John Carpenter has some range as an actor, as the prologue and epilogue of BODY BAGS makes clear. We've seen him play it straight (THE FOG), but here we get to see him at his best, doing something that seems more akin to what he SHOULD'VE been doing all along: slabstick humor. As The Coroner, he's a wise-ass cracking wise and, in the end, getting his (whether he deserves it or not). His makeup is great (I kept the photo from TV Guide for years) and his timing is flawless. Unlike the rickety puppet that hosted the TALES FROM THE CRYPT series, Carpenter's coroner is a living(?), breathing(?) (g)host with a sense of humor (dark though it may be). It would've been nice to have seen this show continue on as a series (or a series of movies) with Carpenter at the helm. (George Romero's phoned-in job of hosting on the dreadful DEADTIME STORIES gives one an idea of just how good Carpenter's turn was.)
