CREEPSHOW 2 (1987)

DIRECTED by Michael Gornick

SCREENPLAY by George A. Romero based on short stories by Stephen King.

STARRING - Dominick John as Billy,  Tom Savini as The Creep (Voiced by Joe Silver),  George Kennedy as Ray Spruce,  Dorothy Lamour as Martha Spruce,  Philip Dore as Curly,  Frank Salsedo as Ben Whitemoon,  Holt McCallany as Sam Whitemoon,  David Holbrook as Fatso Gribbens,  Don Harvey as Andy Cavanaugh,  Dan Kamin as Old Chief Woodenhead,  Paul Satterfield as Deke,  Jeremy Green as Laverne,  Daniel Beer as Randy,  Page Hannah as Rachel,  Lois Chiles as Annie Lansing,  David Beercroft as Annie's Lover,  Tom Wright as The Hitchhiker,  Stephen King as Truck Driver.

PLOT - Young Billy is an avid reader of the Creepshow comic book and eagerly awaits each issue. However, Billy also has problems with a gang of local bullies. 

One day, after buying the latest issue of Creepshow, Billy is cornered and pursued by the gang. As he is chased by the gang we are shown the various stories that lie within the pages of the comic by our host...The Creep.

FRAMING STORY -

Billy is pursued by the gang into a patch of wasteland and he appears to be trapped. However, it turns out that Billy has laid a trap for his enemies. Billy has ordered some Venus flytrap seeds from the comic and has planted them on this scrap of land. They have grown to giant size and they attack - and eat - the gang of bullies. Nobody messes with Billy...

The framing story follows more or less the same storyline as the framing story in the original Creepshow, only this time instead of an abusive dad and a mail order Voodoo Doll we get a gang of bullies and mail order Venus flytrap monsters. Even the young boy's name is the same (Billy). He's not played by the same actor but I'd like to think its the same kid. He's got a taste for sorting out his problems and wiping out people who piss him off with mail order junk from comic book ads. It's a novel modus operandi for a nascent serial killer, I suppose.

The story starts out live action but morphs into cartoon animation. The animation is quite dated and a bit cheap looking but it does make the story stand out as being distinctive from the rest of the film and evokes the comic book style perfectly.

We also get some great E.C. comics/Cryptkeeper style puns from our horror host, The Creep.

STORY # 1 - OLD CHIEF WOODENHEAD

A kindly elderly couple Ray and Martha Spruce have spent the past few decades running a convienience store in a small backwater town. The store has allowed them to provide for thier family and is guarded over by a wooden carving of an old Indian chief. However, the town is dying, business is drying up and life has become a daily struggle for the Spruce's and thier customers.

Ben Whitemoon - head of a local Indian tribe - owes Ray money. He gives Ray a pouch of jewels - his tribes most sacred treasures as a holding deposit until the tribe can pay off the debt. That night the store is robbed by a small gang of local youths led by Ben's treacherous nephew Sam Whitemoon. In the process Ray and Martha are shot dead. 

Sam and his gang think they've got away with it, but little do they know that Old Chief Woodenhead has come to life and now he's coming for them...

This first tale is a story of supernatural vengence that essentially plays out like a mini slasher movie. The acting is great. George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour are genuinely sweet as the lovely old couple. You really feel it when they die at the hands of Sam Whitemoon and Co. and you really want to see these two beautiful selfless people be avenged.

Sam Whitemoon (Holt McCallany) is a great villain. He's psychotic and ruthless with a massive streak of vanity. He's obsessed with his own hair and dreams of becoming a movie star. His refrain "This hair is gonna get me paid and laid" speaks volumes about his character and what a narcissist he really is.

His two lackeys Fatso (David Holbrook) and Andy (Don Harvey) are nowhere near as evil as Sam. They're just weak willed small town boys who are both clearly terrified of Sam especially after they see him murder the Spruce's. It doesn't do them any good though as Old Chief Woodenhead still takes them out.

The supernaturally animated wooden Indian is a great creation and he's as relentless as any slasher villain only this time we get a slasher hero instead.

Overall a great start to the movie.

STORY # 2 THE RAFT

Four teenagers  - Deke, Laverne, Randy and Rachel - skip class to spend the day at a small local lake. They swim out to a raft but notice that a strange blob like substance is floating towards them. Rachel touches the Blob and it pulls her into the water and eats her alive. The remaining survivors are trapped on the raft, night is falling and the weird carnivorous entity doesn't look like its going to go away any time soon...

The Raft is another excellent story and is probably the highlight of the film. The 30 year old "teens" are all fairly annoying characters so the story is mainly about watching them die horribly in classic teen horror style. The Blob creature itself isn't too great (it just looks like a floating bin liner) but the effects when the kids get eaten are very effective. Truly stomach churning stuff.

