“Thanks for the ride, lady!”
You have no idea how difficult it was to begin this essay
without addressing my readers as “kiddies” or using some sort of twisted pun.
The Creep has evidently inhabited my psyche and has taken over my voice, so
bear with me while I do my best to regain my ordinarily maudlin persona. Deep
breath, deep breath. Okay, here we go.
Welcome back, kidd—DAMNIT! HE’S IN THE BLOODSTREAM, I
tell you! Let’s try this again, shall we?
Welcome to another nauseating edition of B-Movie
Bonanza! For this titillating episode,
I examine one of my favorite anthologies: 1987’s Creepshow 2 (okay, so I
haven’t completely exorcised the demon, but I’m trying, mmmkay?).
Stephen King and George Romero take us on another strange,
horrifying, and ultra campy journey, where we encounter a murderous cigar store
Indian (which comes to life, I’m still not sure how); a gelatinous monstrosity
with an insatiable appetite for obnoxious college kids (I still think
that thing provided a much-needed service); and lastly, a philandering
housewife who inadvertently mows down an unwitting hitch-hiker and flees the
scene, not knowing her nightmare has only just begun.
Decent horror anthology films are often hard to come by (I still
don’t get the fanfare surrounding Trick ‘r Treat). It’s no easy feat
assembling stories that differ in plot/theme (who wants to feel like they’re
watching the same movie on a loop?), yet seamlessly blend to create a “morbid
masterpiece” of the macabre. Harder still is finding a compelling wraparound
that holds the attention of the audience in between segments. Much like its
predecessor, Creepshow 2 delivers the goods, and in spades.
My only qualms are the running time and the number of
stories. As happy as I was and have always been with the film, I would’ve loved
it so much more had they stuck with the formula introduced in the original
film: five stories and a running time closing in on two hours.
But Creepshow 2 wasn’t as large a production and they
didn’t have that Warner Bros. cizash money backing them, so I understand why
they had to take a different route. I still think they did a great job with the
budget, tools, and talent they were provided with (c’mon, who doesn’t love the
animated sequences?) and I can honestly say that this is a sequel I can’t get
enough of.
In this episode, you’ll find the usual: my oh so witty and
astute observations, fond memories of seeing the film for the first time,
admissions of a crush I once had on a certain cast member (no, not George
Kennedy), and...a phantom Blu ray no one seems to know about. As a source, I
used Anchor Bay’s DiViMax DVD edition, which runs 1:29:34.
Though they’re both mentioned in the actual commentary, I
wanted to give Steve and Pete a quick shout-out and say thanks for helping
provide me with some information I needed for the episode.
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