Movie Review: Creepshow (1982)
I want to like this movie more than I actually do. It’s the kind of movie I think I’d normally like. It’s stylish, lighthearted, and pretty clever. It’s very nostalgic, not only now due to its ’80s setting, but even back then, as it seems to reach to the past — the times of monster movies and horror comics and shorts stories — all that stuff.
It’s an anthology movie, so it’s naturally a bit uneven. There are essentially five different short movies, along with a prologue and epilogue featuring a young boy (Joe King) who gets scolded for reading horror comics by his father (Tom Atkins, Halloween III: Season of the Witch).
A lot of the imagery itself is inspired by comic books of the ’50s, making it a much different looking film for director George A. Romero. That’s right, this movie is directed in its entirety by the director of Night of the Living Dead, and he’s not the only horror legend involved. Tom Savini (Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead) does the effects, and the screenplay is even written by Stephen King, with two of the shorts adapted from his previously published stories. Hell, King even stars in one of the segments.
Of the five segments, I really only find two of them memorable, which is definitely a disappointment. The segment starring Stephen King himself, “The Lonesome Death of Jody Verrill,” features King essentially doing a Jerry Lewis impression, playing a hillbilly who encounters growing alien vegetation. It’s amusing if not spectacular.
The best segment by far is “Something to Tide You Over,” which stars two wonderful comedic actors — Leslie Nielsen and Ted Danson — giving legitimately good serious performances. Nielsen has caught his wife having an affair with Danson, and he decides to kill both of them by burying them in the sand on the beach, and letting the tide come in to drown them. He watches them on television from his own home, but they come back as zombies to attack him. It may not sound like much, but it’s effective, largely because of the demented performance from Nielsen.
The other segments are pretty unremarkable, but as usual, Tom Savini’s work is greatly appreciated.
I still appreciate this movie for what it is, but it’s not one I feel the need to constantly rewatch. I like the horror anthology idea, which is now becoming popular again with the V/H/S series. Above all, though, I appreciate this movie’s sense of fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, isn’t afraid to get really goofy like in the King-starring segment, and, despite its occasionally gruesome images, is pretty lighthearted.
Rating: 5/10
