Creepshow (1982)

Tagline: “The most fun you’ll ever have being scared”
Duration: 120 minutes

Film Quality: 4/5
Gore Content: 3.5/5
Entertainment Value:4/5
Originality: 3/5

Introduction

With George A. Romero briefly linked with an adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’, it got studio execs rubbing their hands at the thought of two masters of horror combining to do a film. ‘Dawn of the Dead’ drew heavily from comic book imagery and King had already expressed his love for the scary DC comics of the 50s. It seemed a logical leap for King to pen five short stories that could easily have sprung straight out of the pages of a 50s horror comic and have Romero on board to direct. The result was one of the best anthology horror movies for years with a readymade wraparound story.

In a nutshell

A young boy has his horror comic confiscated by his strict father who tosses it in the bin. As the wind blows open the pages of the comic, the words and pictures leap out of the screen as we’re treated to five tales of terror from within the animated archive…each with a sting in the tail!

So what’s good about it?

I’ve always enjoyed a good anthology film, particularly the old Amicus classics such as ‘The House that Dripped Blood’ and ‘Asylum’. It’s a brilliant little concept and you know that if there’s a story that doesn’t particularly hold the interest, it’ll be over in ten minutes and another one will start. ‘Creepshow’ delivers marvellously in this regard with five stories, each one carrying a very different atmosphere with the ghostly ‘Father’s Day’, playfully funny (despite the solemn title) ‘The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill’, the slow build creature feature of ‘The Crate’ and the primal fear of insect invasion in ‘They’re Creeping Up on You’.

Romero is clearly having a ball coming up with unusual camera angles, expressionist lighting and filling some of the scenes with animated borders and comic book scribblings to heighten the impression that we’re watching a live action version of the abandoned comic. There are scenes bathed in red during ‘Father’s Day’, plenty of green to reflect the 50s sci-fi trappings of ‘The Loneseme Death…’ and the very stark, over-bright clinical lighting of ‘They’re Creeping…’. Each of these reflects the mood and influence of the stories themselves, whether it’s revenge, nature at work, the sea or fear of infection. Each segment has its own feel and tone, just like a comic book, and there’s something for everyone.

And what a cast! Leslie Nielson, Ted Danson, Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Harris, E.G Marshall, all taking centre stage in their own stories. They all bring something special to proceedings with Marshall hamming it up as a vicious recluse with a bug problem, Barbeau wonderfully obnoxious as an alcoholic matriarch, Leslie Nielson as the murderous businessman and Holbrook brilliantly subdued as the henpecked husband pushed too far. So often the downside of 80s horror, the acting in this film is top notch.

And of course there’s another collaboration between Romero and the great Tom Savini to savour. This is a different beast to ‘Dawn of the Dead’, playing much more in a light hearted with much less of the hardcore gore we saw in Romero’s zombie epic. The standout effect for me is the creature in ‘The Crate’, an incredible creation that doesn’t disappoint during what is a very slow build up. The vegetation and moss covering Stephen King in ‘The Lonesome Death’ is very effective and Savini treats us to some great gunshot wounds and suitably icky effects involving cockroaches. It’s another satisfying coming together of two visionary geniuses who clearly love working together and very comfortable with each other’s styles.

What about the bad?

Watch any portmanteau horror film and there will be a segment that you don’t like. Yes it’s a good thing that a new one will be along shortly but it can be difficult to resist the temptation to skip the one that you’re not so keen on. Personally I have an issue with the opening segment ‘Father’s Day’ which is a little character heavy for a short piece and, consequently slips into the stereotype trap. It’s got fantastic visuals but rushes its subject matter…it’s also a little obvious and its ‘zombies returning for revenge’ plot twist is done far more effectively in the more straight laced ‘Something to Tide Over You’. But it’s all subjective and I’m sure others will have issues with ‘They’re Creeping Up on You’ and the largely comic King vehicle.

It could possibly divide fans as well…not gruesome enough to please the gorehounds, not scary enough to please the fright fans and not serious enough to please the critics. It certainly has a unique place amongst horror fans who see it is a bold and visually striking homage to horror comics in the old tradition of the Amicus and Hammer portmanteaus…but at the end of the day it’s harmless fun.

Any themes?

In the 50s heyday of American comic book history, comics were frequently regarded as having a negative effect on kids, in the same way video games and violent films do now. In the wraparound story, the overbearing and strict Dad can be seen as representing the authoritarians who tried to ban such comics and literally consign them to the dustbin. By reviving the comic book format for the film and showing the child take revenge on the parent through a Voodoo doll ordered via the comic, Romero is taking revenge on those who sought to destroy one of childhood’s great distractions!

These are all morality tales and that means that characters invariably get their just desserts. Many horror films, from slashers to the Japanese-inspired ‘vengeful ghost’ stories deal with such themes. E.G Marshall is terrorised by bugs in the same way his actions suggest he treats ‘little people’, Barbeau’s obnoxious character becomes food for the beast, our zombie father finally gets his cake and of course there’s the wraparound story! You do feel a little sorry for Stephen King’s character though…what did he do to deserve that!!!

Release History

Slightly odd! No censorship issues but various countries saw initial releases missing a story or two, presumably to cut down on the running time. Some TV versions did the same thing, again, most likely to fit a certain timeslot…one version in Spain was apparently cut to such an extent that only ‘Something to Tide You Over’ and ‘The Crate’ remained to reduce the running time to an hour and a half with ads!!!

There is a workprint version available, although the quality is pretty poor and was basically a test screening, edited down to the preferred released version. It’s around 15 minutes longer and the trimmed scenes can be viewed as deleted scenes in the region 2 DVD and blu-ray.

Cultural Impact

It brought the portmanteau film back into popularity and was easily the best of the new bunch, spawning a pretty decent sequel and an awful third as well as some outside efforts such as ‘Freaky Fairy Tales’, and ‘The Company of Wolves’. Just look at the popularity that TV shows ‘Tales from the Crypt’, ‘Vault of Horror’ and ‘Tales from the Darkside’ (created by Romero in 1983, a year after ‘Creepshow’ was released) enjoyed which were basically serialised versions of the combined efforts of ‘Creepshow’.

Such films have made something of a resurgence recently, most notably with ‘V/H/S’ and the sporadic ‘ABC’s of Death’ but the 80s and early 90s picked up the baton from Amicus and Hammer…perhaps we’re due a third wave at some point soon!

Final thoughts

I would happily watch any film that combines the talents of George A. Romero and Tom Savini (who cameos as a bin man!), such moments should be cherished by horror fans. It can be difficult to categorise and is a little uneven at times but it hits much more often than it misses and is the only film I’ve seen (‘Darkman’ comes a very close second) that really captures the tone, feel and look of a comic thanks to the stunning visuals, stylised direction and hammy acting. I really enjoyed this film and, though I don’t always watch it all the way through, in my opinion it is underrated and deserves its place amongst the great 80s horror movies.

Memorable Quotes

Vickers: “I can hold my breath for a looooooong time…a looooooong time.”

Billy: “Daddy, please don’t throw it away…I’m sorry.”

Jordy: Meteor Shit!”

Wilma: “Henry, you’re a regular barnyard exhibit. Sheep’s eyes, chicken guts, piggy friends and shit for brains!”

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

‘Tales From the Darkside: The Movie”, ‘V/H/S’, ‘Creepshow 2’, 'Twilight Zone: The Movie'