Join our old friend, the rotting creep himself, as he introduces this horror
anthology which presents gruesome looks at his latest tales of horror...a
hit-and-run driver in "The Hitchhiker", a wooden Indian in "Ol' Chief Wooden
Head", and "The Raft", concerning four friends whose vacation on a secluded
lake turns into a nightmare.
"I've never seen
someone so impatient Billy."
- The Creep |
This film is, of course, the sequel to Creepshow. It includes three
stories this time, the first story of which is the worst of both films.
It revolves around some young hooligans who brutally murder an elderly
storekeeping couple, only to be served a dose of "frontier justice" by
none other than the cigar-store wooden indian which stands outside. How
can he move? What gave him the power? Who knows, the movie didn't explain.
Perhaps if this segment had been a bit shorter, and perhaps had a bit of
history telling where the indian got his power from, it would have been
more entertaining. As it stands it was quite dull, but the final scenes
where the indian takes his revenge was fairly entertaining by itself. It
didn't seem to have that "EC comics twist" like the other parts did- that
is, some little bite in the ass to jolt you. The original movie had some
of these, like the scene in the Father's Day tale where it was revealed
exactly what the undead father had on his silver platter- his "father's
day cake." I won't give it away, because I hope you will see the first
one and be surprised.
The second story, called "The Raft," is pretty good but encounters one
of the problems that this segment and the next encounters- sex. No, I am
not opposed to sex in movies, but in this series it is uncalled for. These
stories are supposed to be in a comic book a young kid is reading, and
I find it doubtful that the store would sell a kid this young something
with such nudity and explicit adult material. That's not the worst of it-
the sex in this segment was completely stupid and needless. The story was
about several teens who go out for a swimming party- and get trapped on
a wooden raft in the middle of the water, surrounded by a black mass that
reminds me of the movie, The Blob. The sexual scene happens after all but
the main character and one girl are dead, and she is sleeping as he stands
guard. For no apparent reason other than he was a teenager, he decides
to take a peek at her breasts by lifting her shirt up. It wasn't just a
quick look, which may have been acceptable- it was quite a stare and in
fact was a bit more than a look. Still, despite this flaw, the story is
entertaining and has an ending quite like the original film's tales. Like
most of these stories, the hero gets it in the end and of course, also
like these stories, he deserved what he got.
The third and final story is one that is very chilling. A woman leaving
a male prostitute's house hits a hitch-hiker on the way home. She had told
her husband she was over a friend's house, so of course if she called the
police he would find out she lied. So she leaves the man there to die and
takes off. As can be expected, the hitch-hiker returns from the dead and
seeks revenge. The main problem with this story is not the sexual aspect
but the ending. Yeah, she gets killed, but so what? There was nothing spectacular
or bloodcurdling, or indeed shocking about her death. Her husband simply
finds her corpse. Now, maybe if she had been run over a few dozen times,
that would have been something. Actually, there was a slight variation
on the death which did very little to add shock, which was that she was
holding the hitch-hiker's sign.
Between each story is the continuing adventures of Billy. I don't know
if this is supposed to be the same loveable Billy who tortured his dad
in the first movie, or if they simply forgot there were kids' names other
than Billy, I don't know. It is a different actor when he's there, but
most of the time he is a cartoon, as is the rest of the between-story segments.
I think the major problem with the film was that Stephen King and George
Romero wanted to make it but simply didn't feel like putting any effort
into it. It almost looks like an unfinished project- if the film had a
little bit more effort put into the first story and had two more stories,
maybe they would have balanced out the first story. In addition, the first
film was written by Stephen King and directed by George Romero. This film
was written by George Romero (but based on stories by King) and directed
by someone new. Perhaps if it had been written by King and directed by
Romero, and had two more stories, perhaps we would be on Creepshow 4 or
5 by now. But instead, the series was ended prematurely with this film.
I really would have loved to see a new film every few years, with more
delightful stories by the master of horror, Stephen King. Still, the movie
is enjoyable if you can wade through the first story and try not to get
too upset watching the cartoon interludes.
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- During the second segment, The Raft, Laverne is wearing
a shirt from Horlicks University, the same university stenciled on The
Crate from the first Creepshow.
- At the start of the third segment, The Hitchhiker, several
Stephen King novels are visible in the bedroom, on the headboard of the
bed.
- Deke and Randy call each other by nicknames "Poncho" and "Syscho".
These two characters were on the movie that was playing the first story Ol' Chief Wooden Head.
- Although the film consists of only three short horror stories,
there were originally five written. One of those not used, The Cat from
Hell was later filmed in the similar anthology film Tales From The
Darkside: The Movie released in 1990.
- David Holbrook appears in Segment Ol' Chief Wooden Head.
His father Hal Holbrook starred in the original Creepshow.
- Tom Savini, the makeup special effects artist for the first Creepshow,
plays The Creep.
- Barbara Eden was originally cast as the
hit-and-run driver during the hitchhiker episode, but had to drop out during
the first few days of shooting. Lois Chiles was recast in the role.
     
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