Creepshow
Creepshow is one of my favorite horror anthology movies. It’s hard to find an anthology movie where most of the stories are pretty good. Usually it’s a mixed bag of good and bad. But all were good but one and that was still decent. Just not my favorite.
Photo Credit: United Film Distribution Company (UFDC)
Released: Nov 10, 1982
Runtime: 2 hrs
Director: George A. Romero
Writer: Stephen King
Actors: Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielsen, Adrienne Barbeau
PLOT
An anthology which tells five terrifying tales inspired by the E.C. horror comic books of the 1950s.
MY THOUGHTS
Instead of an overall review, I’ll just go over each story.
Father’s Day (4.5/5)
One of the better stories in this anthology. This story was written specifically for the movie. It’s about a family who gets together to celebrate with each other on Father’s Day. Only, there’s a dark family secret that this year will come out into the open. A young Ed Harris plays the husband of one of the grandchildren. And, possibly, one of the few who is likable. With him, the audience learns about the rumors of Aunt Bedelia losing it. The special effects are pretty good when it comes to the gory effects of Nathan Grantham.
The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill (3/5)
This is not one of the better stories in my opinion. This story is based on a Stephen King short story called Weeds. It’s about Jordy Verrill (played by the king of horror writing Stephen King) who is a bit slow, who discovers a meteor on his property. All he sees is the money he can get for selling it. Unfortunately it cracks open and starts taking over Jordy and the property. Stephen King is the primary actor in this with a few day dreams of a doctor he can sell the meteorite to and one of his dead father. This is a heavy load to carry for someone who isn’t an actor. It’s decent as far as Jordy’s quick descent into madness. But I felt like there’s something lacking in this episode.
Something to Tide You Over (4/5)
This story was also written for the movie. It’s a revenge story with a twist in the end. Leslie Nielsen plays a cruel rich guy who discovers that his wife is having an affair. He devises a sadistic punishment that he inflicts on both people for some time before it ends in death. All happens on a quiet and deserted beach that he owns. I definitely think their deaths are one of the top 5 worst deaths that can happen to you. But, at least he gets his just desserts. Both Leslie Nielson and Ted Danson (who plays the lover) do decent jobs with their roles.
The Crate (5/5)
I do think The Crate is the best story out of all of them. It’s based on a short story called The Crate. An unlucky janitor finds a crate under the stairs at a university. He calls up one of the professors to check it out. After they open it, they discover an ape-like creature in it that is still alive and hungry. A few gruesome deaths later, and the professor goes to a friend's house to tell him what happened. This friend, Henry (Hal Holbrook) has his own issues with his alcoholic and abusive wife. Henry concocts a plan to kill two birds with one stone. Hal Holbrook as the meek and mild abused husband was very believable. Adrienne Barbeau (yes, the great scream queen herself) plays the alcoholic wife and Fritz Weaver plays the scared professor. Between the great acting, good story, and the special effects, this makes the best story out of all in this anthology. Did I mention the blood? Plenty of that in the kills.
They’re Creeping Up On You! ( 2.5/5)
I would have to say this story is my least favorite out of the whole anthology. This was written for the movie. I would find myself distracted while watching it. I get that he was a bad man and he got his in the end, but it was just meh. The effects at the end when the cockroaches came out of him was pretty cool. E. G. Marshall, who played the cruel rich guy, did a good job convincing me he was an asshole. But overall not really a good story.
The Wraparound story
A young boy (Joe Hill-Stephen King’s son) gets into trouble by his abusive father (the great Tom Atkins) for having a horror comic called Creepshow. He hits his son and throws out the comic. That night he hears a noise and it’s The Creep. Each time he shows up a new story starts. At the end two garbage men (one being Tom Savini) find the comic and one of the ads is missing. The ad is about a voodoo doll. Next we see the dad at the table for breakfast, not feeling well. The boy is in his room with a voodoo doll, sticking pins in it. Everytime he does that, his father feels pain.
Overall a really good anthology series. I really liked the use of colors like reds, blues, and greens in most of the stories. Also, I liked how at the end of most of the stories they used a comic book panel to end it. I liked The Crate and Father’s Day the best, but the rest of them are pretty good as well, except They Are Creeping Up On You. Not a fan of that. If you haven’t seen this anthology movie, I highly suggest you watch it.
And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:
While he was all business in his scenes, Leslie Nielsen had a fart machine in his pocket during the shooting. He would let it go off during rehearsals, and just before Director George A. Romero would call "Action!", causing Ted Danson and the crew to crack up with laughter.
During Fan Expo Canada 2015, George A. Romero had said that the cockroaches were the most expensive part of the movie, stating that the cockroaches cost fifty cents a piece, and they used more than two hundred fifty thousand of them, a grand total of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars on roaches alone.
Ted Danson, who played Harry Wentworth in "Something to Tide You Over" said in a television interview that his daughter was on the set during the scene where his character returns from the dead, encased in rotting flesh and seaweed. He purposely tried avoiding his young daughter, out of fear of scaring her. Finally, despite his best efforts, she went up to him, looked at him and simply said, "Oh, hi, Dad."
Rice Krispies were used as maggots on the corpse's eyes in the first story, "Father's Day". In addition, real maggots were also utilized.
The marble ashtray (which plays a major role in "Father's Day") is featured in all five of the film's segments if you look closely. 1 "Father's Day" - was the weapon. 2 "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" - next to the cash box at the Department of Meteors. 3 "Something to Tide You Over" - on the nightstand next to Richard's bed. 4 "The Crate" - on the writing desk when Henry writes the letter to Wilma. 5 "They're Creeping Up on You!" - the soap dish when Upson Pratt is washing his hands. 6 The wraparound story - on Billy's desk when he first starts stabbing the voodoo doll.
During a break in filming, Stephen King took his son to a McDonald's, and as a joke, Joe was made-up with bruises, cuts, and scabs. The girl at the drive-thru window called the police when she saw him.
Stephen King had an allergic reaction to the make-up he had to wear for Jordy Verill's transformation. He was subjected to shots and medication "so the work would be bearable."
Fluffy, the creature from "The Crate", was the first fully animatronic creature Tom Savini had created. He spent over an hour and a half on the phone with Rob Bottin (effects artist from The Thing (1982), The Howling (1981) and Total Recall (1990)) getting advice on how to build this.
This is one of four films that Adrienne Barbeau and Tom Atkins co-starred together. The other three were Escape from New York (1981), The Fog (1980), and Two Evil Eyes (1990). In all four films, they never appear together on screen.
Check out my other reviews here: Forever Final Girl
Let’s get into the rankings:
My Overall Rank: 4/5
IMDB: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: critics: 7.4/10 audience: 6.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.6/5