Creepshow (1982)

'Creepshow' is a loving tribute to the EC Comics of the 50's such as 'Tales from the Crypt' and combines the talents of Stephen King and director George Romero. Keeping with the comic strip tradition, we have an anthology film consisting of five stories. The first tells a tale of revenge from beyond the grave as a snooty family gets attacked by their undead relative in 'Father's Day'. This story I feel is one of the best of the film, and is a great example of what made EC Comics so popular. Many stories dealt with revenge and this could have come straight from the page in how accurate Romero and King are. The next story is a fun and simple one starring King himself as a dopey farmer who comes in contact with a mysterious alien fungus that begins to grow at an alarming rate. This is likely the one most horror fans associate with 'Creepshow', thanks to King's funny performance but also its premise. It takes some talent to turn something as ordinary as grass and fungus and make it scary or something that could hurt you, but this story nails it while adding in some black humor to make it the most entertaining sequence of the film.

We then have a tale of a jilted lover (played by comedian Liam Nelson) who takes his vengeance on his wife and her new lover, only for it to come back to bite him hard. This is also another great example of the source material and what would become a template for many episodes of the 'Tales' television series. I don't feel this was as strong a segment as 'Father's Day', but still some fun stuff here and out of all the stories, it has the most serious tone and genuine tension as Nelson slowly takes out his wife and her new beau. The next segment is the longest but a little more mixed in my opinion. It seems 'The Crate', a story about a mysterious box containing a vicious monster seems to be the most beloved story when the film comes into discussion and honestly I don't quite understand why. The film isn't bad or anything, it's a simple monster story with some great special effects work but that's really about it. The monster isn't nearly as unique as Tom Savini's other creations and overall I just didn't understand why this is the longest story. While I am critical of 'The Crate', I think the weakest segment of the film is the final one. It's about a germaphobe who gets attacked by cockroaches and really that's it. It's gross out gags and that's about it, and this even feels like the cheapest story, only being in one big white room the whole time. It's pretty weak to end such a great film this way but thankfully we do have a fun wraparound story involving a young boy (played by King's son) getting revenge on his father after he punishes him for reading 'Creepshow' comics.

Anthology films always have issues with consistency and it seems we'll never be able to find one that's completely flawless but 'Creepshow' is probably the closest we'll get. Even after these many years, it's one of the funnest horror films you'll come across and is a must see for fans of the genre.

4/5