In 1982, George A. Romero directed one of the decade’s best Stephen King adaptations in Creepshow. An assembly of multiple spooky stories, not a dud in the bunch, it was integral in bringing about the rise of anthology horror films and TV series. But, like with HBO’s Tales from the Crypt, which came to be later in the ’80s, the thanks should really go to the EC Comics of the ’50s. Regardless, Romero’s Creepshow is what established the horror-comedy stylings that worked on screen and led to Tales from the Darkside, its movie adaptation (which was more or less Creepshow 3), and the aforementioned Tales from the Crypt.
Videos by ComicBook.com
More recently, though, things came full circle with Shudder’s Creepshow, effectively reversing Darkside‘s small to big scene trajectory. This series, developed by Greg Nicotero (makeup effects artist for Day of the Dead, Evil Dead II, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, The Walking Dead, etc.) is a true delight for horror fans. But like with any horror anthology, some stories are better than others. What follows are five top-tier segments that are must-watches for anyone in love with ’80s horror.
5) “Baby Teeth” (Season 4, Episode 6)
Outside the rare exception, each episode of Creepshow is divided into segments, each one about 22 minutes in length. “Baby Teeth” is the final segment of the series and, as it turns out, it went out on a high note.
Now, Creepshow was a series blatantly held back by budgetary limitations, but that gives it its ’80s-esque charm. It also still managed to bring some wonderful practical effects creations into the mix, including the monster that arises from some wisdom teeth in this episode. This one is basically the overprotective mother aspect of Carrie mixed with Chucky’s final attack on the Barclays in the original Child’s Play.
4) “Public Television of the Dead” (Season 2, Episode 1)
The first half of Season 2’s debut, “Model Kid,” is a pretty solid mixture of “Revenge on mean stepdad” fare and love for the Universal Monsters classics. But it’s still not half as good as the second half, “Public Television of the Dead.”
In this second segment we see Creepshow incorporate a true-blue classic horror film IP: The Evil Dead. We get the Necronomicon, we get Deadites, we get Sam Raimi’s brother, Ted, as the first of said Deadites, it’s necessary viewing for any fan of Raimi’s beloved franchise.
3) “The Man in the Suitcase” (Season 1, Episode 3)
Whether it’s the original Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside, or Tales from the Crypt, horror anthologies are at their absolute best when there’s a deeply flawed, even evil or cruel character who gets their comeuppance. Of the Creepshow episodes that go this route, and there are quite a few, there’s a solid argument that the second half of the first season’s third episode is the best.
Basically, a college student comes home to ask his dad for more cash. But once he arrives home he discovers he left the airport with the wrong bag. That’s not an odd occurrence, but it is surely the first time the wrong bag is stuffed with a man bent in an unnatural position. As it turns out, the man is a djinn, and whenever he his hurt he spits out a coin. Soon, the young man’s two friends get involved and, unlike him, they have no issue beating the tar out of the djinn as long as they can get more coins. Too bad that decision is going to cost them more than a thousand gold coins.
2) “Night of the Living Late Show” (Season 2, Episode 5)
“Night of the Living Late Show” is essentially Creepshow‘s version of Tales from the Crypt‘s “You, Murderer,” which incorporated footage of Humphrey Bogart, then long dead. In the case of this Creepshow episode, however, we go a step further, being placed alongside Justin Long’s Simon Sherman right in the middle of the 1972 movie Horror Express, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
“Night of the Living Late Show” is the only episode of the series that is dual length, save for the special “Shapeshifters Anonymous.” It justifies its length by having its protagonist get as wrapped up in this virtual reality world as we are. That said, he probably should have gone without hooking up with Countess Petrovski, because that’s something his wife (D’Arcy Carden, giving the best performance of the episode) won’t stand for.
1) “The House of the Head” (Season 1, Episode 1)
On the whole, the pilot of Creepshow is one of the series’ best episodes. The first half of it, “Gray Matter,” with a story by Stephen King and performances by Saw‘s Tobin Bell, Giancarlo Esposito, and John Carpenter favorite Adrienne Barbeau, is a nice little small town-set creepfest.
But it’s the second segment, “The House of the Head,” is the apex of the series. We follow Evie, a young girl who spends a lot of time interacting with her dollhouse. But she begins discovering the family in the dollhouse being in positions she did not leave them. Worse yet, there’s now a severed head in the dollhouse, and when Evie is out of the room it takes to decapitating her dolls. Frightened of the thing but resolved to defeat it, Evie picks the head up from the dollhouse and chucks it across the room, at which point it grows to human size. With that, the girl has her parents give the dollhouse to a yard sale, where it and the severed head sit waiting for the next kid it’ll terrorize. It can be tough to have an entire narrative rest on the shoulders of a child actor but, thankfully, Cailey Fleming (IF, The Walking Dead, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) knocks this out of the park.
Have you watched Creepshow? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of MAPPA -
Image courtesy of Daybreak Game Company
