Main cast: Lee Arenberg (Marty Slash), Katey Sagal (Ms Kilbasser), Iggy Pop (Himself), Sam Kinison (Marty’s Conscience), Al White (The Police Officer), and John Kassir (The Crypt Keeper)
Director: Jeffrey Price
The Tales from the Crypt is a campy kind of comedy that incorporates some horror and suspense, all in a tasty, macabre manner. If you look at the series in that way, For Cryin’ Out Loud is a great example of what makes that show work.
The episode opens with Marty Slash actually pushing the priest and the wardens out of the way as he gleefully jumps onto the electric chair. He buckles and belts himself up, and urges them to hurry up and fry his brain when he’s not mocking someone, or something, that only he can see. And he fries away with a smile on his face. What is going on here?
Well, to find out, we cut to two years earlier. Marty is actually a concert promoter. He complains to the doctor that he hears buzzing in his ears, but the ear specialist can’t find anything inside his ears, claiming that the buzzing may be caused by Marty’s constant exposure to loud music. He also advises Marty to quit the rock music business. Well, won’t he be glad to know that Marty has planned to do so that very night. You see, he organized this concert by Iggy Pop and the Leather Weazl (yes, really, and that’s really Iggy Pop himself) in a room in his place (yes. his place – the neighbors complain about the noise), supposedly to raise funds to save the Amazon rainforest, but he’s planning to pocket the proceeds and run away with them.
Unfortunately, the buzzing in his ears soon becomes a voice – his conscience, perhaps – that begins nagging him incessantly for daring to steal the money. Worse, a banker shows up, catching on to Marty’s plan and wanting her share of the money too. Between her and the increasingly obnoxious voice in his head, poor Marty soon doesn’t know which way is up or down anymore.
This episode is Lee Arenberg’s show to make or break, and boy, does he act up a storm, playing this horrible, conniving scoundrel that is nonetheless so much to laugh at. He does have a case for wanting to steal the money – the poor man is tired of being every spoiled rock diva’s punching bag. At any rate, Mr Arenberg’s facial expressions and laughter are priceless here. He sells the entire episode, and is so awesome in the process. Katey Sagal is pretty fabulous too as the supposedly mousy banker who sees an opportunity and seizes it, revealing her inner Baroness in the process. And Sam Kinison does an excellent job playing a genial voice in the head that soon becomes menacing when his instructions are not followed.
All in all, For Cryin’ Out Loud won’t be the most logical or sensible thing ever, but it sure is a hell lot of fun!
