Creepshow (1982)

I know what you're saying... "ANOTHER Romero movie on here?!?"  However, as I was suggesting some cool Halloween-themed films/TV shows for some friends, Creepshow popped into my head.  Now, after a quick glance through the Constriction Pictures archives, I cannot believe that I haven't yet written about this flawless film that may be, for all intents and purposes, THE most important Horror film in my life (after all, the "C" in our logo comes from the original poster of course!).

From what I can recall, Creepshow is most definitely the very first Horror film I ever saw; and it was probably right after it premiered on either HBO or Cinemax in the early to mid-80s, so I was likely at the impressionable age of 2 or 3yrs old when I saw it.  For some reason though, I remember watching it with my parents multiple times . . . even though I was completely terrified!  Knowing my parents, they wouldn't have let me continue to watch it unless I insisted so, despite the nightmare fuel that it was, Creepshow was required multiple viewing in my house!

Two things in particular immediately come to mind when I think of Creepshow or utter its title; the zombified Nathan Grantham in the "Father's Day" bit and Fluffy from "The Crate" story.  Whenever either of these two creeps would pop up on-screen, I'd find myself cowering behind my Dad's back on the couch, plugging my ears and clenching my eyes as tightly as I could!  To this day, even John Harrison's music cues for these sequences make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! 

Will someone get this man his cake already?

Fluffy:  The real star of Creepshow!

Working from an original Stephen King screenplay, the film tells five, separate tales (with an overlapping wraparound segment) which all perfectly capture the spirit of EC comic titles like "Tales From The Crypt", which it lovingly pays homage to.  The film itself is a quintessential Dream Team of Horror that finally paired up George Romero and Stephen King (after years of casual friendship and a stalled discussion on adapting The Stand for the big screen); also along for the ride and handling special make-up effects is fellow Monster Kid, Tom Savini -- so really, Creepshow is an all-star feature! 

Horror's Dream Team!

The wraparound story begins near Halloween Night, with an ominous jack-o-lantern peering out from the living room window of a house that could have just as easily been yours or mine.  Genre vet, Tom Atkins, does his best "stern tough guy" act here on his young son Billy (played by Stephen King's real life son, Joe, no less) who has been caught red-handed reading some "Horror crap" in the form of a Creepshow comic book!  Right away, Billy's bedroom recalls the very bedroom of any self-proclaimed Monster Kid and reader of Famous Monsters of Filmland or Fangoria -- lots of cool Horror posters and monster toys & model kits (see if you can list 'em all!).  Almost as quickly as the story begins, Atkins throws Billy's comic book "right into the friggin' garbage" as his son seemingly makes a deal with The Creep by muttering under his breath, "I hope you rot in Hell."  Of course, this story is wrapped up ghoulishly in the film's final moments before the end credits roll...


Is he serious?  No, he's Joe King.

"Father's Day" is the first proper story of the film; here an upper crust clan on par with the Kennedys eagerly awaits the arrival of their Great Aunt Bedelia.  To entertain themselves, family members recount the day Bedelia murdered her abusive & overbearing father and the rest of the brood covered it up.  Since that fateful day ten years earlier, Bedelia has made it a point to always visit her father's grave before settling down for a nice cooked ham dinner.  Of course, since this is Stephen King and George Romero, sometimes you just can't keep a bad guy down . . . especially when he wants his Father's Day cake!   Truth be told, I still tense up when Nathan is slamming his cane against the arms of his wheelchair declaring "I. Want. My! Cake!"


"The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill" sees King in his acting debut (not counting the brief "Hoagie Man" cameo he and his wife Tabitha share in Romero's Knightriders) as a durn'd fool idjit who stumbles upon a crashed meteorite on his farmland.  King shines believably -- if not slightly over the top at times -- as Jordy's curiosity gets the best of him.  This is also a fine example of Creepshow's dark and twisted sense of humor found in those old EC comics!


Perhaps one of the best quote in movie history!

"Something To Tide You Over" features a pre-Cheers Ted Danson who's been caught red-handed in an extra-marital affair by a jealous, murderous husband played by Leslie Nielsen, the real star of this piece!  Some nifty water-logged zombies return for revenge in this short's final reel!

Believe it or not Ted Danson was, in fact, in Creepshow!



Leslie Nielsen is right:  farts are funny!

In what is perhaps Creepshow's standout story, "The Crate" features Adrienne Barbeau as an over-bearing loudmouth wife to Hal Holbrook's sheepishly intellectual Henry . . . and a mysterious, nearly 150yr old crate that's been tucked away and forgotten under a university stairwell.  Of course, within that titular crate is ferocious little Yeti which eats a few people, including Barbeau's Wilma (she should haven't just told it to call her Billie though)!  More on this one in a bit...

