Color, 1987, 92 mins. Directed by Michael Gornick
Starring Lois Chiles, George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour, Tom Savini, David Holbrook, Paul Satterfield, Jeremy Green, Daniel Beer, Page Hannah, Stephen King / Written by George A. Romero and Stpehen King / Music by Les Reed and Rick Wakeman / Cinematography by Richard Hart and Tom Hurwitz
Format: DVD - Anchor Bay (MSRP $24.98) Letterboxed (1.85:1) (16x9 enhanced) / Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
While the original Creepshow wasn't exactly a critical darling, its stock increased rapidly when George A. Romero and Stephen King nominally returned to the same well with Creepshow 2, which pares down the five story format of the first film to three here. At the time of its release, the movie didn't really work and felt like a wobbly attempt to make a few bucks without the love for E.C. Comics found in the original. Over a decade later... well, it still isn't a great movie, but it
The framing device this time is more complicated, with Tom Savini first appearing in heavy make up as "The Creep," dispensing Creepshow comic books from his truck to an eager young boy longing to buy some giant Venus Flytraps. The boy's story then turns into a cartoon, juggled back and forth with animated footage of the Creep narrating the stories in a castle. (So yes, at the end of the film we then have to back out of three separate framing stories... quite awkward.)
First up is "Old Chief Wood'nhead," which stars George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour as a couple of shop owners near Indian territory in the desert. Despite their failing business, George keeps up good relationships with the natives and takes care of the large wooden Indian adorning the front of his store. When the chief of the local tribe rewards George for his service with some precious jewels, the chief's son and his delinquent friends crash the store, intending to grab some quick cash for an escape to Hollywood. However, the wooden indian outside has other plans...
Finally, the most oft-quoted episode, "The Hitchhiker, stars Moonraker's Lois Chiles as Annie Lansing, an adulterous woman whose speedy post-coital trip back to her husband is interrupted when she accidentally runs over a road worker. She then takes off instead of calling the police, only to be continally harassed by the decaying human roadkill, who keeps popping up and chiming, "Thanks for the ride, lady!"
Anchor Bay's disc looks about as good as one could expect; the film has always looked rather flat and pallid, but the colors and detail are fine. The letterboxing is tighter on the top and bottom than the open matte New World tape and looks all the better composed for it. Extras include the theatrical trailer -- which casually spoils the endings of all three stories! -- and a gallery of behind-the-scenes photos, include a nice chummy image of Chiles and King (who has a longer-than-usual cameo in the film as a trucker).
does make an interesting footnote to the end of theatrical independent horror movies playing at multiplexes around the U.S.
The second and most memorable story, "The Raft" (adapted from King's short story), features four pot smoking teens hopping onto a large raft aloft in an isolated lake, only to be surrounding by a large carnivorous mass resembling an oil slick. Though light on story, the tale moves along at a nice clip and features some memorable horrific highlights, including a terrific sucker punch climax.
Unlike the colorful and stylized first film, Creepshow 2 feels more like three episodes of Romero's Tales from the Darkside strung together and spiced up with extra nudity and gore. Each one could have been trimmed by about ten minutes, but horror fans should find enough to eke out some entertainment value on a slow evening. Chiles delivers the only truly memorable performance, with her nastiness alternating with hilarious panic as the gory hitchhiker turns her drive into a living hell. Director Michael Gornick does a professional if unexceptional job; in fact, everyone performs adequately except for composer Les Reed, whose droning, perky synth score really should have been scrapped, and the animators of the linking story, which looks ragged even by Scooby Doo standards.
