Creepshow (1982) Revisited – Horror Movie Review
It’s so very hard to consider any movie perfect. Looking at rankings like IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, or other cinema scores, you will be hard pressed to find a consistent 10/10 or perfect score on something. Go deeper and it’s damn near impossible to unite a fanbase into something or find something genre specific to align in the right ways for it to become a universal classic. The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, The Lion King (animated, not new wave CGI), and a handful of others can be used as examples, but what about horror? Horror is nearly as divisive as the Marvel or Star Wars fan base with even more options to choose from when you break down the various subgenres. For me, anthology films will always hold a special spot, and I have always sought them out. The problem with many of them is that they range from undercooked to flawed but fun. It would take two titans of horror who shared a love of a certain forbidden comic publisher when they were growing up to give us what is rightly considered to be the perfect anthology, often imitated but never matched. Grab your mail-in voodoo dolls as we revisit the best to ever do it. 1982’s Creepshow.
Stephen King and George Romero were born seven years apart in the turbulent decade of the 1940s. EC Comics was founded right in the middle of their births, premiering in 1944 and had a litany of styles and topics to cover. Futuristic sci-fi, Westerns, war, and crime and suspense would always bring in readers of all ages, but it was their horror output that would leave the most lasting impression. The triple threat of The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, and of course, Tales from the Crypt would not only bring in younger readers that saw it as forbidden fruit but also change the very landscape and trajectory of censorship and comics in general. King and Romero had been friends as they both rose in the horror ranks, King with short stories published in magazines as well as novels like Carrie and Salem’s Lot, and Romero with his first two “Dead” movies along with cult classics like The Crazies and Martin. An opportunity to work together appeared through Warner Bros and they took the chance.
A lot of people misunderstand what Creepshow is. On the outside, it appears to be a George Romero adaptation of a King work like we would get many years later in The Dark Half, a movie doesn’t really feel like Romero, nor does it stand the test of time as a good King adaptation. Creepshow is actually a labor of love and a true collaboration between friends who know what the heck they are doing. 3 of the 5 stories are written directly for the screen by King while two of them are taken from short stories that fit both the anthology format and the vibe of EC comics to a T. While there was a book for Creepshow, it was created in conjunction with the movie and even the two previously published stories had never been assembled in a King book before, only in their originally published formats.
Several things elevate Creepshow into a category of one. The team behind the scenes, what ended up on screen, and its legacy. The team behind the scenes includes everyone from the previously mentioned heavyweight writer and director, but also the actors and the special effects. The cast for the movie is perfect in their short appearances. They don’t follow the path of some anthologies by having them play multiple roles across the movie’s runtime and they all fit right in. Starting with the framing story you have King’s young son Joe Hill who would go on to be a massive horror author in his own right as well as the legendary Tom Atkins. Atkins appeared in two big horror movies in 1982 with the other one being Halloween III and Warner Bros even moved Creepshow‘s release to AFTER that sequel as to not directly compete with it. This opens and closes our movie with its short and to the point exploration of what this movie is going to be about. Good but flawed characters meeting grisly ends, and absolutely rotten people getting exactly what they deserve, something that is the very essence of the comics that the movie is trying to replicate. You also have a cameo from Tom Savini who is one of the men that brought the stunning effects to life on the screen and get to see those effects as well as the production design and cinematography that tie everything up in a gory little bow.
