Creepshow (1982)
Directed by George Romero
Starring Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E.G. Marshall, and Ted Danson
A young boy is reading a spooky comic called Creepshow. His father catches him and slaps him around for reading it. The father throws the comic in the trash while the kid curses his father. Just then, the kid hears a noise at the window and goes to see what it is. The eerie apparition from the comic book is tapping at his window, segueing into the stories from the comic. There is tale of a Father’s Day filled with bloody retribution. There is the story of Jordy Verill, whose luck changed when he found a crashed meteor. A creepy quarrel between a psychotic husband and his wife’s lover leaves both of them all wet. A university Professor finds the answer to his home life in a forgotten, forbidden crate. And finally, a wealthy and wicked businessman gets what is coming to him by a swarm of antagonistic cockroaches.
There is absolutely no reason to dislike this movie. It is directed by George Romero at the top of his game, with a screenplay by none other than Stephen King. The collaboration was not done to cash in on their pairing. This movie came about because both Romero and King love the horror publications of EC Comics. They have absorbed what made those books unique and managed to distill it into a movie better than any attempt before or since. There is an undeniable feeling while watching Creepshow that this film is a labor of love.
More so than any other movie inspired by EC Comics, Creepshow accurately captures the real feel of those comics. It has that dark humor, the snark, and that patented twist ending that gets you every time. To cement the connection even further, each segment ends with the comic-like transition. The colors become vibrant, the background a swirl of action lines, and the frame turns into a comic panel. It is fun and adds to the overall aesthetic nicely.
The acting is fantastic across all the stories. Ted Danson and Leslie Nielsen play well off each other in their twisted game of Simon Says. Hal Holbrook manages to convey weary defeat and morbid delight in equal measures. Only Stephen King himself contributes a mediocre performance. He plays Jordy as a caricature country bumpkin, which gets grating after a few minutes. Luckily, it does not hamper the quality of that segment and it is over fairly quickly.
The makeup and special FX hold up well. The makeup runs the gamut from drowned zombies to a man infested with alien flora. The details are excellent: you can see the extent of a corpse’s rot and so much more. And the creature animatronics are outstanding. The beast in the crate looks authentic and has a very interesting design. The whole movie is a visual treat.
If you love the work of either Romero or King, you need to see Creepshow. If you yearn for a nasty little piece of work to satisfy your sick tastes, you need to see Creepshow. No matter how you boil it down, you need to see Creepshow.
10 out of 10
