Creepshow (1982)

The following is an excerpt from my essay ‘CREEPSHOW: The Best Horror Anthology?’

Horror anthology movies hold a special place within the genre, allowing filmmakers to present short scary stories, in many cases within a particular theme or style, and giving audiences bite-sized tasters of terror inside a feature-length runtime. 

Perhaps the best of them, Creepshow (1982) is directed by George A. Romero, written by Stephen King, has its special effects provided by Tom Savini, and features an impressive ensemble cast. Rather than being a showcase for multiple filmmakers like many anthologies, Creepshow acts as a platform for Romero, King and Savini to tell five separate stories in one creatively cohesive package. 

Channelling 1950s comics like Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror (which had their own big screen anthology adaptations in 1972 and 1973 respectively), Creepshow uses an inventive mix of freeze frames, tableaux, lighting, split-screens, illustrated panels and animation to convey the comic book aesthetic, giving it an enjoyable sense of vibrancy and authenticity. 

The ‘wrap-around’ of the film involves a young boy (played by Stephen King’s son, Joe) whose father (a very mean Tom Atkins) objects to him reading the Creepshow comic and throws it in the trash, only for the ghoulish Creep to flip through it, presenting the stories inside to the audience. 

Then between the segments, we see advertisements for things like X-Ray glasses and a voodoo doll, which seems to have been cut out and ordered already (viewers need to stick around for the conclusion of the wrap-around to find out who bought it and why).

The five parts themselves have become iconic individually, with certain moments and monsters beloved by fans. Unlike some anthologies that have that feeling of inconsistency and ‘can we get to the next one already?’, Creepshow’s stories are all killer, no filler.

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