Creepshow 2 (1987)

NIGHT 7

       "Thanks for the ride, lady"

Creepshow 2 (1987) is an anthology horror film sequel to Creepshow (1982). Creepshow 2 is directed by Michael Gornick who was George A. Romero's cinematographer on the original Creepshow.

Creepshow 2 contains three stories written by George A. Romero and based on Stephen King short stories. It also has a strange mostly animated framing story that follows around a boy who reads the (fictional) Creepshow comic.

The makeup and special effects in this film are definately not as good as the original, but they're not at all bad either. I think my favorite thing was the lake monster, I have no idea how they did that and it looked amazing. I also love the way they did the makeup on people when it attacked so it looked like it was eating the flesh right off of them. Really awesome stuff!

The acting is good all across the board here (which seems kind of rare for an anthology film.) Every actor in the film seemed to have a good casual acting and then then also a good 'scared' acting too, which sounds weird to say but sadly I've noticed in a lot of horror films the actors are pretty bad at pretending they're freaked out.

The worst thing about the writing in this film is the dialogue. It's clunky, people say stuff no one would really say out loud and worst of all it throws off the otherwise capable actors.

I like the fact that this film has an animated framing story, I just have no idea what the point was! The animation itself is actually quite terrible, and the story just kind of meanders and follows this boy and doesn't really have a point to it.

My favorite thing about this movie are the stories. This film only has three stories and they're definitely quality over quantity. It helps to have three stories because they get a full thirty minutes each and nothing seems rushed, and you have plenty of time to get to know the characters. They all kind of fall into the horror movie stock ending of "and everybody died!" but at least its fun along the way getting there. I think my favorite story was The Raft but they're all very enjoyable. I think this is the first time since Tales from the Crypt (1972) that a movie on this list actually seemed to capture the same feeling as reading the old EC Comics stories that a bunch of these movies are tributes to, so in that regard this film is definitely more successful than the original Creepshow.

I'm in the minority that thinks that Creepshow 2 (1987) is far better than the original. I think I like the concept of the original Creepshow, but I think it was pulled off a lot more successfully in Creepshow 2.

3.5/5 Stars.

 Happy watching!




This review is part of my 2014 run of 13 Nights of Macabre Movies! Tune in tomorrow as I review the (widely accepted) unofficial sequel to this film Tales from the Darkside: The Movie .

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Creepshow (1982)

NIGHT 5

       "You can't shoot us dead, Richard... "

Creepshow (1982), is a horror anthology film written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero. The film contains five stories that are inspired by the EC Comics horror publications.

The film is connected by a brightly animated sequences and bookended by a an additional story about a young boy who is not allowed to read a horror comic called Creepshow.

Nearly the first thing you will notice about Creepshow is that it contains these flashy comic book style animated sequences and transitions. All of this stuff works, it's a bit over the top, I'm not sure these brightly color animated sequences best represent the black and white horror comics this film is trying to pay tribute to? It can just be a little over the top is all I'm saying, 'we get it.... it's a comic book.'

The stories in Creepshow aren't bad, like the rest of the film they're over-the-top and sadly they kind of fall into the problem of being very bland because they're trying to represent all-too familiar horror tropes, without adding anything new. Honestly this film would have been better if they just stuck to actual EC Comics stories either literally [much like Tales from the Crypt (1972)] or just adapted them from the seed of a comic story. What's weird is the dialogue throughout is very what I would call 'young slang,' this is far different than the tone of the original comics so I have to wonder what Mr. King was trying to do? Was he trying to attract a young audience for the film with silly dialogue? "Meteor shit!"

I like George Romero's direction in this film. It's very simple, nothing is really that complicated or unique but its all very straight forward and effective. He does one really interesting that you may not even notice on the first watch, every time he's showing something supernatural he adds an unnatural light to the characters and the scene much like what Mario Bava did on Black Sabbath (1964) over twenty years before. I'm not sure Romero was copying Bava because they both use it differently, but the end result really does help link the film together with it's brightly colored animated sequences.

The worst and most over-the-top thing about this film is the zany acting. All of the characters don't act like humans, which is not only distracting but it makes it hard to relate to them. As a viewer you end up laughing more, which I'm not sure was the original intention, but I think this is why the film is such a cult classic among horror fans.

My favorite things about the film are makeup special effects and props. I'm not sure if it's because this is the first film on my list that was created in the 80s or if its because a young Tom Savini was in charge of them? Either way its definitely a good reason to check out the film and makes me sad that they don't belong in a more 'serious' horror film, rather than the madcap film that is Creepshow.

Creepshow (1982) folds under any kind of a critical eye, but it makes up for a lot of that by being a whole bunch of fun.

3/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




This review is part of my 2014 run of 13 Nights of Macabre Movies! Tune in tomorrow as I review the film version of The Twilight Zone produced by Stephen Spielberg and John Landis, Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).