The 5, yes 5, stories that make up the movie proper also have great performances. Father’s Day, which was originally a Mother’s Day tale that had to be changed with the release of the Troma classic, boasts a collection of character actors with one standout in the funky dancing Ed Harris. Harris may seem out of place here until you realize that he worked with Romero in the strange jousting biker tale Knightriders. When you first see him, you might expect his caliber to lead him to the end of the story, but a gravestone and psychic zombie have other ideas. King himself takes charge in the second story and while he isn’t a great actor, his ability to play Jordy Verrill like a cartoon character with tragic consequences holds true to the movie’s tone. A confidently terrified Ted Danson and hidden zombie survivor Gaylen Ross battle an unhinged Bond villain like Leslie Nielsen. While that sounds like something that could never work on screen, it’s a testament to how well Creepshow works and honestly, why it’s never been replicated. The final two stories follow a scheming Hal Holbrook finding a delightfully gory way to end his marriage to a loathsome woman named Wilma played by Adrienne Barbeau and a villainous E.G. Marshall getting exactly what he deserves as a stand in for the worst possible version of Howard Hughes.
Acting, direction, and screenwriting can carry a lot of the weight but the whole project can topple over without the more subtle visual elements. The cinematography by Michael Gornick makes the journey impossible to look away from while the musical arrangement by John Harrison exudes a sinister tone that is inescapable even when it is on the lighter side. The editing by 4 people, Romero included, gives the film a great flow and brisk feel even when the runtime finishes at a healthy 2 hours. Every ingredient blends perfectly together like a meal at a Michelin star restaurant to flavor the filmgoer’s pallet and keep them coming back year after year. What made it on screen is a once in a lifetime occurrence.
Most anthologies have their weak points. These can be with the actors or screenplay and usually manifest themselves in one or two stories lacking. Creepshow is able to avoid this misstep by perfectly capturing exactly what it sets out to. An overwhelming majority of anthologies try too hard to tie everything together or create a story that’s grasp exceeds its reach. Creepshow has two segments that co-exist and it’s the opening and closing segments. Everything else is just a perfectly executed slice of horror comic glory. The stories perfectly translate from screen to comic tie-in page and back while being able to be viewed as one off segments. Everyone can have their favorite, mine is The Crate by the way, but there isn’t a bad one in the bunch. Never has there been a more perfect representation of source material than these segments and they aren’t actually based on anything from EC comics. While adapting some of the stories could have worked, it’s the mastery of the creators that gave us the best approximations and loving homages that we could ask for. The innocent are punished unjustly and the guilty more than pay their dues with a comeuppance that fits their crimes to a T. Nobody gets out unscathed.
Creepshow‘s legacy is unmatched. It stands tall and alone on top of the anthology pile and, for better or worse, is responsible for quite a lot. The comic tie-in is 64 pages of unabashed fun and is a great pairing with another quirky King property in Cycle of the Werewolf. While that one is longer and slightly more traditional, it was originally a damn calendar in its first run. There would be sequels for Creepshow as well. Some good, like Creepshow 2 and the surprising run that the 21st century TV show had and some bad like the wonky video game adaptation that came recently and the abysmal Creepshow III. It would show that the subgenre could be successful with good reviews from the likes of Roger Ebert among others and a stellar box office return, making 21 million off its 8-million-dollar budget. Sadly, those would not be matched either with future anthologies unable to capture the same magic. Neither King or Romero could replicate their own magic touch with the King centered Cat’s Eye and Romero’s pairing with Dario Argento in Two Evil Eyes being fine but nowhere near the caliber of Creepshow.
Long before the Creepshow TV series, we would get Tales from the Darkside which would give Romero a chance to scratch his itch and also give what I would consider the true Creepshow III in the Tales from the Darkside movie. There’s also simply no Tales from the Crypt TV series or Demon Knight film without the making of this film or fun current examples like the V/H/S series or Tales of Halloween. The movie is so beloved that it eventually received its own feature length documentary in Just Desserts, which is the perfect title. Creepshow isn’t simply a great 80s movie or collaboration between two of the finest horror creators of all time, it’s a love letter to a time long since passed. Where innocence was lost but creativity was gained. It is just as good, if not better, over 40 years after its initial release and everything from its poster to its end credits will draw you in and want to order more off the back of its magazine. Give it another watch but just remember to be leery of any crates from the Antarctic lying around and if all else fails, remember to tell it to call you Billy.
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