If you already know and love Creepshow, the sequel is something you’ll probably enjoy…in a Jaws 2 or Halloween 2 kind of way. The 1987 American live-action/animated horror comedy anthology film is directed by Michael Gornick and the sequel to Creepshow. Gornick was George A. Romero’s cinematographer on the original Creepshow. The screenplay was written by Romero, the director of the original film. It was once again based upon stories by Stephen King, featuring three more “Jolting Tales of Horror”: Old Chief Wooden Head, The Raft, and The Hitchhiker.
Anthologies were a dime a dozen in the 1980’s. Whether it was smaller mediums like television [Amazing Stories, Monsters] to theatrical flicks [Cat’s Eye, Deadtime Stories], the idea of several mini-films for the price of one was something horror fans were craving, although the general public could care less, which would explain why there has never been a box-office smash from the configuration.
It is a damp morning in Maine as the “Creep” [Tom Savini] is dropping off the latest issue of Creepshow to a newsstand as young Billy anxiously waits for its arrival. As the opening credits materialize, we are dipped into some cheap Saturday morning cartoon animation that reminded me of an episode of Fat Albert. The wraparound story is downright silly as Billy is tormented by a gang of bullies who meet their untimely demise by way of Venus flytraps that the youngster ordered from the comic.
Old Chief Wood ‘N Head takes place in the middle of nowhere at a general store ran by an elderly couple, played by seasoned veterans George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour. The only regular customers they see are the dust and the wind, and an old wooden warrior chief who watches guard in front of the establishment. They have been kind to Benjamin Whitemoon and his people in the impoverished small town, in return, they are loaned some valuable turquoise jewelry as collateral for their debt. Ben’s pompous nephew Sam is on the prowl as he and his low life friends barge into the store and look to rob them for everything they have, as well as the prized jewel. Sam guns them down in cold blood as he is on a path to Hollywood to become a star and get laid, regardless of the order. The chief will have none of this kind of senseless crime as he puts on his war paint and lets out a bone-chilling howl and lays down the law, leaving a trail of blood in his path.
Four horny, pot smoking friends head to The Raft located on a secluded lake only to find themselves trapped as a hungry oil slick that looks like a dirty old man’s rain coat looks to swallow them all. The first death is a grand one as Page Hannah, Daryl Hannah’s sister, pokes her finger into the slime and is pulled into a watery grave. She pops up for a brief moment to stretch out for help, but she is taken over as she disintegrates into nothing. Three are left as the athletic one of the group looks to make a swim for it, but is interrupted as his leg is snapped backwards and his class ring becomes lodged between the wood in the raft. We are left with the nerd and the hot girl as the two try to stay warm as virgin boy makes his way to her breasts as she has fallen asleep. Little does he realize that while he was getting some nipple action that the girl had been chewed on and she is flipped in the water and is eaten alive. He makes one final dash back to land and makes the fatal error to celebrate, only to have the blob rise up like a wave at the beach and wash him away.
A cheating wife hurries home after paying a man whore to give her something she does not get from her husband – multiple orgasms. She drops her cigarette in her fancy car and takes her eye of the road long enough to run down and kill the true star of Creepshow 2 – The Hitchhiker. In true Rod Serling fashion, the deceased man returns from the beyond and is ready for some retribution. She keeps seeing him on the road and figures it is just guilt and she is imagining it all, but the battered guy just wants to say thanks, “Thanks for the ride lady!” Even after she shoots him with her gun and slams her vehicle into him a few more times for good measure, The Hitchhiker does not go down as he hitches a ride under her car and chokes her out in her garage at home.
This is a situation where a movie gets better as it goes on, and at the end of the day, it is the big bad brother of the far superior original. Creepshow 2 has been labeled the black sheep of the series, which is unfair. Obviously, fans who say that have not had the displeasure of sitting through the cinematic abortion that is Creepshow III. Stephen King cameos as a truck driver, and The Hitchhiker himself is not a stranger to getting beaten down as actor Tom Wright returned to anthologies in Tales from the Hood.
Like its predecessor Creepshow 2 has a rich visual palette and some well-drawn animated sequences that play in between each segment and features some gruesome surprises. All in all if you enjoyed the first “Creepshow” give its sequel a look, It’s a satisfying follow-up that retains the same macabre yet spirited tone.