Its another story where you're really just rooting for the monster. Especially at the end when Randy (Daniel Beer) decides to get a little bit rapey towards fellow survivor Laverne (Jeremy Green). Weedy little Randy has clearly had a massive crush for Laverne throughout the story. Laverne isn't interested though as she's going out with muscular jock Deke (Paul Satterfield). Deke inevitably gets eaten and only Laverne and Randy remain. Laverne falls asleep in sheer exhaustion and Randy takes this opportunity to grope her boobs and start kissing her body whilst she sleeps. This action causes the Blob to pull Laverne into the water and eat her. Randy swims for it and makes it to the shore but the Blob leaps out of the water like a tsunami and eats the little sex pest on the spot. Once again karmic justice is served.

A great story, full of memorable highlights.

STORY # 3 - THE HITCHHIKER 

Annie Lansing - wife of a wealthy businessman - is having an affair with a male escort. After a night of passion, Annie realises that she's going to be late to meet her husband. She drives home at high speed and accidentally runs over a hitchhiker, killing him instantly. In a state of panic Annie abandons the corpse and continues on her way. However, the hitchhiker's angry ghost is looking for vengence on his killer. Annie had better watch out...the hitchhiker is coming for her...

Third time out and another excellent tale. Lois Chiles gives a good performance as Annie Lansing who is a really dislikable protaganist. Annie is a rich, entitled bitch. The only thing she cares about is her own sexual gratification and her own personal wealth. Literally EVERYTHING comes down to how much its going to cost, she has an ongoing monologue throughout the story where she gives a running commentary on just how much this is all going to cost her (or her husband at any rate, for his sake I really REALLY hope he's giving it to one of his young secretarys on the side). 

We get a great monster in the form of the zombie hitchhiker who gets progressively more maimed and bloody looking as the story progresses. His catchphrase "Thanks for the ride lady" is both quirky and creepy. Also look out for Stephen King himself playing a truck driver. As with his role of Jordy Verrill in the original movie he gets the best line in the entire film - "Some guy got CREAMED !"

Overall - a strong final entry in the film that leaves the audience wanting more.

SFX - As with the original, Creepshow 2 has a variety of decent practical effects and makeup work.

First we get The Creep. He looks nothing like he did in the first film (or in the later TV show). There he was more decayed looking, here he just looks a bit ghoulish. That's Tom Savini under all that prosthetic makeup. He's completely unrecognisable...

We get Old Chief Woodenhead who appears to be a combination of  "man in a suit" and animatronics...

As I said earlier the water Blob isn't too successful but the gory makeup effects for its victims more than compensate for it. 

And last but by no means least we get the zombie hitchhiker in his various stages of bloody ruination...

SEX & VIOLENCE  - Theres a small amount of female toplessness in this film.

The film really comes into its own with the various death scenes.

In the first story, lovely old Ray and Martha get shotgunned to death by Sam...

Chief Woodenhead shoots Fatso in the body and through the head with his bow and arrows. In a nice touch Fatso's hat provides a convenient target for an arrow to pierce his brain...

Andy gets a tomahawk in the back of his head and in a beautiful moment of poetic justice Sam gets scalped...

In the second tale all the kids get eaten alive by the Blob which first dissolves thier skin into a slimy, bloody mess leaving behind nothing but a skeleton...

Deke gets pulled through a hole in the raft by his foot. His other leg gets jammed up at an impossible angle, breaking it, as Deke dies in screaming agony...

At least he can now pick his own nose with his big toe, thats a skill I suppose.

Laverne gets dragged into the water face first, her pretty features dissolving before our eyes...

The Blob then leaps out of the water and eats cocky opportunistic wannabe rapist Randy (off camera)...

In the third story, the unfortunate hitchhiker is mown down by Annie's speeding car. She then proceeds to mow him down several more times when he comes back as a zombie. This doesn't stop our plucky undead avenger though. He eventually manages to get into Annie's car and strangles her to death, leaving behind her corpse for her husband to find...

RATING - Creepshow 2 is every bit as good as the first movie. Whilst it may not contain as many powerhouse performances or be as stylistically distinctive as the original, what it does do is tell very good horror stories really really well.

It also doesn't feel quite as crammed as the first movie does. The fact that there are fewer stories here gives them all a chance to breath a little better, all the characters feel a bit more three dimensional than they did in the original.

Its clearly got a slightly lower budget than the first film but this doesn't hamper it in any way, shape or form. Every story knocks it out of the park and in some ways it even surpasses the first film.

Another classic - 5 vengeful undead out of 5.

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