Shudder Day: 'Tales From the Crypt' Meets The Terminator!

 As stated before, I wasn't allowed to/didn't get to watch the original Tales from the Crypt when it ran.

I'm weird enough as it is, so it was probably for the best.

With that in mind, I want to look at an Episode that is quite famous for the unique person who Directed it.

This is 'The Switch'...

A rich guy- William Hickey the OG Puppet Master- has so much, but he doesn't have the thing he really wants...

Kelly Preston.  I can't blame him, even if she wasn't exactly a good lady in the last thing I saw her in.

He wants her to love him for himself and not his money, so he never tells her about his wealth.

She can't marry him, however, because he looks old.

Desperate, Hickey tries a few logical options before just going to a Mad Scientist.

I'd say this is silly, but this is Los Angeles.  There have to be a few (besides Bruce Campbell) if all of those Shows about botched plastic surgery are a thing.

Hickey gets the young man's face and...I'm torn on which outdated reference to use here.

Does he look like Max Headroom?
Does he looks like someone from the Land of Confusion Music Video?
Does he look like the Fake Crispin Glover from Back to the Future II?

You decide!

She's happy with the new face, but his body is old.

He can fix that, even if it costs another $2 million!

He ends up spending all of his money to fully replace his body and goes to marry her, but she's gone!

He finally tracks her down and learns that she really wanted someone rich to take care of her.
The guy he (now fully) switched bodies with fits the bill, since he has all of Hickey's money!

The End.

A fun Episode with a moral, even if it is not the usual one you'd get.

I suppose you could argue that it is 'Be yourself,' but the whole thing hinges upon the lady you want being a 'gold digger.'
I guess they could have been happy- Anna Nicole Smith sure seemed to be for a while.

This is the only Episode to be based on an actual tale from the original Tales from the Crypt Comic Series.  The rest are from other EC Comics.

Turning the whole thing from a simple quest for youth into a quest for peak physical perfection is probably a big reason that its Director got involved.
You get some less recognized people Rick Rossovich and Roy Brocksmith here, as well as Hickey.  Don't forget that his Butler was Alfred on Birds of Prey- Ian Abercrombie.

Yes, he was also in Puppet Master III, so we have two Full Moon Actors here.

The whole thing has a pretty simple gimmick, but is memorable for the execution and, as noted, the man behind the Camera...

A fun Episode, even if the twist won't shock you all that much.  This one works on its own AND happens to be a historical oddity due to its Director.