Monday, August 2, 2021

Ahead of Her Time

Shelley with her co-stars
in the Tales From the Crypt episode, 
"The Assassin," 1994

Shelley starred in an episode of Tales from the Crypt in 1994. The series was based on the horror comic anthology series of the same name which was published in the 1950s. The crypt keeper introduced and ended every episode during is entire run. Shelley appeared in season 6 in the episode called "The Assassin." She played Janet McKay, the wife of a suspected government assassin gone AWOL, who was finally tracked down and  was going to be eliminated. Shelley gave a fine performance in this must-see episode - as well as Corey Feldman, Jonathan Banks, Chelsea Field and Marshall R. Teague who all appeared in the episode as well. It is currently available on DVD.

Tales From The Crypt The Complete Sixth Season,
Tales From The Crypt The Complete Series, 
released in 2007 and 2017 respectively

In 2019, the blog Genre Snaps gave the episode praise for its storyline, its ultimate twist ending as well as its perfect casting. Of the performers, the blog said, "Of course, Shelley Hack was great. I never understood why she wasn't a bigger star. The others were also very good in their roles. That includes, to my surprise, Corey Feldman. I'm convinced he could still come back big given the chance." Read it at:

Tales from the Crypt – The Assassin (12/07/94)
https://genresnaps.com/tales-from-the-crypt-the-assassin-12-07-94/

In June 28 this year, the site Bloody Disgusting listed it as one of its 5 Tales of Queer Terror from TV Anthologies. It listed it down as one of the past horror anthologies that "are transparent with their representation and help articulate the characters’ frightening life experiences." As it turns out, Shelley's Janet McKay is a character ahead of her time. Read it at:

5 Tales of Queer Terror from TV Anthologies [Series of Frights]
https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3671449/5-tales-queer-terror-tv-anthologies-series-frights/