Creepshow (1982)

May 6, 2024 8:50 AM

[TRAILER] Inspired by the E.C. comics of the 1950s, George A. Romero and Stephen King bring five tales of terror to the screen. In one story, a monster escapes from its holding cell. Another focuses on a husband (Leslie Nielsen) with a creative way of getting back at his cheating wife. Other stories concern a rural man (Stephen King) and a visitor from outer space, and a homeowner (E.G. Marshall) with huge bug problems and a boozing corpse.

Also starring Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Carrie Nye, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Harris, Ted Danson, Warner Shook, Christine Forrest, Tom Savini, Tom Atkins, Joe Hill.

Directed by George A. Romero. Written by Stephen King. Produced by Richard P. Rubinstein for United Film Distribution Company/Laurel Show, Inc. Cinematography by Michael Gornick. Edited by Pasquale Buba, Paul Hirsch, George A. Romero. Cinematography by Michael Spolan. Music by John Harrison.

66% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (14 comments total)

This line surfaces from my brain every now and then:

"What's the matter Mr. Pratt? Buuuuugs got your tongue?"

Also:

"Meteor shit!"
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 9:51 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]

At the time this came out I would've 8 or 9. I would tag along with my mom to the mall and she'd let me hang out in the bookstore while she went to other stores. I read the comic book of this movie in pieces over several trips to the mall. It was my first introduction to horror comics and horror in general. I couldn't look away. Eventually I watched the movie in high school, on a rented VHS tape. I greatly enjoyed it, but somehow it didn't live up to how horrific my young imagination had envisioned it, though it was campier than expected. Now I'm almost 50 and still have nostalgic love for this.
posted by mrphancy at 10:00 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Trivia: You will notice Joe Hill is listed in the credits. King's son/the future author plays the kid reading comics in the bookend sequences.

I actually find King's over-the-top performance delightful. A highlight of this one, for me.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:21 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

This line surfaces from my brain every now and then:

For me, it's "I can hold my breath for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time!"
posted by hanov3r at 10:33 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

"You wanna see something really scary?"
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:46 AM on May 7

I think of Ted Danson's head at the beach surprisingly often.
posted by rhizome at 1:08 PM on May 7

"You wanna see something really scary?"

Isn't that "Twilight Zone: The Movie"?
posted by hanov3r at 1:42 PM on May 7 [3 favorites]

Isn't that "Twilight Zone: The Movie"?

That bit always annoys me because a guy in your car suddenly becoming a monster in a jump scare is, like, the anti-Twilight Zone as far as themes and so on go.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:44 PM on May 7 [3 favorites]

For sure. It's much more Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
posted by hanov3r at 3:00 PM on May 7

Most of the best Stephen King movies (Carrie, The Shining, Stand By Me…) bring something extra to the source material.

But Creepshow is just George Romero filming Stephen King’s homage to horror comics. Sometimes that’s all you need.
posted by box at 4:34 PM on May 7

You see that crap? All that horror crap? Things coming out of crates and eating people? Dead people coming back to life? People turning into weeds, for Christ's sake?

This quote is permanently etched into my head in large part because it's sampled into the intro of Belzebong's excellent Diabolical Dopenosis (ok, look, stoner metal isn't big or clever, but it is loud and heavy.)
posted by slimepuppy at 2:59 AM on May 8

I got into the EC Comics horror groove pretty easily because, even though their rise and fall happened before I was born, I did get my hands on some of the early MAD magazine collections as a kid, which were done by the same writers and artists who had been on those horror comics; the groove was very different from the MAD magazine that was being published during my childhood (mostly movie and TV parodies plus whatever Don Martin and the usual gang of idiots turned in that month). Plus, you had the likes of the Comics Journal talking about the pre-Wertham comics a lot. So, it was fun to see this stuff being done on the screen; I also appreciated King as the goofy, Hee Haw-ish hick who thinks that he's going to strike it rich with his meteor.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:39 AM on May 8

This movie was the first thing I saw the great Ed Harris in. I always thought his character -- who married into a family of jerks and paid for it with his life -- got a raw deal, especially considering the focus horror comics often had on symbolic retribution.
posted by Gelatin at 10:18 AM on May 8

This is the only film I've ever had to walk out of, due to the bugs. It skeeved me out beyond belief.
posted by essexjan at 7:12 PM on May 11