Tales From The Crypt: Dig That Cat… He’s Real Gone (S1.E3, 1989)
In the Tales From the Crypt episode “Dig That Cat… He’s Real Gone,” a man given nine lives from a cat turns death-defying stunts into fame and fortune—only to discover the cost of greed when the lives start running out.
Tales From the Crypt: Dig That Cat… He’s Real Gone
Director: Richard Donner
Country: USA
Directed by Richard Donner—known for such hit movies as The Omen (1976), Superman (1978), The Goonies (1985), and Lethal Weapon (1987)—”Dig That Cat… He’s Real Gone” tells the story of Ulric (Joe Pantoliano), a man with the ability to resurrect himself after death.
The episode opens at the Big Top Carnival, where a sideshow barker announces that the “Undying Daredevil” plans to be buried alive for 12 hours before resurrecting himself. As he locks himself in the coffin, he recalls the bizarre events that led him here. He was homeless when Dr. Emil Manfred (Gustav Vintas) approached him and offered him a chance to make a fortune. The man had discovered that cats possess a gland that grants them nine lives and proposed grafting it into Ulric’s brain.
The surgery was a success, and to test the results, Manfred shot Ulric in the head. After a brief death, he revived, proving the procedure worked. With eight lives left, the two teamed up to create a lucrative sideshow act, where he would be drowned, hanged, electrocuted, or shot, only to come back to life in front of a live audience. The act was an instant hit, making them both wealthy.
However, driven by greed, Ulric deliberately caused a car crash to kill the doctor, allowing him to keep all the money from their future performances. When he had only two lives left, he planned one final act.
But as he now prepares for the coffin stunt, he remembers that the cat from which Ulric received the gland had already died once, meaning he only had eight lives, not nine. Panic sets in as he realizes he is on his last life—but it is too late.
Where to watch Tales From the Crypt episode “Dig That Cat… He’s Real Gone”
At the moment, Tales From the Crypt is not streaming on any major streaming platforms. However, you can pick up the complete series DVD box set on Amazon.
If you don’t mind lower video quality, you can also watch the “Dig That Cat… He’s Real Gone” episode on YouTube.
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About the Author
Vanessa Morgan is the editor of When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampires Movies, Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children, and Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies. She also published one cat book (Avalon) and four supernatural thrillers (Drowned Sorrow, The Strangers Outside, A Good Man, and Clowders). Three of her stories became movies. She introduces movie screenings at several European cinemas and film festivals and is also a programmer for the Offscreen Film Festival in Brussels. When she is not writing, you will probably find her eating out or taking photos of felines for her website, Traveling Cats.
