What's Cookin'

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.

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

These "Tales From the Crypt" episodes are really hit or miss. The really good ones are sinfully funny and entertaining but there are a fair amount of stinkers in this anthology series. Which season is best I have no idea but this fourth season overall is above average.

"What's Cookin'" is a pretty neat episode. It combines gross out gore, outrageous humor and some impressive talent in the acting department. Christopher Reeve probably had a field day playing his role, he doesn't display that much range here but we all know what he was capable of and he does well here. Judd Nelson, while not a favourite by a long shot, is OK here and Meat Loaf has a "tasty" cameo.

The story, as in most "Crypt" episodes, is fairly simple and the twist ending is rather predictable but it's fun to watch. This time around, the bad people don't get their just desserts but the one that's even worse does. That's mostly fair, right?

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.

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.