Night 22: ‘Creepshow’ (1982)

This is part of the ‘31 Nights of Horror Classics’ series, which I’ll be doing for Halloween 2017. Every night of this month, I’ll be watching a horror film made before the 90s and I’ll be posting a short review here.

An anthology of horror stories that will make you laugh, cringe, and in some cases…want to sleep with the light on!

Billy (Joe Hill) is chastised by his father for reading a horror comic book called Creepshow. After his father throws it away, he is visited by a ghostly apparition from the book. Soon after, the tales in the pages come to life!

Preceding films like V/H/S or Trick ‘r Treat, Creepshow presents a collection of five short horror stories with a different cast of characters and situations. What’s great about this type of movies is that it allows filmmakers to explore different kinds of horror, and at least one of them will resonate with someone in the audience.

For us, kids from the 90s, the format and style are very familiar to that of Tales from the Crypt. Even the design of the ghoul that comes to the boy’s window is very evocative of the Crypt Keeper. That association alone made me excited about what I was about to watch. Now add to the mix the fact that George A. Romero and Stephen King were the masterminds behind the entire thing, and you get the perfect horror cocktail!

Now, I think it’s only fair to give you a small review for each short story. So here it goes:

Father’s Day: is perhaps the one that feels the most rushed out of the five. However, the zombie theme ends up being effective and scary. We don’t get to learn much about these characters, but what we know is enough. It also has a very Tales from the Crypt-kind of ending that I enjoyed a lot.

The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill: this one was perhaps one of the least effective tales for me, but it was still very enjoyable. Stephen King, whom plays the hillbilly protagonist, is just too fun to watch. And the cheeky ending with the broadcaster’s voiceover is actually very funny and eerie.

Something to Tide you Over: another one I didn’t enjoy as much. The change from a more grounded type of horror to fully supernatural didn’t really work for me. Still, it was fun, and seeing Leslie Nielsen play the villain was amazing! The scary parts at the end were also quite creepy. It took a long time to get there, but it kind of worked.

The Crate: the story was a little crowded, with too many characters knowing and reacting to what was going on. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the somewhat gory scenes and the main plot with the guy trying to get rid of his wife. It has a couple of effective scares, and it’s genuinely creepy –even if it doesn’t make much sense.

They’re Creeping Up on You: if you get disgusted easily…you might want to stay away from this one! What’s fun about this story is that you do feel as confined in that hellish room as the main character. You feel the tension and the repulsion, and you will desperately want it to end!

Overall, Creepshow is a very fun collection of creepy stories. Not much substance, but plain and uncomplicated terror. For those of us who grew up with Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps, it’s a nice callback to a format that is not that common nowadays.

If you want to have fun this Halloween with your friends, I’d say definitely give it a watch!

Grade: 7/10. A mixed bag of horror concepts.

Scare Factor: it has something to scare everyone.

Gore/Violence: yes, sir!

Nudity/Sexual Situations: none that I can remember.

Previous Night: ‘The Haunting’ (‘63)

Next up: ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ (‘57)