Wrapping things up is "They're Creeping Up On You", which is sort of a one-man play featuring E. G. Marshall as a Howard Hughes-esque reclusive germaphobe.  His supposedly germ-proof penthouse is suddenly besieged by millions of cockroaches, culminating in one of Creepshow's most gruesome moments!  It's interesting to note that, as a kid, while watching Creepshow on WPIX-11's annual "Shock-tober" Halloween Horror Marathon, this fifth story was almost always cut for time (as a feature, the film clocks in exactly at 120mins); so when I finally mustered up the courage to pick up a VHS of the film, seeing this story in all its creepy-crawly glory was a treat!


As I watched Creepshow the other night while getting into the Halloween spirit, one thing stood out:  it very well may be one of the first "proper" comic book movies.  Granted, comic books had been a source of inspiration for movies well before this film but, aside from the campy POW!'s, BIFF's, and KRACK's of 1966's Batman: The Movie, I can't really think of any other film that fully embraced its comic kitch and style.  There are some really great comic book panel transitions and great usage of colored lighting gels to suggest particular moods, along with some excellent comic book boarders framing (as well as behind) the action as it unfolds!  Of course, many years later, both Robert Rodriquez and Zach Snyder would go even further into "a comic book coming to life" territory with Sin City and 300 respectively.

While he was once known as the Screwdriver Zombie in Dawn of the Dead, composer John Harrison really brings Creepshow together with a score that is almost equal parts synth and traditional (albeit hauntingly beautiful) piano combined with stock cues from the Capitol Library.  The stingers that Harrison came up with for whenever Zombie Nate or Fluffy appear on-screen still make my hairs stand on end!  Much like the film itself though, the score's highlight is definitely "The Crate", with its seemingly endless piano suite that builds and builds to a crescendo, as it could easily stand alone outside of the film.


Out of all the stories in the film, "The Crate" is easily the strongest and, oddly enough, feels like an episode of the syndicated television series Creepshow would inspire, Tales From The Darkside.  Everything in this "episode" really is self-contained and could just as easily stand on its own; Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing it expanded into a feature length . . . maybe go a little deeper into what Billie was doing at her night "classes" or what Dexter Stanley did with the beautiful, young co-eds he was constantly flirting with.  Or not . . . as it is, it's pretty damn near perfect.  The stars came together and made one of King's best written works, Romero's most slick and well-crafted piece, and features the first time Savini would branch out from plain old gore while scratching that itch effects guys always seem to have to build creatures! 

Speaking of Fluffy . . . for the longest time, for some damn reason, I always thought Fluffy was a Tasmanian Devil....never really connected the dots between, ya know, Artic Expedition and a Yeti.  It wasn't until I first visited Walt Disney World in 2008 and rode Expedition Everest that I made the connection . . . in fact, the last time I went on the ride, I was genuinely creeped out by the Yeti's appearance at the ride's conclusion! 

Fluffy's Dad:  Dinsey's Everest Yeti!

One last thing that solidified Creepshow as one of the be-all, end-all of nightmares . . . what is now known as the common video artwork was also a theatrical poster.  The comic book poster that I used at the start of this piece is a personal favorite, as I have that poster; however the other, more common artwork messed me up as a kid!  You see, this poster used to hang on the wall of my older cousin's bedroom and, man, it terrified me!  Now that I think about it, what made it even more terrifying was that it was real . . . kinda.  You see, growing up in New Jersey, there was a local amusement park in Pennsylvania called Dorney Park (it's still there to this day) and my family frequented it quite a bit.  One of their oldest rides there was a combo dark ride/log flume called Journey To The Center of the Earth.  The ride itself was traumatizing to my young psyche to begin with (a boat ride in the dark...with creepy window-dressings of giant spiders and ogres killing and eating dwarves), but the terrifying part came from where you lined up for the ride itself!  No joke, at the point where you'd initially enter the queue, there was a very familiar looking ticket booth with a robed skeleton covered in cobwebs!  Sadly, the Journey To The Center of the Earth ride is long gone (too soon for me to truly appreciate it at the time unfortunately) and I can't seem to find any pics of the ticket booth....but take my word, it looked pretty damn close to the Creepshow poster!

For being the same age as I am, Creepshow has always held a special place in my heart and memory.  There's always a tendency to use this sort of cliché, but I really did, quite literally, grow up with Creepshow.  In fact, when we started visiting the Pittsburgh area on a regular basis, it was a trip to be able to set foot at some of the locations from the film!

Checking out Billy's house!

Searching for a higher education at Amberson Hall!

Checking for Fluffy...