I really don't get the second word of that title. Surely "Birth" would have been much more fitting, I guess that may have been the joke.. I love the authentic feel and impressive production values of the rustic, old-world carnival of freaks - such a cruel world that the carnival presents! The atmosphere was what I enjoyed the most about this episode and the physical effects work done on "Enoch" were terrific. The way the second mouth moved and twitched was very well put together. It's no surprise the effects were so good as the director of this was the man who also did the practical effects on Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and he actually designed the Cryptkeeper! I believe the X-Files quietly ripped off the Enoch's design in the brilliant episode called "The Post-Modern Prometheus." I felt really bad for the poor thing, being whipped and locked in a cage just because he looked different, it was kind of tragic and sad..to an extent, the story is very weird! I found the scene touching where the kind little girl gives him the doll. Such sweet heartfelt moments were very rare indeed in this series, and even rarer still when you actually bought them as genuine It was neat how Enoch could speak clearly when he put his mind(s) to it. And of course in classic tradition the real monsters were the 'normal' regular human beings running the carnival. The late Lewis Arquette as the man who introduces the acts sounded strikingly similar to the Cryptkeeper himself! Gore wise, the hedge trimmers to the stomach were a real wince-inducing moment! That's what you get when you dare to hassle a man named "Sickles" twice who is holding such an implement in this! The mummy girl also looked very cool and slimy, the closeup of her eyes was pretty creepy. I wonder why mean old Mr.Sickles getting his manhood cut off would be the trigger that brought her back to life, the mind boggles.... A lot of the show's fans seem to go wild for that little extra surprise at the end, but I personally think it's a little silly. The Cryptkeeper tells the tales, so how could he be 'born' in one? I don't need the character to have some dopey origin, he's the macabre jolly host that wraps the stories together and in his own special way makes them complete, and that's good enough! So, he was never alive to begin with and was always a demented, zinger-spouting walking corpse...cute. Very odd indeed but not a bad little romp at all! It was a very weird and sneaky way of developing a little back-story for our beloved cackling cadaver while still keeping the fine tradition of a separate Tale From the Crypt. Oh, you Keeper!
Review of Lower Berth
