An unmade Tales from the Crypt movie, Dead Easy, will receive a table read for charity. The charity will be the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF), which supports working and retired entertainment community members with a safety net of health and social services. The film was intended to be part of a trilogy of feature-length films, which ended up consisting of, in order, Demon Knight, Bordello of Blood, and Ritual.

The original plan for a Tales from the Crypt film trilogy looked very different from what was ultimately made. For starters, Demon Knight was initially planned to be the second film in the proposed trilogy but was made first due to being deemed “the most Tales-like.” It was then supposed to be followed by Dead Easy (later retitled Fat Tuesday) and Body Count.

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While the information on the unmade sequels is scarce, the only thing definitively known about Body Count is that it would have been about a documentarian who discovers his uncle’s dark secret. However, a few more details on what Dead Easy would have looked like have been revealed. In a magazine interview (via LMW), co-screenwriter A.L. Katz said the film would be more psychological than gory.

The film, based on a script by J.P. Kelly, would have been set in the Deep South and concerns a man trying to determine what happened in his past. But, unfortunately, memories of that past will also bring back an evil entity if they were ever to be recalled. So as he gets closer to the truth, he also gets closer to releasing this thing from the prison that is inside of him.

“As a matter of fact, today we wrote a scene where a shadow figure squeezes through the skull of an old lady and into her brain. And that’s just where the movie begins,” said Katz.

According to Bloody Disgusting, co-writer Gilbert Adler had an interview with Fangoria in 1996 where he said that Dead Easy ended up becoming too scary. As they rewrote it, the film became more intense while much of the humor was lost. Adler said that they always felt that an important part of Tales from the Crypt was that it would scare people, then make them laugh.

“We will be creating a unique bad guy—one you’ve never seen before that is compelling and funny. It will scare the s**t out of you.”

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According to rumor, the script, which called for a large cast of African-Americans, ended up being produced with a cast of entirely white actors due to being deemed more commercially viable. So even though the film was finished, producer Joel Silver stepped in and locked it away out of fear of being labeled a racist.

Again, that’s just a rumor. The cast list for the table read has been released and consists primarily of white actors. This far, the actors involved in the table read consist of Sean Astin, Jake Busey, Tia Carrere, Brett Cullen, Leslie Zemeckis, Chelsea Rebecca, and John Kassir. Several of those actors have already appeared in episodes of the show.

Cullen was in one of the earliest Tales from the Crypt episodes. “Only Sin Deep” was the fourth episode of season one. The plot of that episode concerned a narcissistic former prostitute, played by Lea Thompson, who ends up selling her beauty to a pawnbroker. Cullen plays the wealthy bachelor that she ends up hooking up with.

Carrere was in the third episode of season four, titled “On a Deadman’s Chest.” That episode was about a rock musician played by Yul Vazquez, who absolutely hates the wife of his band’s guitarist. He gets a tattoo of the wife, Carrere’s character, on his chest, at which point things start getting really interesting.

Kassir was in the eleventh episode of season five, “Oil’s Well That Ends Well,” about two con artists, played by Lou Diamond Phillips and Priscilla Presley, who target a group of southern gentlemen, one of whom’s played by Alan Ruck. During the outro for the episode, the Crypt Keeper took the time to compliment Kassir’s performance, especially his voice.

Busey was in the eleventh episode of season six, “Surprise Party.” The episode’s plot concerns a man, played by Adam Storke, who inherits a house that should have been abandoned, only for a party to be in full swing. Busey plays one of the guests at the party, who ends up confronting the new homeowner.

You’ll have the opportunity to see the cast perform on December 13 at noon PST. To get the private YouTube link, you need to donate any amount to the MPTF at https://mptf.com/donate/, then send your receipt to DeadEasy2022@gmail.com. You should receive the link the day before the event, which will also be the last day to donate.