What's Cookin'

Fred (Christopher Reeve) is a cook down on his luck that works with his wife Erma in a restaurant that has only a squid based menu and they are on the verge of closing. One day everything changes with the help of the place's janitor Gaston (Judd Nelson) that leaves some steaks in the fridge and prepares them for a passing policeman. The cop finds them delicious and so they make others. However, after a while Fred finds out where the steaks come from: Gaston killed his landlord Mr. Chumley and butchered him. So Fred has no other choice than letting people killed for the boost in the sales and the restaurant's reputation, but one night Gaston will finally have his deserved punishment.

While the subject of cannibalism may scare some viewers, here doesn't because it's treated in a subtle matter and there are only 1 or 2 graphic scenes. Christopher Reeve (here after his Superman days were over) gives a convincing performance and Judd Nelson is very good as the sleazy villain as he did in STEEL a few years later. A very nice episode all around.

This is my forth favorite tale in the series, the plot line is uncannily similar to the 80's horror film "Blood Dinner" where humans are on the menu. The episode isn't really so much a horror though there is an element of it, it's more like a black comedy.

Judd Nelson is solid as antagonist Gaston as you can tell just like the floors he cleans his psyche isn't clean. This guy is a psychotic slime that is just slithering his way to take Fred's business and life. Art Laflour is also good as the fellow cop, he has this dry comic tone to him. Bess Armstrong is good as Fred's wife there is a good back and forth between both Fred and her.

However to me what I really liked is Christopher Reeve one of my favorite actors and I'll admit I was really surprised he would even be in an episode of this show, but then again there are a lot of other things I'm a little surprised certain actors are in.

I really liked his character whom is a man with big dreams but just a lot of bad luck. Let alone he's probably barking up the wrong tree using squid as a sole selling point (he probably should've made it a sea food restaurant like Ivar's). He really does have potential to make it he just needs a chance, and he gets it in one hell of a way. We can see that Fred is morally conflicted with the new position he's been given, where he is enduring success beyond his wildest dreams despite the dire price paid.

And of course things get really hot when we see Gaston gets greedy and then seizes an opportunity to go into business himself. But as an old saying goes it's a dog eat dog world.

Rating: 4 stars

This episode is often rated as the best the series ever did. I don't know if I'd go that far but it definitely deserve to be listed in the upper echelon. It isn't anything that we haven't necessarily seen before but it's just done with such finesse that it's always a pleasure to watch.

Thought it was written really well with an ending I didn't see coming but am really happy with.

Now this is exactly what I expect and hope to find in a "Tales from the Crypt"-episode! A fun and undemanding story, some gore, morbid black humor and familiar faces in unusual roles! "What's Cookin' features it all! The late Christopher Reeve stars as an unsuccessful restaurant owner with loads of debts and no customers for his cephalopod-dishes. When merciless landlord Chumley threatens to throw him out, homeless employee Gaston comes along with a wonderful recipe for steak and saves Fred and Erma's restaurant! The steakhouse rapidly becomes the hottest joint in town, but what exactly is Gaston's culinary secret? And where has Mr. Chumley gone all of a sudden? You guessed it; pretty much like in Paul Bartel's cult-favorite "Eating Raoul", human flesh is served as a true delicacy here and everyone is ordering seconds! This is a very amusing entry in the Crypt-series, neatly directed by Gilbert Adler who was one of the principal producers of the entire franchise. The plot offers no surprises but the acting performances are enthusiast and there's a fair amount of action. And they can say whatever they want about vegetarianism but those steaks looked extremely good and gave me the munchies! Christopher Reeve, Art LaFleur and Meat Loaf are all great in their roles and especially Judd Nelson seems to have fun as the supplier of fresh meat! This episode ranks top 3 best "Tales…" of the whole fourth season.