Creepshow 2 - Kleine Horrorgeschichten

As sequels go, quite good. The three (Not five, budgetary reason) tales are fun (and surprisingly scary). The acting is okay, including a few good performances. The tales, which I will now rate, all have gore, fun, and scares. The first segment: "Old Chief Wooden-head" is an old-fashion revenge story. It has a slow and mysterious build, but with enough action to keep things interesting. Acting-wise this episode does okay, nothing too great, but pretty good. The effects in this episode are a little wooden (no pun intended) but capture the essence of the menacing but slow-moving monsters of 50s media. The second episode, "The Raft" Again, okay acting but nothing great. But the blob monster ranges from looking real enough to looking kinda horrible (mostly in the earlier shots). Stephen King was at least somewhat right when he described the monster as an "old rug". Despite that, this episode still dishes out some good scares and creepy gore. The third installment is the scariest one. Good acting, scary scenes, and scary gore. In all Creepshow 2 is worthy (but not equal to) the original.

Hate to say it guys, but I liked this one better. One was good, but this one is so silly, so comical at times, that I just loved it. If you're unfamiliar with the format, there are 3 short stories featured here. Up first is a wooden indian that adorns the front of a general store, coming to life to kill the goons who gunned down his owners. Holt McCallany is very strong as the foul mouthed leader of the gang. And the way he gets his...hoo boy. Number two has a man-eating oil slick(?) snacking on teens on a wooden raft. And most people are right when they say it looks like a big hefty bag. And a moment that will have you rolling, and that will give teenage boys ideas and have men remembering fondly when they may have done it, is where the surviving guy takes a peek under the surviving girls sweater. Good to see where this dudes priorities are; two of his friends are dead, he's nearly been killed, and he decides its a good time to look at boobies. I loved it. But my absolute favorite of both Creepshow films is the hitchhiker story. It's so hysterically unrealistic that it still makes me laugh all these years later. With Lois Chiles mind-losing dialogue, and the dead guys constant "thanks for the ride, lady!" I can't imagine a funnier, more exciting short story than that. In a perfect world Tom Wright, who played the hitchhiker, wouldda been nominated for an Oscar. Also a high five to the campy look of the film, with all three films set in the middle of nowhere, one at sea, one (mostly) in the woods. A lot of fun I say, though most hated this one.

Masters of Horror Stephen King and George A. Romero return to deliver more comic book style thrills in "Creepshow 2." With original "Creepshow" cinematographer Michael Gornick stepping in as director, the film is not only slimmer on content (three stories instead of five) but on budget and star-power as well. That doesn't mean that horror fans aren't in for a heaping serving of campy carnage candy, though. In tradition with the original, "Creepshow" is hellbent on making its viewers laugh and squirm in their seats simultaneously.

While Gornick is no George A. Romero, he certainly brings a touch of style to the film that serves it well. Animated segments aside, the look and tone of the original is carried over into its sequel, with some surprisingly flashy moments that make one wonder why the director fell off the face of the Earth (you know, aside from the fact that this flick flopped). The script, penned by Romero, has its ups and downs, with some stories being more effective and more competent than others. Variety, however, is the key to the film's success. If one thing can be said about this affair, it is that it never bores and it certainly goes by quickly enough. In fact, some would say the fun ends far too early.

The three stories are a mixed bag of creepy and goofy, with the first concerning a wooden Indian propped outside of a small-town general store. When local punks rob its kindly owners, the statue comes to life seeking revenge. This bit is rather slow moving and sets the movie off on the wrong foot. Although not terrible by any means, it is in sharp contrast to the two that follow. Next up, we follow a foursome of guys and gals going for a swim in a secluded lake. Soon they find themselves being feasted upon by what can only be described as an oil slick surrounded by a Hefty bag. Of the three, this is probably the strongest, with some genuinely creepy moments and terrific special effects. Then, to wrap things up, we find a woman of questionable morals being stalked on the highway by a drifter she accidentally hit. While his insistence on thanking her for the ride makes him seem harmless enough, the woman quickly slips into madness as she tries to rid herself of the passenger to no avail. This is the one segment most likely to induce a few unintentional chuckles for its ridiculously over-the-top premise and execution.

