Black Smoke Tales: Insured To Die

Keith Lakean Powell‘s next installment of Black Smoke Tales wonders what would happen if greed won out over family in the episode “Insured to Die.”

For the first time in the series, we open with Old Man Murphy (Keith Lakean Powell) confronting his protagonist, Craig (Keith Lakean Powell). Murphy describes Craig as a stand-up kind of guy and welcomes him to the last chapter of his story, the one where Craig makes the wrong choice, and things take a horrible turn.

The story begins in the bedroom of Craig’s sister, Alicia (Shanique Powell), where medicine bottles lie everywhere as she loses her battle with cancer. She doesn’t have much time left, and Craig is warned that he needs to see Alicia one last time before she goes. Craig can’t imagine watching his sister die and refuses to go in. Unbeknownst to Craig, their mother has invited Alicia’s deadbeat father to pay his first and last respects. He arrives with a guitar in one hand and, secretly, a life insurance policy in the other. And as loving fathers do, he plays her a song on the guitar, then has her sign the insurance policy, naming him as the beneficiary.

Alicia (Shanique Powell) lies weak and tearful in her sickbed in Black Smoke Tales: Insured to Die.

“He arrives with a guitar in one hand and, secretly, a life insurance policy in the other.”

This is the third episode of Black Smoke Tales that I’ve had the pleasure of watching. Like the first two, it reminds me of the morality tales I enjoyed in The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Yes, Black Smoke Tales is shot on the cheap side, and the sound and camera angles could be a little more professional, but damn, I’m having fun watching these tales.

Yes, cheap has charm. It also helps to have the cast and crew ready to deliver their best performances. As with the other reviews, I’ll repeat my advice. Now’s the time to up your game from camera to editing. Time to study how to use the camera to tell the story and use editing to make your tale sing. You don’t need money to improve in these areas. A well-composed shot will do wonders to make your series look more and more professional.

I highly recommend the Black Smoke Tales series because it does what so few series like this do. It takes an all-too-relatable situation and turns it very dark. The harder the turn, the better.

For screening information, visit the Black Smoke Tales: Insured to Die official website.