Creepshow

I think it's pretty clear that the amount of enjoyment you get out of this movie is directly related to how sick your sense of humor is. Those people with a fairly low tolerance for sick humor, such as myself, won't particularly like it, but people who thoroughly enjoy horror cheese like "Tales From the Crypt" should LOVE this.

Now, even though I personally don't like this movie, I have to admit it is very well made. Everything is perfectly over-the-top: the music, the gaudy colors, the makeup--it's all done to the point where it is totally ridiculous, which is what King and Romero want. And I must admit I did like the segment "The Crate." How can you NOT love a giant ape-monster running around tearing people to bits? Sick, sick stuff, but enjoyable all the same.

If you like gruesome black humor, this is the movie for you. "Creepshow" is shock schlock at its very best. And as an added bonus, it is not very well known today, so it can have a wonderful "What the hell are you WATCHING!?" effect on other people.

8/10 stars.

This movie is divided in five stories, conducted by a leading segment where the stressed father of a boy that loves horror comic books throws his Creepshow magazine in the garbage. The wind changes the pages and discloses the tales listed below.

"Father's Day" - While waiting Aunt Bedelia (Viveca Lindfors) for a dinner party, the greedy family recalls that she killed her own father seven years ago. Now her undead father returns from the grave as a zombie expecting to eat his cake. This segment is weak, and it is curious to see Ed Harris performing a minor role. (6).

"The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" - The redneck farmer Jordy Verrill (Stephen King) finds a meteor in his property in Castle Rock County and dreams on selling it for the local university and raising a large amount. However he is affected by the meteor and strange weeds grow-up on his body. This segment is the silliest and the greatest curiosity is Stephen King performing the lonely farmer. (5).

"Something to Tide you Over" - Harry Wentworth (Ted Danson) is forced by the revengeful Richard Vickers (Leslie Nielsen), who is the former husband of his woman Becky Vickers (Gaylen Ross), to go to Comfort Point beach and to bury himself in the sand. Then he brings a television and a VCR to show Becky buried in the same conditions. With the high tide, their heads are submerged for the pleasure of the insane Richard. However, on the next night, he is visited by a couple of zombie lovers. This dark and claustrophobic segment is the scariest one and the only flaw is the lack of previous development of the characters. (9).

"The Crate" - When the janitor of a university finds a crate hidden below the stairs, he reports his findings to Professor Dexter Stanley (Fritz Weaver). They open the container and soon Dexter finds that there is a hunger creature inside that devours the janitor and another scientist. When the disturbed Dexter tells to his colleague and friend Henry Northrup (Hal Holbrook) what happened, Henry sees the chance to get rid of his bitch wife Wilma Northrup (Adrienne Barbeau). This segment is the funniest, and the situations of Henry imagining killing Wilma are hilarious. (8).

"They're Creeping up on You!" - The mean and selfish Upson Pratt (E.G. Marshall) lives in an expensive bug-proof penthouse and treats his employees like garbage. During a blackout, his fancy apartment is infested by coach roaches driving Pratt to a tragic end. This gruesome tale is simple but nasty, with many coach roaches. (7).

The lead segment ends with the boy using a voodoo doll to provoke pain in his father.

This is the third time that I watch these entertaining horror tales, now on DVD. I only regret that there are no sequels of these great stories. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Creepshow"

Note: On 27 Aug 2020, I saw this film again.

George A.Romero("Dawn of the Dead","Day of the Dead","Martin")after huge success with "Dawn of the Dead" directed his another masterpiece-an anthology of five short stories called "Creepshow".The script was written by Stephen King,and the special effects were made by F/X wizard Tom Savini("Martin","Maniac","The Prowler").The first story "Father's Day" is so-so-nothing special,but the zombie looks terrific;the second story "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verril" is the funniest,Stephen King steals the show as a Jordy,a goofy farmer,who finds a strange meteor;the third story "Something To Tide You Over" is my favourite-it's ghastly,creepy,funny and a little bit disturbing,again great make-up of the drowned zombies;the fourth story "The Crate" is the longest and goriest-there's a lot of suspense and plenty of gore mixed with black humour.Finally we are getting to the last story "Creeping Up On You"-an enjoyable story about cockroaches with some rather gross special effects.Overall I must say that I love "Creepshow"-surely they don't make them like this anymore.This is a REAL horror,not a teen-oriented garbage like "Scream" or "Urban Legend".Check it out.

Despite some major problems (mainly contained in Stephen King's uneven and often heavy-handed script), this is still a pretty fun attempt to bring 1950s EC horror comics to the big screen. One of the best things about it is director George ('Night of the Living Dead') Romero's creative, vivid direction, that captures the bright color schemes and comic book framing to a tee. Each tale has a different horror theme usually tempered with some comedy and ranging from a rich patriarch returning from the dead to get revenge on his obnoxious family to a meteor that causes an outbreak of vegetation to a fanged, ape-like creature that's been locked away in a crate for decades. All five of the tales presented, despite some missteps, offer up good gory fun. Some of the acting is good, too, particularly Adrienne Barbeau as a heavy drinking, obnoxious faculty wife who gets what she deserves, Hal Holbrook as her hen-pecked husband and E.G. Marshall as a wealthy, obsessively clean old jerk who is savaged in his futuristic apartment by a legion of cockroaches. Talk about flesh crawling! Tom Savini's special effects are great, as usual.

"Creepshow" is a unique, funny, and creepy horror anthology from Stephen King and George A. Romero. The film centers around five stories - consisting of a murderous revenge tale of a father on fathers day ; a redneck (played by Stephen King himself) who begins growing a green substance on his body after coming in contact with a meteor ; a man who buries his wife and her lover up to their heads on the beach as the tide begins to come in ; a strange monster that lives in a crate that was discovered beneath a stairway ; and a Scrooge-like businessman who lives in a purely sanitized apartment that can't get rid of pesky cockroaches.

Each of the stories displayed in this movie are a little bit corny to a certain extent, but they are still well done and are quite amusing. There is a very good cast, including Ed Harris, Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson, Adrienne Barbeau, and E.G. Marshall, whom all give good performances in the movie. The whole movie is tied in with the classic E.C. comics from the 1950s, each story as if it were from a comic book. I thought that whole comic aspect was pretty unique, and I liked the stories in the film ("The Crate" is by far the best of them all, the one with Leslie Nielsen is my runner up for second place).

Bottom line - if you are expecting some serious, intense horror movie, this is not for you. This movie isn't scary at all, I watched it when I was very young and it failed to even scare me then. "Creepshow" is a comical, campy, and well-done horror anthology. I only recommend it if you like this sort of thing, because it is more comic than horrific. Otherwise, it's really quite good for what it is. 8/10.