The Thing from the Grave

****(out of 4 stars)

The Thing from the Grave is a Tales from the Crypt episode from the second season. It originally aired back in May of 1990.

Stacy (Teri Hatcher) is a sexy model who is engaged to a jealous and arrogant agent, Mitch (Miguel Ferrer). Meanwhile, Devlin Coates, (Kyle Secor) is a photographer who loves taking pictures of Stacy. Soon, he begins to fear Stacy's well being with her abusive agent. He gives her a necklace and promises to protect her. Devlin also offers a place for her to crash and she excepts, not a first, but only after a beating by the hands of Mitch. The two delve into a relationship and begin to fall for each other. I know, I know. There's a familiar formula with all of these episodes.

Mitch is constantly trying to win Stacy's love back. He fails. Numerous times. When he finally realizes all is finished he does the only real logical thing that he can think of - kill Devlin. He lures Devlin out to a remote location on the grounds that Stacy is in trouble and in need of help. Once Devlin arrives, he's double-crossed by Mitch. Mitch shoots Devlin and buries him.

With Devlin finally out of the picture (no pun intended) Mitch tries one last time to rekindle the love he and Stacy once shared. No dice! As the episode comes to a close, Mitch has his sexy ex tied to a bed and ready to kill her. He confesses to killing Devlin and burying him. However, in a different shot we see Devlin rise from the grave in an attempt to avenge his lover. The zombie Devlin chases Mitch into the woods, and soon is met with an ugly demise as the dead Devlin buries he and Mitch in the grave.

This episode was directed by Fred Dekker. Many of you may know some of his other notable films: The Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps. This is basically a zombie episode. And one told in a short, concise way that entertains to the fullest. Like many other episodes, we are dealing with the same formula. Most of the time it has to do with money, deceit, murder and love. In these morality plays our bad guy always gets it in the end. Mitch was that guy. Even though he is shown killing the love interest in a fit of jealousy, by the end of the episode he meets the same demise. It's irony at its best.

I've always been a fan of Miguel Ferrer. It's just his demeanor and the way he handles himself in front of the camera. It seems he's been type casted as that asshole, arrogant, son-of-a-bitch character for most of his career. He's got a funny line in this episode when Devlin kindly persuades Mitch to leave the photo shoot. Mitch explodes saying, "Why don't you take this nice, long lens of yours, get it nice and covered with Vaseline and shove it up your fucking ass! Get some shots from the inside of your asshole, hotshot." Fucking brilliant. Miguel Ferrer never fails to entertain me when he's on screen. This episode gets my highest recommendation and Miguel helps cement my opinion.

Cast: Teri Hatcher, Kyle Secor, Miguel Ferrer

Written for the Screen and Directed by: Fred Dekker

Original Airdate: 5/8/90