FINAL GIRL explores the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s...and all the other horror movies I feel like talking about, too. This is life on the EDGE, so beware yon spoilers!

Oct 8, 2014

SHOCKtober: CREEPSHOW


Come on, you lunkheads!

Creepshow (1982)


I bet it would take, like, more than seven hands for me to count how many times I've seen Creepshow and more than a baker's dozen's hearts to contain all the love I have for it. It's so perfect. It's so perfect! By turns gory, scary, and funny, it's an EC horror comic come amazingly to life. Secretly– okay, not so secretly– I think it's some of the best work that either director George Romero or writer Stephen King have done. Romero's visuals are an absolute treat. He plays with comic book framing conventions and the colors and monsters pop off the screen. King gives us five stories and a framing narrative full of frights, humor, and characters, dammit, who deliver dialogue that's got that signature vintage King folksy-realistic charm. Relatable and a bit theatrical, but not artificial and cloying. Everyone is eminently quotable and you love them, hate them, and love to hate them.

Just the little snippet of the title sequence in the GIF I've posted– even without the Bernie Wrightson-inspired illustrations and the thudding "dun DUN!" of the piano in the theme song– encapsulates the feel of the whole thing. It's a funhouse. It's going to scare you, but you'll have a smile on your face the entire time. It's so perfect you guys.

4 comments:

CashBailey said...

Back in the halcyon days of VHS video stores CREEPSHOW was one of those movies that felt genuinely dangerous to my 12 year-old self.

I rented the shit out of that movie. So imagine how much thrilled I was when CREEPSHOW 2 came out.

To be honest, I really liked CREEPSHOW 2 as well. I haven't watched it since then, but I understand people are not very kind to it.

Stacie Ponder said...

Overall, I think the stories in CREEPSHOW 2 aren't bad. Pretty basic, with the stand-out obviously being "The Raft". The movie suffers because of the direction, though– it's missing all the touches that make the first one so great, the garish colors and bonkers frames, etc. It's not treated like a "comic book", it's treated like any other anthology flick, so all the weaknesses in the stories shine through. And the animation in the framing narrative is pretty dreadful. I don't hate it– I actually like it– but I get the hate.

raserned said...

Awesome! I haven't seen it since the theater; I've been afraid to watch it again for fear it wouldn't have aged well and I'd ruin a great childhood memory. I must rewatch it this weekend.

Deadthyme said...

I always loved Creepshow- what a fun movie!

If you are just showcasing opening credits scenes, you have to have Future-Kill at least as an honorary mention. The movie isn't that great, but when it shows it's name in the opening credits, it's like everything '80s shoved in your face! Takes me right back to being a 13 year old kid watching goofy '80s horror movies again.
My fav opening credit is actually on a movie that I thought was ok, but not incredible- Scream. They just flash the name and that's it. BOOM! A great idea.