One would imagine that a film written by a master horror scribe responsible for terror filled tales such as "The Shining" and "Carrie" and helmed by the man who directed "Night of the Living Dead" should have a great deal of horror potential. Yet 1982’s "Creepshow" had different intentions.
Based on and/or inspired by the EC Comics that became popular in the 1950’s with serials such as "Tales From the Crypt," the film has more of a macabre comic book feel to it, from the way the five short stories develop to the characters within them and even the camera angles, onscreen titles and other visual effects that are present.
Balancing campy humor with horror-induced, nervous laughs, the short stories are the equivalent of modern day morality tales -- circa the early ‘80s -- where various characters get their comeuppance for past misdeeds and/or current behavior.
Although most of them now seem rather dated -- both due to the intentional 50s-like presentation and the fact that far more entertaining and/or shocking black comedies/horror flicks have come along -- and the characters never develop beyond nor escape their comic book trappings, a few of the stories are still "fun" to behold.
In particular, one featuring Leslie Nielsen (when he was starting to make the transition from playing the heavy to the goofy comedian of the "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" films) and Ted Danson (right at the beginning of his successful run on TV’s "Cheers") is clearly the best. Playing off the universal fear of drowning, the moments of seeing characters buried up to their chins in the approaching tidal surf is sure to elicit chills and dark thrills.
The others, however, don’t play as well. From one featuring a murdered man’s revenge and need for some cake (despite the presence of a young Ed Harris), another with Hal Holbrook figuring out how to get rid of his wife, Adrienne Barbeau, and one featuring author and screenwriter Stephen King proving that moss does indeed grow on wooden figures, the stories aren’t particularly great or noteworthy.
The last one, though, featuring E.G. Marshall doing a "germophobic" Howard Hughes bit and a great gross out effect featuring a large supporting cast of cockroaches, is certain to drive anyone with a fear of such critters truly crazy and ends the film on an appropriate macabre note.
Popular enough to lead to the similarly toned "Tales From the Crypt" series that ran on HBO for several years, this title may please fans of that show, of comic book style films or even those who enjoy seeing performers in roles preceding their later star turns.
For everyone else, however, the film and its stories probably look and feel too antiquated to generate much interest in casual viewers. As far as the disc itself, it similarly suffers from the same "aged" problem, with both the video and audio being far from pristine and exuding an overall worn feel. Supplemental materials -- a lone theatrical trailer -- aren’t particularly noteworthy, but one shouldn’t really expect any extra treatment for a title like this.
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
