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As a child, Stephen King was always a fan of horror comics, and his 1982 screenplay entitled Creepshow is a clear reflection of that love. Director George Romero recognized it immediately, so he helmed this primo production, which includes some of make-up effects maestro Tom Savini's best work on film.
There are two endpieces here, the first one beginning with a young boy (King's own son Joe) being slapped around by his abusive dad, who says he objects to the son's horror comics--in reality, he's just pissed about the kid also raiding dad's porn in the sock drawer....
The five-part anthology then kicks in with Father's Day, a tale of patricide and muderous vengeance from beyond the dead, as the rotted Nathan Grantham (John Amplas) digs himself out of his grave to exact vengeance upon his own daughter Bedelia (Viveca Lindfors) who put the overbearing old goat there. Then the remaining Granthams are in for a sore happening as the tale unfolds. Rather grisly stuff, but played out with campy finesse.
The second tale, The Lonely Death Of Jordy Verrill, is populated only by its title character, who is played by none other than Stephen King himself. Jordy Verrill is a Ripple-guzzling hillbilly who suddenly witnesses a meteorite crash-landing onto his property. And after he goes out and gingerly touches the debris--infecting himself--he gradually begins to grow green vegetative matter over his body and become a mutant himself. The darkly-comedic highpoint comes from his imagined conversations with a local professor and also with his own dead father. How Jordy resolves his dillemma is at once funny, gory and ultimately unsettling.
Something To Tide You Over begins with a ne'er-do-well named Harry
Wentworth (Ted Danson) being picked up by millionaire Richard Vickers (Leslie Nielsen). Harry has been having an adulterous affair with Richard's wife Becky (Gaylen Ross), and Richard has a diabolical plan of revenge against the both of them. It involves both of them being buried to their necks on the beach until the tide comes in and drowns them....unless they don't panic and manage to hold their breaths for the appropriate time, snatching quick breaths during the brief windows of opportunity. This being Stephen King territory, waterlogged apparitions return later to terrorize the murderous and egomaniacal Richard, who nonetheless vows in the final shot that he can hold his breath for a looooooong time !!!
The fourth segment, The Crate, is arguably the best one of the film. In it, a beleagured and pussy-whipped college professor named Henry Northrup (Hal Holbrook) is fed up with his obnoxious wife Wilma (Adrienne Barbeau) who regularly embarasses him at social functions. Henry regularly fantasizes doing in this self-serving lush. And he has a chance to do just exactly that, now that his terrified colleague Dr. Stanley (Fritz Weaver) has discovered a carnivorous monster hiding in a long-ignored crate stored in the university's vault. Heads will roll here...
They're Creeping Up On You is the name of the final segment. And in it, the sole character is one Upson Pratt (the late E.G. Marshall), who is a cutthroat multimillionaire. But he's also a chronic germophobe, living in a high-rent, germ-free penthouse and suddenly finding himself the subject of the wrath of the associates he's screwed over....who are now coming back to him in the form of....wait, that's a spoiler. Let's just say that if you don't like roaches, this one will get under your skin.
And for the other endpiece, the dad who had slapped his kid around for reading this shit....has a nasty little bit of retribution in store for him. Gotta love those mail-order voodoo dolls.
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