Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

OK, so Creepshow 2 was not the best purchase decision I’ve ever made. It’s not a complete waste, especially since I got it for next to nothing, but it looked a lot different through the eyes of a Jr. High kid than it does from an adult’s. Most of what’s wrong could have been overcome with a talented director which this production didn’t have. I’m not going to go hang a picture of George Romero on my wall, but he’s got some talent and could have made the movie more worth watching (he was the original director if you’re wondering about the reference). I think he also worked on the screenplay with Stephen King, but the writing from either isn’t good enough to save it.

I’m sure you want an idea (or a refresher) of what this movie is (besides being a horror). It’s 3 short stories framed in a larger one. It’s inspired by the old horror comic books and is similar to other such shows, like “Tales From the Crypt,” in the way it uses the comic theme with a horror-character host. The frame story revolves around The Creep (who distributes the comic books) and a little boy that loves to read them. The boy goes on a bit of an adventure with Venus Fly Traps and bullies through the different segments. The first and last minutes of it are live-action, but the rest is animated. It’s a weak and disjointed story with poor acting and animation. The movie as a whole would have been better without so much of this part.

There was originally a plan to have 5 shorts like the first movie, but due to financial restrictions that number was reduced to 3. I imagine the shell story was expanded last minute to fill time. That also serves to offer an explanation for the choice of weak animation over live-action.

In the first of the stories, “Old Chief Woodenhead,” a wooden statue of a Native American man comes to life to take revenge for the murder of the old couple in front of whose store he stands. It feels a little like a Western mostly because of the desert location and dealings with “Indians.” The teenage murderers are arguably the worst actors in the whole movie and do a lot to spoil the story. The make-up effects on Woodenhead are half-way decent, and the actors portraying the old couple are OK. Unfortunately the story isn’t all that gripping, but a good director might have created a suspenseful mood that could have outshined the bad acting.

The next short is based on a Stephen King short story “The Raft.” This part is the reason I have ever had any interest in this movie. It’s about 4 college kids sneaking away to a secluded pond. They swim out to a wooden raft anchored in the middle of the pond when they notice what looks kind of like an oil slick except that it attacks and eats living things (kind of like the Blob but in the water). I spent a lot of time on the lake as a kid and came up with all sorts of stories about giant man-eating fish, and dreaming that the sound of the water lapping against the wooden dock at night was actually a huge creature rising from the depths. I also had an overgrown fishpond in the woods behind my house that made for great imaginative tales. So a monster story set in a pond was particularly, though delightfully, terrifying for me. The acting is better than most of the rest of the movie even if it’s still not terrific.  The story (or “concept” maybe would be more accurate) is good, the pacing good enough, and the rest is too simple to screw up much. There is actually a feeling of peril. The oil monster could have looked a little better, and the death of Deke was poorly staged (he’s pulled though the raft yet it looks undamaged). It’s still the best portion of this movie overall even if it’s still only good enough to rent rather than buy. This might have been the crown of the two Creepshow movies if it had been in the first one.

The final short, “The Hitchhiker” is a better campfire ghost story than a movie. A woman, distracted by worrying that she is about to be caught having an affair, hits a hitchhiker and speeds off. She is then plagued by the undying corpse of the murdered man wanting retribution. It has some creepy moments, but the pacing is poor. There are times when the guy looks downright silly hanging onto the front of the car. The guy has to either be a ghost leaving his actual body behind for the other concerned motorists or have some sort of teleportation ability to appear near her car (though if that’s the case what happens with the people looking at his body?) Either way, why doesn’t he just appear inside the car with her? It would have been more believable to have him hanging on to the car somehow from the very beginning with the concerned neighbors that stop to help knowing there should be a body there but being unable to locate one. Either that or make us question if maybe this really is all in her head. That is almost the case until the car pulls into the garage with a new blood paint job. There can be no question it actually happened. Going back to pacing, the car battle should have been cut back and the end reactions strengthened with maybe a little more focus on the husband and a stronger sense of irony. Stephen King fans will likely enjoy his cameo as the truck driver.

CONTENT:
This is campy horror; of course there’s gore and violence. The gore is restricted mostly to the last segment, though there’s definitely violence of monster attacks and such throughout. There is some bad language, but not as much as I expected. Each of the 3 story segments has 1 topless female a piece. Segment 1's nudity is actually in a picture hanging on the wall, but is clearly shown twice. Segment 2's is lengthy with some mild sensuality. 3's is more brief with some sexual conversation. If you worry about drug content, the kids in segment 2 smoke a few joints. So there you go: not something I can recommend to kids, but at the same time, I was in Jr. High (or just out of it) when I first saw it.

DVD:
It's not a bad DVD considering there probably aren’t many people tracking it down (and there are rumors of a newer release). Mine is from Anchor Bay.   I’m starting to respect Anchor Bay’s DVD design team; they consistently do good, creative work on releases that don’t always deserve the attention. For starters the insert is heavier card stock than usual and looks like a comic book cover on one side with chapters on the other. If they had stuck with the quality and mood of the cover art, the movie might have been better. Here’s something odd for you. The outer sleeve has production note and photos printed on the back of it. It’s mildly interesting even if not as convenient as just opening an insert since you do have to pull it out of the case to read it. You get a widescreen presentation (I don’t believe I’d ever seen it in its original ratio).

For a cheap, corny, low distribution movie I can’t imagine many people kicking up a ruckus about the highest quality A/V. The sound (digital mono I believe) is good enough to serve its purpose considering the sound designers weren’t that good (listen to the shotgun blasts, for example, not at all realistic) and the music is nothing to get excited about.

The video is actually rather impressive considering the age, budget, and demand of movie prints. Don’t expect a digital picture, but this is way better quality than I expected.

The interface is surprisingly creative. It features some animation and original images.  The real creativity is in the chapter selection menu. It’s drawn out like the pages of a comic book with each frame having a unique look. As you move through the groups of frames the pages of the book flip. The chapter stops are well placed making it very easy to get to any particular stary segment. The next time I watch it I will most likely skip right to the stories without watching the frame-story animation parts. There’s something that would be a major pain on VHS.

There is actually an extra feature included. It’s just a slideshow of behind the scenes images, but that’s more than I expected. So the bottom line is Anchor Bay made a better DVD than what’s-his-name did a movie.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
My final recommendation is to not get excited about this release. If you’re a Stephen King collector or love those 80’s horror movies then, by all means, check it out. If you want something campy to watch next Halloween it’s probably a decent rental. Otherwise, there’s not likely to be a lot of appeal for you.


Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age