Arrow Heads — Arrow Video humbly describes themselves as merely a “Distributor of classic, world, cult and horror cinema on DVD & Blu-ray”. But we film geeks know them as the Britain-based bastion of the brutal and bizarre, boasting gorgeous Blu-ray releases with high quality artwork and packaging and bursting with extras, often of their own making. This column is devoted to discussing their weird and wonderful output.
I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the Creepshow movies. The first film remains one of my favorite horror titles of all time for the sole fact that it brought together the mad talents of George A. Romero and Stephen King and gave them the perfect platform for which to create tales that were equal parts horror and hilarity. I first encountered Creepshow in the form of the graphic novel King wrote based on the screenplay he’d written for Romero’s movie. One viewing of this macabre experience with its unforgettable mixture of horrific effects and dark humor, and I was in love. I was so in love that for years, I refused to give the film’s sequel, Creepshow 2, the time of day for fear it would tarnish everything I loved about its namesake. However Arrow’s recent release of the film has finally allowed me to face that fear and embrace Creepshow 2 for what it is; neither a triumph, nor an embarrassment.
Crafted in the same vein as its predecessor, Creepshow 2 opens on the framing device of a young boy eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newest edition of his favorite horror comic which offers up three tales of horror involving a figure from the past, a mysterious flesh-eating force and an inescapable phantom-like presence.
Any horror anthology is bound to have segments which work better than others…and Creepshow 2 is no exception. While there are only three stories on-hand, each couldn’t be as wildly different than the previous one if it tried, not just in theme, but in overall tone.
The film begins with “Old Chief Wood’nhead” in which a wooden indian statue sitting outside a general store decides to come alive and take revenge when a group of thugs threaten the store’s owners. There’s a mix of dryness and sloppiness throughout the film’s first story which is too melancholic at times and cartoonish at others to actually generate any real fun or scares. All of this isn’t helped by a rushed conclusion which is sadly, more than welcome by the time it arrives.
In “The Raft,” a group of college students decide to go for a dip in a nearby lake, swimming out to a raft in the water’s center. The group finds themselves trapped there however when a flesh eating presence begins to surround them. This second installment of Creepshow 2 is pure Romero with its “monster” of the story a delightfully menacing and diabolical entity, slowly and happily destroying its young, beautiful victims. The lack of suspense is more than made up for in the impressive effects, which prove just the kind of gross-out fodder genre fans crave.
Creepshow 2 concludes with “The Hitchhiker” in which a wealthy cheating wife (Lois Chiles) is being tormented by the strange man she is trying to escape after having accidentally killed him with her car. If “The Raft” was pure Romero, “The Hitchhiker” screams out King with its metaphor for clashing societies and criticism towards infidelity front and center. Beyond that though, there is more than enough potent suspense throughout “The Hitchhiker” due to the unconventional level of fright its titular character gives off which can only be describes as darkness mixed with sorrow.
It’s not hard to spot the differences between the original and its somewhat divisive sequel. The first Creepshow was made in-between the changing of decades and was purely tongue-in-cheek, while also providing a number of genuine scares and proving a stellar mix of the talents of both King and Romero. Like virtually every horror film of its day, Creepshow 2 is movie almost totally influenced by the mid-80s with every story containing some form of ideology reminiscent of the state of society during the era. The backdrop of “Chief Woodn’head” signified the end of small businesses in the age of shopping malls and Reagan-omics, while the danger and fear of pre-martial sex (spurred on by the growing AIDS epidemic) permeates all through “The Raft.” Finally, it’s the ever-present yuppie class that seemed to rule the country for the majority of the decade that’s being attacked during the course of “The Hitchhiker,” proving that the film overall served as a somewhat telling symbol of 1980s America.
As was the case with most 80s horror films, the performances in Creepshow 2 were nothing to write home about. All of the younger cast members seemed to bring nothing to their colorless roles. The grown-ups on the other hand gave their all even if the material didn’t warrant it. Kennedy and Lamour make for a sweet long-time married couple, although the pair seems to think they are in an entirely different movie, and Chiles does a good job in showing her character’s transition from upper-class rich bitch to frantic mad woman.
When compared to the original, Creepshow 2 certainly feels like something of a small failure in the eyes of the fans. Its lack of success surely killed any franchise hopes that its makers were counting on. This is a real shame since a vehicle like Creepshow would have made the perfect showcase for many budding young horror writers and directors as well as a large collection of actors, whose talents would combine to give many horror fans a number of sure-to-be classic horror moments. Of this I have no doubt. Sadly however, despite the production of an unofficial third film (a straight-to-DVD affair made without the involvement of King or Romero) and plans of a remake which continue to languish in development hell, Creepshow 2 remains the last installment in of the most short-lived, yet beloved horror film series.
The Package
Arrow’s release of Creepshow 2 features new interviews with Romero, horror icon Tom Savini, actors Daniel Beer and Tom Wright, among others associated with the film. Meanwhile director Michael Gornick is on-hand for a sufficient enough commentary track. Also included is a fun vintage making-of featurette as well as the film’s screenplay.
The Lowdown
As cheesily 80s as they get, while also managing to hold on to a sufficient amount of that delightful King/Romero glee, Creepshow 2 is nothing but good old-fashioned horror fun.
