Tales From The Crypt: M Night Shyamalan To Revive The Crypt Keeper

Horror on television is enjoying a revival, and it seems TNT has grown tired of being one of the few networks without something to attract horror fans. The network has settled a deal to feature an M Night Shyamalan-produced reboot of the 90s hit series, Tales from the Crypt, as just one offering from a two hour block of horror.

Tales From The Crypt Will Draw Upon Classic Comic Book Stories, As Well As New Material

The rebooted series and the original series share the same name as the EC Comics, written by William Gaines, and the new series will draw some of its ideas from the source material, just as the first series had done. Additionally, Tales from the Crypt will also incorporate new, original stories into the fold.

While TNT is generally unfamiliar with the horror genre, executive vice president in charge of original programming Sarah Aubrey realizes this is an untapped demographic for the network and is something they need to capitalize on. She also realized that TNT would need expert help to do it right and, for that, she called on the expertise of M Night Shyamalan.

“This is a new genre for us in our series efforts and a great chance to partner with M Night Shyamalan, whose blockbuster hit The Visit reminded movie audiences and critics this past summer that he truly is a master of horror.”

Shyamalan will serve as an executive producer on the new Tales from the Crypt series. If the rebooted series follows suit with the original series and fills a thirty minute time block, that will leave 90 minutes to TNT’s two hour horror block, but there’s no mention of what other shows the network is considering. It would be interesting to see what original programming they could introduce. Maybe they could revive Joe Bob Briggs’ Monstervision.

M Night Shyamalan Brings Strangers To The Visit

Last year, Shyamalan returned to the thriller genre, after exploring his interests in science fiction with 2013’s After Earth, and gave us The Visit. The 2015 thriller, which Shyamalan both wrote and directed, is about a brother and sister who spend their vacation with their grandparents, only to find that they are acting strangely and becoming increasingly frightening.

For the film, Shyamalan deliberately chose to cast actors who weren’t yet famous. As a director, he feels that casting is one of his most important duties and, as such, The Visit director wouldn’t allow anyone else around him throughout the auditions and decision making process, because he didn’t want to be influenced.

The story itself is both a family drama and a thriller, as was the case with Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), and is shot in the found-footage format from the perspective of teenager Becca (Olivia DeJonge).

In filming The Visit, Shyamalan tried to build suspense with more than just plot twists.

“It wasn’t just about the twist,” M Night Shyamalan said. “In the moments of dark comedy, I wanted people to be thinking: ‘Am I supposed to be laughing or appalled? I can’t really tell. But I like it.'”

The director of The Visit says that Becca learns something about herself and about life by the time the film concludes. In the beginning, she takes her aspirations for filmmaking too much to heart, but, after everything she goes through, Becca sees that she shouldn’t take her dreams so seriously. She learns that filmmaking should be fun.

“At first, she is striving so hard to make something of art and beauty,” Shyamalan said, “and finally she says: ‘You know what? Let’s just have some fun.'”

[Featured image by HBO/EC Comics]