Creepshow
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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". 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".
Two of the stories were published as separate short stories:
The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill (originally titled Weeds) 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. (shown as second story)
The Crate 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 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 slightly gory.(shown as fourth story)
The other three stories were written by King expressly for the film:
In Something to Tide You Over, 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 in a beach just before the tide comes in. (shown as third story)
Father's Day is a standard horror tale of a deceased father choosing "his day" to return from the grave and exact final vengeance on his inept, feuding family who live off his fortunes. Ed Harris appears as a naive and ill-fated in-law.
They're Creeping Up On You tells of a cruel, miserly businessman (played by screen legend E.G. Marshall) who is terrified and disgusted by the roaches and other assorted insects that are suddenly pervading his supposedly antiseptic, germfree apartment. (shown as final story). For reasons unknown, this last story in the film is sometimes not aired when the movie is shown on television.
The film was later adapted into an actual comic book illustrated by Bernie Wrightson. A sequel film, Creepshow 2, was made in 1987.
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 2006 release.
See also
External links
| Films directed by George A. Romero |
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| Night of the Living Dead | There's Always Vanilla | The Crazies | Season of the Witch | Martin | Dawn of the Dead | Knightriders | Creepshow | Day of the Dead | Monkey Shines | Two Evil Eyes | The Dark Half | Bruiser | Land of the Dead |
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