Today is a little different because, while we are discussing one movie, that movie is an anthology, with five (or six) different stories! We'll be talking briefly about all of them (except one, which I'll explain later), but we'll mainly be talking about the merits of the movie as a whole. So, without further ado, here we go!
CREEPSHOW (1982)
Blogtober Qualifications: Stephen King, the undead, murder, cockroaches (you think that's a joke?)
Before I get into the review, I'll take a second here to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Stephen King. I love his Dark Tower series, and I have a ton of respect for him as a creator and an author, it's just that I never really got into any of his other work. What I do love, however, is the classic EC Comics horror series, such as Tales from the Crypt.
That's relevant because Stephen King is also a fan of them, and this movie serves as his love letter to them. And, in that regard at least, this movie is dead on. Everything is over-the-top in just the right way. There are genuine scares (at least one of which drew a startled jump from my wife), but they are almost always followed up with a joke, or just something that slightly crosses the edge into silliness. In most movies this would be a bad thing, but here it serves the tone perfectly.
The individual stories are kind of a mixed bag in terms of quality. It's not really worth giving a summary of each since they're so short, but I'll just briefly give my thoughts on each.
The opening serves as the framing story for the whole movie, featuring a young boy reading the in-universe Creepshow comic book. The opening credits animation is gorgeous, and I would genuinely watch an animated series done in the same style. This part is worth watching if only for that.
The first genuine story, "Father's Day," is, in my opinion, the weakest. I still enjoyed it, and it sets the tone well, it's just that the story itself didn't interest me much.
The second story, "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" is almost a comedy, and features Stephen King himself as a backwoods redneck who discovers something dangerous. King does a good job as the character, whose name is just close enough to mine to get a thumbs up. It's not exactly scary, but it's definitely entertaining.
After that is where things really start to shine. The story "Something to Tide You Over" features Leslie Nielsen in an absolutely terrifying role. I know he had serious roles before he became well-known for comedic ones, but if the comedy is all you've ever seen, this is a real surprise. He does an amazing job, and carries what I feel is the best part of the movie. Oh, Ted Danson's here too.
Story number four, "The Crate," is sort of rough. The first half of it features some pretty effective suspense. On the other hand, it also features a character, played by Adrienne Barbeau, who is blatantly meant to be annoying, and she does way too good a job. The second half drags on for a bit longer than I think it should, but overall it's still enjoyable. Though, to be honest, it could've done with answering the questions it raises a bit more.
And now we come to the fifth and final story of the collection. It's called "They're Creeping Up On You!" but before I talk about that, I have an admission to make.
Few things scare me. A lot of people say that, but I mean it when I say that the list of things that cause me to be afraid is relatively short. However, the things that do scare me scare me a lot. The main things are holes, mushrooms, and anything that is usually called a bug. And the absolute worst of the latter is cockroaches. I would rather have to deal with a spider than a cockroach. I don't know why, but it's been that way ever since I can remember. Luckily I now live in a place where cockroaches don't exist.
This is a spoiler, but "They're Creeping Up On You!" features a character drowning in cockroaches. So, with that in mind, I didn't watch it this time around.
Yes, I know I chickened out, and I feel bad about that, but I saw it when I was a kid and that was enough for me. It does feature some really good karmic justice, however, so if you don't have a problem with cockroaches, check it out.
After that we get the second half of the framing story, which brings the movie to a close.
So, overall, Creepshow is enjoyable, here and there. It's worth a watch at least once, especially if you're a fan of the comics it was inspired by. It doesn't just capture the style it's going for, it revels in it. It also features creature and gore effects by Tom Savini, just like Friday the 13th yesterday, but they've aged much better here. I wouldn't watch the whole thing again (obviously, because of that fifth story), but I could definitely come back and enjoy stories two and three.
And I will absolutely be making an animated wallpaper out of that opening credits animation.
Tomorrow we'll be looking at a movie that was actually chosen for the list by my wife, Jessie. It's our first zombie movie of the year, but not the first love story.
Until next time!
Current interests:
Listening - Meat Puppets: Sewn Together (2009)
Playing - Bloodborne: NG+ (2015)
Reading - Abe Sapien: A Darkness So Great (2015)
Watching - Thunderbirds Are Go! (2015)
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