Creepshow (1982)
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A macabre anthology of tales inspired by the aesthetic of 1950s horror comics.
The story
Creepshow is an anthology film consisting of five segments intercut with a sixth story acting as an opening and epilogue. The narrative is framed by a comic book host known as the Creep. The stories range from a family dinner plagued by a vengeful spirit to a man dealing with a mysterious meteorite and a scientist dealing with a dangerous creature in a crate. Each segment explores different facets of horror, from supernatural hauntings to biological mutations, all presented with a distinct comic-book aesthetic.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film begins with a boy, Billy, whose father discards a horror comic; the host, the Creep, then introduces the segments. In 'Father's Day', Bedelia Grantham is haunted by her murdered father who returns as a zombie to slaughter her family. In 'The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill', a man touches a meteorite and is slowly transformed into plant matter. In 'Something to Tide You Over', a man who cruelly trapped his rivals in the sand is hunted by them as they return as waterlogged revenants. In 'The Crate', a scientist and a janitor encounter a deadly ape-like creature in a storage crate, leading to a tragic accident involving a man's abusive wife. Finally, in 'They're Creeping Up on You', a paranoid businessman is besieged by a massive swarm of cockroaches in his penthouse. The film ends with Billy using a voodoo doll to take revenge on his abusive father.
- First release year
- 1982
- Runtime (minutes)
- 120
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- George A. Romero
- Writers
- Stephen King · screenplay
- Genres
- horror; comedy; science fiction; supernatural
- Themes
- vengeance; isolation; transformation
- Tone and mood
- macabre; funny; colorful
- Premise and plot tags
- anthology; horror; comic-book style
- Franchise connections
- Creepshow
- Reception
- The film received mixed to positive reviews, praised for its humor, colorful presentation, and homage to comic books, though some critics found it uneven or overly stylized.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 66% · scale: percentage · review count: 76
- Awards and nominations
- Scariest Movie Moments · Bravo · 99th spot
- Production trivia
- Used over 20,000 cockroaches for one segment.; Included many nuts and raisins to simulate cockroaches.; The film was an homage to 1950s EC horror comics.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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