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The Vault of Horror (1973)

NIGHT 4

       "Do you think that our fears, could be some kind of warning?"

The Vault of Horror (1973), also known as Vault of Horror, Further Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Crypt II, is a British anthology film directed by Roy Ward Baker and produced by Amicus Productions. This is the sequel to Amicus' Tales from the Crypt (1972), and like that film The Vault of Horror contains five stories almost entirely taken from the pages of the long-running Tales from the Crypt EC Comics anthology.

Five men walk into an elevator, which then goes directly to the basement floor despite no one pressing it. When it opens they find a gentleman's club, and they find themselves 'trapped' there. Making the most of it they sit down and have a drink and start to talk, each man starts to talk about strange dreams they've been having recently.

The stories in Vault of Horror are all quite good, much like Tales from the Crypt they picked stories that translate well on screen. The direction in them is less good than that of the previous movie, but it is effective. I think my favorite story is the second one, "Midnight Mess" it's simple and silly and very amusing.

The acting here is not bad over all, if anything it leans on the bland if nothing else it starts to blend together but that's more to do with the casting, but more on that in a second. Sadly this is the only Amicus Horror anthology that doesn't have Peter Cushing, and it could have probably benefited from his consistently strong performances. Instead, here we have Tom Baker, (Yes, Whovians the fourth Doctor!), and while he's about as diverse as the cast gets (because his hair isn't gray?) his acting saves a story that I probably wouldn't have like otherwise!

One of the things I can't not see about this film is how it seems mildly sexist. At the very least this film should be an argument for diversity in casting, because I can't imagine a film with a cast made up of a bunch of old white men really getting that diverse of a following. I'm even a (soon to be old) white man and I felt dirty watching this!

The framing story of this movie is quite boring if you've seen Tales from the Crypt, which okay yes I did watch them back to back but the films came out a year apart in their original release, so I can't imagine many people saw these movies farther apart than that! It's the SAME exact formula only done worse because there's no Crypt Keeper! It's like they set out to do something different but in the end just looked at the original and copied it point by point.

The Greatest thing about The Vault of Horror is the way the stories ramp up and with each one they get more peculiar and strange as they go on. This works super well so much so that I wasn't really feeling this movie from the beginning (you'll realize it's a rehash of Tales from the Crypt, pretty darn quickly) but as the movie went on my interest was raised with each story!

The Vault of Horror (1973) is not terrible, but I'd probably always pick watching Tales of the Crypt over it. It ends up less as a sequel and more like a rehash.

3/5 Stars.

Happy watching!



This is part of my 2014 run of 13 Nights of Macabre Movies! Tune in tomorrow as I review a different take on a tribute to the EC Comics with the original Creepshow (1982).

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Tales from the Crypt (1972)

NIGHT 3

       "Who's next?"

Tales from the Crypt (1972), is an British anthology horror film directed by Freddie Francis and produced by Amicus Productions. It contains five stories all detailing the strange occurrences of someones death. The stories are also lifted from the EC Comics publications: Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear. 

Five strangers get seperated from their tourist group as they are visiting old catacombs. They encounter a hooded, old Crypt Keeper who tells each of them a story.

The acting overall in the film ranges from bland to good, that's kind of what you get with these kind of movies with such large casts. I think my favorite acting coincides with the darkest stories of the film the third story, "Poetic Justice" and the final "Blind Alleys," these are both really messed up and dark stories but they both wouldn't have been as effective without the strong acting preformances.

I would say the film is a little dated. It's definitely not as flashy and fun or exciting as some of the other ones on the list I'm reviewing this season, but there's plenty of other reasons to watch it.

And the effects are one of the places it's most evident, some of the makeup and props hold up but all of the 70s special effects look very tacky today.

Easily my favorite thing about Tales from the Crypt is the framing story. I love how the viewer is just as confused as the main characters at the beginning and if you're paying attention you start to realize the stories all involve death. Then you notice the characters who die are the ones represented in the cave and by the time you realize what's actually going on the film ends. It's everything I liked about the framing device in The House that Dripped Blood (1970) but pulled off much more successfully!

And (as if that wasn't enough) the stories themselves are really good too. It's hard for me to pick a favorite because I enjoyed them all! There's lots of films now that are tributes to EC Comics but this film is the first one that actually makes me feel the same way reading the comics do. These are very dark stories, really not intended for kids at all and nothing is held back. I absolutely love them, honestly all horror films should really strive to be as good as the stories featured here in Tales from the Crypt.

Tales from the Crypt (1972) is a great example of what an anthology films should be and the stories, all taken directly from old horror comics, still work beautifully to this day.

3.5/5 Stars.

 Happy watching!




This review is part of my 2014 run of 13 Nights of Macabre Movies! Tune in tomorrow as I review this film's sequel The Vault of Horror (1973).

Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film through these fine links: