Review of Creepshow (1982) by Mark H — 08 Nov 2017

Ah, Creepshow. A cult (and mainstream?) hit that may be the best anthology film ever made. I enjoy The Twilight Zone movie very much, but this is a really effective, well-made and mostly scary and funny collection of short stories.

Only the cruelty of story #3 and silliness of story #5 keep this from being a 5 star review. The first tale, "Father's Day" is a solid, by-the-numbers story of revenge-from-the-grave, with the Patriarch of the family coming back, literally, from the grave to have his cake.

It's got good acting, and is scary and funny. A great choice to start this movie. The second short is about simpleton, Jordy Varrell. He is a simple, poor hick who lives alone in the country in an old farmhouse.

He drinks cheap wine, and watches pro wrestling on a tiny, old t.v. He discovers a meteorite, which opens, oozes goo on him, which then starts growing a deadly space-moss. It's funny, and weird, but pretty good.

Another good choice to put this simple, very short story second. The third story is well cast, well acted, and is again about revenge from the grave. But this story is not the same as Father's Day.

This one is cruel. Unlike the patriarch in Father's Day, who died because he was a mean, old, bully, the victims here who come back to life were killed because of an affair. And they are killed in VERY cruel fashion.

At least they get their "justice." I guess. The fourth story is the best. The Crate is a great story, slowly built up to the scares, and is very funny too. I was really afraid of The Crate when I was young.

The fifth and final story is simple. A wealthy, cruel magnate is holed up in his sterile penthouse, where he keeps everything and everyone out. Except, it's infested with roaches. The scare factor here depends on your feelings about roaches.

It's an ok story, but the weakest of the five. They could have ended this movie after The Crate, and it would have been a stronger film. It's also quite long, at 2 hours. Well cast, well made, and with five tales, it's a full film.

A classic.