Creepshow
| Creepshow | |
|---|---|
 Original 1982 theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | George A. Romero |
| Written by | Short Stories & Screenplay: Stephen King |
| Produced by | Salah M. Hassnein Richard P. Rubinstein |
| Starring | Hal Holbrook Adrienne Barbeau Leslie Nielsen Ted Danson E. G. Marshall Stephen King Viveca Lindfors Carrie Nye Jon Lormer Don Keefer Robert Harper |
| Cinematography | Michael Gornick |
| Edited by | Pasquale Buba Paul Hirsch George A. Romero Michael Spolan |
| Music by | John Harrison |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates | November 12, 1982 (USA) |
Running time | 120 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8,000,000 |
Stephen King's "Creepshow" is a 1982 anthology horror movie directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. It consists of five short "Jolting Tales of Horror": "Father's Day", "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill", "Something to Tide You Over", "The Crate" and "They're Creeping Up On You!". They are tied together by animated segments and the plight of a young boy (played by Stephen King's own son, Joe King) who is a dedicated fan of a fictitious comic book titled "Creepshow", which his stern and even borderline abusive father disapproves of. The film is a homage to the EC Comics of the 1950s such as "Tales from the Crypt", "The Vault of Horror" & "The Haunt of Fear".
Plot
Two of the stories were published as separate short stories:
- The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill (originally titled Weeds, shown as second story) is a darkly humorous story about a backwoods hick who thinks his newfound discovery of a meteorite will provide enough riches to pay off the remaining 200 bucks of his bank loan. But he finds himself overcome by a rapidly spreading plant-like organism that arrives in the meteorite. Stephen King himself plays the doomed protagonist.
- The Crate, the fourth story shown, is a classic monster story of a mysterious, extremely lethal creature unwittingly freed from its crate. This is used to the advantage of a college professor (Hal Holbrook) who, intending to use it on his heavy drinking, emotionally abusive wife. "Scream Queen" Adrienne Barbeau, stars as a deserving victim of the beast. Fritz Weaver plays Holbrook's friend and colleague,who watched the monster devour two people. This story is considered gory even by modern horror standards.
The other three stories were written by King expressly for the film:
- Something to Tide You Over (shown third): A coldblooded Leslie Nielsen stages a terrible fate for his unfaithful wife and her lover (Ted Danson), only to have them repay a supernatural revenge back upon him by burying him up to his neck on the beach just before the tide comes in.
- Father's Day (shown as very first story): Years ago, Nathan Grantham was killed on Fathers Day when his daughter Bedelia bashed him in the head with a marble ashtray as he screamed for his cake. Years later, as his relatives got together for their annual dinner on Fathers Day, Nathan comes back from the dead and kills them in a quest for his beloved cake. In the end, he gets his cake which includes Aunt Sylvia's head. Ed Harris appears as a naive and ill-fated new in-law.
- They're Creeping Up On You! (the final story): A cruel, miserly businessman (played by screen legend E.G. Marshall) is terrified and disgusted by roaches and other assorted insects that are suddenly pervading his supposedly antiseptic, germ-free apartment. For reasons unknown, but possibly involving over-sensitivity to the businessman's treatment of an underling, who happens to be black, this last story in the film is sometimes not aired when the movie is shown on television.
The film ends with the boys father experiencing bad neck pains the audience later finds out that it was actually the boy with a voodoo doll (that he ordered from the comic) getting revenge on him for his controlling and abusive ways.
The movie was filmed in and around Romero's hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.
The film was later adapted into an actual comic book illustrated by Bernie Wrightson. A sequel, Creepshow 2, appeared during 1987. The film only contained 3 tales of horror, as opposed to the original's 5.
The moderate success of Creepshow sparked interest in a television series in the same mold. After a few changes, Laurel Productions renamed the television version Tales from the Darkside. This series lasted four years (1983–87) before being replaced by a virtually identical series named Monsters, which lasted another three years (1988–91).
Warner Bros. Pictures is one of the companies currently involved in developing a remake of the film, which oddly enough will also have a sequel tentatively named Creepshow 3, which is set for a 2007 release.
Trivia
- The marble ash tray that plays a major role in "Father's Day", has a cameo in all four other stories in the movie.
- The music that was played on the Jukebox by Upson Pratt during the "They're Creeping Up On You!" segment originally appeared in Sam Raimi's horror classic The Evil Dead as the film's ending theme.
- The final story in the film, "They're Creeping Up On You!", was filmed in Pittsburgh, PA on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University, in the Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall building. The roaches used for the scenes, specially imported from Brazil, escaped the set and thrived in a network of steam tunnels connecting many of the main buildings on campus. Many settled in the old university center, Skibo hall. In 1994, when Skibo was being demolished to make way for a new university center, construction had to be delayed when construction crews came upon a nest that quickly scattered across the site, causing delays, and general disgust across campus, as Skibo was centrally located.
Creepshow Remake
Warner Bros. Studios is taking on the remake of the 1982 George A. Romero and Steven King film "CREEPSHOW".
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