Yuen Biao plays a champion fencer who disposes of his rivals with startling ability. Biao is also a student, writing an essay on the Ming Dynasty, which is received favorably by his tutor, Read more
At a dinner party with their wives, NASA scientist Dr. Keith Ritchie (Tony Huston) reveals to his colleague Dr. Curt Taylor (John Agar) that he has secretly been in communication Read more
In Italy during World War II, an American military patrol discovers a spaceship that has crash-landed in the woods, along with its alien crew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm9fnNfLg8M A nearby Nazi unit also Read more
Directed by Chris Watson and distributed by Troma Entertainment, Zombiegeddon begins as Satan creates a human-like race called zombies. When the zombies begin taking over the world, dirty cops Jeff Read more
Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, Zombie Tidal Wave aims to pick up where the Sharknado franchise left off. More serious in tone, the film plays more like the original Sharknado Read more
Based on Marilyn Sadler and Roger Bollen's book of the same name, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century was directed by Kenneth Johnson and set in the year 2049. It Read more
Directed by Keita Amemiya, Zeiram follows two intergalatic bounty hunters named Iria (Yûko Moriyama) and Bob (Masakazu Handa) who accept a job to apprehend Zeiram (Mizuho Yoshida) on a planet Read more
Arriving in 2010, Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City was the sequel for 2004's Zebraman, and starred Show Aikawa once again as Shinichi Ichikawa/Zebraman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqnYJugzaiU As the film opens it Read more
Directed by Takashi Miike, Zebraman follows Shinichi Ichikawa (Shô Aikawa), a man whose life is unravelling before his eyes. At work he is a failing school teacher and at home he Read more
Zardoz, often referred to as "the one where James Bond is in his pants," is set in a future post-apocalypse Earth in the year 2293. By this point in history Read more
Directed by Don Barton, Zaat follows Dr. Kurt Leopold (Marshall Grauer) as he struggles with his former colleagues' "ZaAt" formula. Well you see this formula transforms humans into weird hybrid Read more
Directed by Michael Campus, Z.P.G. (Zero Population Growth) is inspired by the novel The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich. It deals with a planet Earth in the future that Read more
A young woman, Beverly (Lynda Day George), is gang raped and murdered in a California college town, sparking her brother Kevin (James Van Patten) to take up arms by night with Read more
Internationally renowned director Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER, AUDITION, 13 ASSASSINS, HARA-KIRI: DEATH OF A SAMURAI 3D,ACE ATTORNEY, FOR LOVE’S SAKE, LESSON OF THE EVIL) is back with the action fantasy Read more
Directed by Harry Bromley Davenport, Xtro follows what happens to a man named Sam Phillips (Philip Sayer) who is abducted by a strong alien light whilst playing with his son Tony (Simon Read more
Since Fox’s bastardisation of The X-Men started to be put right with First Class and Days of Future Past I had high hopes that Apocalypse and in some ways Fox Read more
Wonder Woman 1984 (aka WW84) sees director Patty Jenkins return to the franchise that saved the DCEU. It is hard to believe this is the ninth film in the DCEU, Read more
Witchboard is a 1986 horror film directed by Kevin Tenney. The movie follows the story of a young woman named Linda (Tawny Kitaen), who becomes involved with a spirit board, Read more
Wishing Stairs is the third installment of the Whispering Corridors film series set in girls high schools, but, as with all films in the series, it is unrelated to the others. Read more
A creepy obsession film that may have influenced Single White Female. Is it a great film... not really but it is worth watching for the way the Police act throughout Read more
Stephen Pryde-Jarman
Stephen Pryde-Jarman is a Cult TV and Film journalist, award winning short story writer, playwright and screenwriter. A natural hoarder, second hand shopping fulfils his basic human need for hunter-gathering; but rummaging through a charity shop’s bric-a-brac shelf also brought him the inspiration for his novel Rubble Girl having seen a picture of a Blitz survivor sat amongst the rubble of her house with a cup and saucer. Rubble Girl has been described as " thought-provoking" and "fast paced ... with plenty of twists and turns." Amazon.
More Stories
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Torture Garden (1967)
Summer of Fear aka Stranger in Our House (1978)