The Man Who Was Death
starring William Sadler
directed by Walter Hill
Niles Talbot (William Sadler), the executioner at the state prison, loses his job after a law is passed banning the death penalty. He decides to take the law into his own hands and becomes a vigilante, killing people who escape justice but eventually he gets caught and is executed in the same electric chair in which he used to execute criminals.
Thoughts
I'm not that crazy about this episode. It feels kind of flat. There was an excessive amount of narration. It didn't excite or scare me. It didn't make me laugh or bring a smile to my face.
This episode is an adaptation of a story from Crypt of Terror 17 (May 1950). That story was written by Gardner F. Fox who created some well known comic book characters and superhero teams but whose comic book stories usually don't do much for me.
William Sadler has been in a number of movies that I have seen including Iron Man 3 (2013), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Roadracers (1994). A couple years after this episode aired he played the Grim Reaper in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (1991). This is the first of two episodes of Tales from the Crypt in which he appeared.
Director Walter Hill was also the executive producer of Tales from the Crypt. This is the first of three episodes that he directed. He also directed a few movies that I have seen including 48 Hours (1982), Streets of Fire (1984), and Red Heat (1988).
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