Mini Review: Creepshow

Editor's Note:  One of my readers asked about Creepshow and my response was a little longer than I had planned, so here is a mini review of the flick:

Creepshow (1982)
Rated R (for violence)

Directed by George Romero

Starring:
Adrienne Barbeau
Leslie Neilsen
Ted Danson
E. G. Marshall

Creepshow  was King's and Romero's love letter to the horror comics of the 1950s, including Tales From the Crypt, and it's really a precursor to the "Tales From the Crypt" television show and other horror anthology shows like "Tales from the Darkside" (also a King/Romero collaboration). It borrows elements from the comics and the scares and gross-outs are mostly played for laughs. Because King wrote the screenplay, his influence is more obvious than Romero's and the flick is a little dated, but no more so than other films of that era. The movie is supposed to be campy, so the special effects (done by SFX veteran and Romero favorite Tom Savini) are exaggerated and B movie-esque.

The most effective vignettes are "Something to Tide You Over" and "They're Creeping Up On You", but I enjoyed "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" just for the novelty of seeing Stephen King act in something besides a two minute cameo. I would definitely recommend the movie for those that enjoy horror comedy and/or anthology tales, but if you're a horror purist, you may want skip it.