Here’s one that makes me feel like a kid again.
Creepshow (1982)
Directed By: George A. Romero (Dawn of the Dead)
The Prologue
Creepshow was given to the world in 1982, a whole year before I was even born. It was a combination of director, George A. Romero and horror writing icon, Stephen King. Featuring some well known and talented actors such as, Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, E.G. Marshall, Gaylen Ross, Adrienne Barbeau Ed Harris, and Tom Atkins. Creepshow, would be a live action take on classic horror comics such as, Tales From The Crypt, The Vault of Horror, and The Haunt of Fear. Overtime this movie would go on to become one of the more loved classic of 80s horror. In 2009, the film would finally come to Blu-ray and behold that’s what I have here today.
The Movie
Five tales of terror are presented. The first deals with a demented old man returning from the grave to get the Father’s Day cake his murdering daughter never gave him. The second is about a not-too-bright farmer discovering a meteor that turns everything into plant-life. The third is about a vengeful husband burying his wife and her lover up to their necks on the beach. The fourth is about a creature that resides in a crate under the steps of a college. The final story is about an ultra-rich businessman who gets his comeuppance from cockroaches.
Divided into five short parts titled, “Father’s Day”, “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”, “Something to Tide You Over”, “The Crate” and “They’re Creeping Up on You!”. Creepshow is also strung together with a bumper of a story about a kid (played by Stephen King’s real life son) and his father (Tom Atkins) who is very upset to find his son has been reading horror comics. This sets the perfect pace for a film that for it’s time really did come across as a live action comic book. It may be cheesy fun, but it’s fun none the less. And with five shorts, you know there just has to be something here for everyone. Even if I kinda feel for the film to be perfect it could have been one segment shorter.
Father’s Day is creepy but effective. The story of a hateful old man and his love for cake, doesn’t give us anything mind blowing, but I’ll be damn if it still doesn’t hold up well today. It’s followed by The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill. Stephen King himself plays a man who runs across a meteorite that has just fallen from the sky. It’s a little silly, but as a kid I remembered it well and I think it may be one of the most memorable from the whole film. The movie then goes into, Something to Tie You Over. I feel this may be the weakest of the bunch, but it does feature Ted Danson and Leslie Nielsen. Still to this day I find it very weird to see Nielsen in a serious role. Next up, The Crate, is perhaps the bloodiest of the bunch. Still is packs a somewhat corny but effective creature. Then the last of the stories is, They’re Creeping Up on You. In this we see another hateful old timer as he finds his house being taken over by cockroaches. If nothing else, it’ll at least make your skin crawl.
When you add everything up here, you have a film that is bloody, is R-rated, but it packs just the right mix of style and feel to make you feel like a kid again. I especially love the style of which the film’s color turns nearly neon in violent moments. It really drives home the comic book effect more. And looking back now, you really could say it’s an odd but all-star cast that makes up the cast of Creepshow. They even have a spot for makeup and effects wizard, Tom Savini. And if you are wondering, YES, Savini also did the gore effects for the film, so you have even more of a reason to love this. As if it didn’t already give you plenty of them.
The Conclusion
The blu-ray transfer for Creepshow is way better than I assumed it would be. It’s not by any means perfect, but it’s a head and shoulders improvement over the old DVD of it I use to have. It still does have some blurry or glared moments, after all the film is pushing 30. I also think the look helps the film keep it’s original vibe all the while still looking ten times better than it once did.
The Rating (8/10)
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