctor of Horror is a decent Tales from the Crypt episode for sure, it moves along at a good pace & it has some good gore, but when you compare it to some of the wonderful stories from the earlier seasons it doesn't really stand up that well.
As usual the production values are very good & there's some nice gore, from a couple of decapitated heads, a zombie made up from different people's body parts, some brief surgery scenes involving people's backs cut open & there's some blood splatter too. The opening & closing Cryptkeeper sequences feature him in Sweeney Todd mode as a barber with a straight razor spouting plenty of bad puns like 'scaredo's' & some gore including a fleshy skeleton & a severed ear. The acting is good from a familiar cast, Hank Azaria is better known as one of the regular voices on The Simpsons while Travis Tritt is better known as a country singer in the US.
Doctor of Horror is a good Tales from the Crypt episode, it's not up there with the best but it's far from the worst & still much better than most TV horror anthology programmes. Well worth a watch.
Enjoyably comedic episode
bellino-angelo201410 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Richard and Charlie (Hank Azaria and Travis Tritt) are two bumbling security guards that work at night in a morgue. After their boss (Ben Stein) leaves them for the night shift, they see mad scientist Orloff that went away with a stolen corpse and they chase him to his ''laboratory''. Once there, they discover what Orloff is up to: he is convinced that every person has a soul that could live even after the person dies and that exists the soul gland. They both agree because Richard sees it as an occasion for having more money. So, when the next morning they are found asleep by the boss, they kill him and take him to Orloff; not successful with this one, they kill other people when they have the occasion but after Richard does it with Charlie, Charlie after a while returns from the dead and lets Richard taste the revenge of the undead!
When you have both Hank Azaria and Ben Stein in the same show, it's got to be funny! It is, and I really enjoyed this episode also for the story. Not to be missed, as usual.
When you have both Hank Azaria and Ben Stein in the same show, it's got to be funny! It is, and I really enjoyed this episode also for the story. Not to be missed, as usual.
The doctor is in
mattressman_pdl6 November 2007
Season six is, overall, underwhelming. But this is one of the better episodes. It finds two bumbling mortuary security guards getting mixed up with a mad doctor who is stealing bodies to search for their 'souls.' but when the doctor realizes that he soul can only be extracted from the living, one of the guards may be in way over their heads.
Hank Azaria does a fine job, as does Austin Pendleton as the mad doctor, but it's country musician Travis Tritt who walks away with the show as the kindhearted, dim-witted Charlie. Ben Stien also shows up a the boss who ends up firing the inept guards.
The episode is finely tongue-in-cheek, decent splatter and top-notch acting. It is one of the highlights of the entire series, if only for being surrounded by lackluster episodes.
Hank Azaria does a fine job, as does Austin Pendleton as the mad doctor, but it's country musician Travis Tritt who walks away with the show as the kindhearted, dim-witted Charlie. Ben Stien also shows up a the boss who ends up firing the inept guards.
The episode is finely tongue-in-cheek, decent splatter and top-notch acting. It is one of the highlights of the entire series, if only for being surrounded by lackluster episodes.
Darkly Comic
big-gun27 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This dark, somewhat comedic episode contains two things I never thought I'd see. A zombified Travis Tritt holding his head on and Ben Stein cursing. I don't know which one I found stranger.
Hank Azaria and Travis Tritt are Richard and Charlie, two highly inept security guards working the night shift at a local morgue. They team up with a crazy doctor named Orloff, played by Austin Pendleton. He's obsessed with finding the gland where the soul resides. Charlie struggles with his conscience while Richard looks to fatten his wallet. The wacky doctor discovers the soul gland cannot be harvested from a person already deceased. By season 6, it's pretty clear the series is waning, however this is episode is definitely one of the best of the season. My hat's off to Travis Tritt, he stole the show here.
Hank Azaria and Travis Tritt are Richard and Charlie, two highly inept security guards working the night shift at a local morgue. They team up with a crazy doctor named Orloff, played by Austin Pendleton. He's obsessed with finding the gland where the soul resides. Charlie struggles with his conscience while Richard looks to fatten his wallet. The wacky doctor discovers the soul gland cannot be harvested from a person already deceased. By season 6, it's pretty clear the series is waning, however this is episode is definitely one of the best of the season. My hat's off to Travis Tritt, he stole the show here.
Enjoyably ghoulish episode
Woodyanders22 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Venal short-tempered jerk Richard (sharply played by Hank Azaria) and his sweet lunkhead partner Charlie (an excellent and engaging performance by country singer Travis Tritt) are a couple of no-hoper morgue security guards who are hired by mad doctor Orloff (a wonderfully quirky and robust portrayal by Austin Pendleton) to assist the wacko in procuring bodies for his loopy experiments. Writer/director Larry Wilson relates the entertaining story at a breathless quick pace, brings an inspired and invigorating go-for-broke dynamic style to the deliciously macabre material, and pulls out all the thrilling stops for a total doozy of a gruesome and twisted climax. Moreover, it's acted with considerable zest by an enthusiastic cast: Pendleton has a ball with his juicy part, Azaria and especially Tritt do fine work in their roles, and Ben Stein huffs it up with hearty aplomb as hard-nosed boss Andrews. The slick cinematography by Levie Isaacks makes lively use of a constantly moving camera. Jay Ferguson's shivery score does the spirited ooga-booga trick. One of the definite highlights of the sixth season.
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