Overall, there's a noticeable drop in quality from the first, but the sense of dread and humor is still intact. "Creepshow 2" is certainly a worthy sequel with a few moments of brilliance that may have panned out better in feature length films. "The Raft," in particular, would have been a great 80's teen monster movie in the vein of the remake of "The Blob" that would roll into theaters a year later. Taken for what it is, though, this sequel is like a bag of Halloween candy -- some hits, some misses, but certainly worth the time regardless.

Creepshow 2 was released in 1987 and was directed by George Romero's regular cinematographer Michael Gornick. Gornick, who was a late replacement for the original director FX maestro Tiom Savini, cut his directorial teeth on several episodes of Laurel's Tales From The Darkside and was a natural choice to make the film. He does a commendable job with what is clearly a modest budget and three stories that are not as engaging, gripping and frightening as those available to Romero in his original 1982 film.

Only one of the three stories has been previously published, the other two being originals devised for the film by Stephen King and scripted by Romero. The first story is called Old Chief Woodenhead and stars Hollywood veterans George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour. It concerns a wooden storefront statue of an old Indian chief that comes to life to avenge the death of two elderly people by a gang of youths. It is the least impressive of the three tales but retains a certain ghoulish charm.

The second story is The Raft. Originally published in King's 1985 short story collection Skeleton Crew (with a slightly different ending). The segment is about four scantily-clad teenagers who arrive at a deserted lake, late one summer, for an afternoon swim but find that something thoroughly unpleasant is waiting for them. The special effects are well below par with King himself commenting that the monster in the lake looks something like "a dirty old man's raincoat". However, this episodes's grim punchline would make The Cryptkeeper himself chuckle with approval.

The third and probably best story is The Hitchhiker and stars Louis (Moonraker) Chiles as a bored, rich housewife who regularly enjoys the services of a handsome gigolo. On her way home from such an encounter she accidentally runs over a young Hitchhiker (played by stuntman Tom Wright) killing him instantly. Terrrified by the consequences of her actions she quickly leaves the scene of the accident. However, a few miles down the road she sees the Hitchhiker, bloodied and amazingly returned to life, limping towards her. To reveal any more would be to dampen this segment's sick delights but I will say that it features a neat cameo by King himself as a foul-mouthed truck driver.

A fourth story called Pinfall was planned for the movie but later dropped due to the faltering budget. It concerned an overweight band of beer-chugging bowlers that are murdered by a rival bowling team and come back from the dead for revenge in true EC style. Its a shame we will never get to see this story but it is very close in theme and structure to both Oldf Chief Woodenhead and The Hitchhiker.

All in all, Creepshow 2 is worth a look and remains a guilty pleasure of mine that I have enjoyed with alarming regularity over the years. It may not be up to the standards set by the first Creepshow but there are more painful ways to spend an evening. Ask The Hitchhiker...

Where Creepshow 2 suffers is that it is not as good as the first movie. You would think that with three stories instead of five this time it would be less condensed. Unfortunately, that's not the case out of the three stories only the second one is all that interesting The first story Old chief wooden head tells the tale of a ma and pa couple who own a store with a cigar Indian who end up getting killed by robbers and the statue comes alive to avenge their deaths. It's a decent way to start a movie although you kind of question the hokey acting from the murderers. In the second storyline, the raft involves a bunch of friends going out in the middle of a lake. They are then pursued by a blob monster. This is the best out of the three stories. Most time spent on it is full of suspense, and Tension invested in wondering how these people are going to get away from this oil monster. In the third and final story, the hitchhiker has a businesswoman who is having an affair while rushing home to beat her husband's suspicions she runs someone over and is pursued by them unable to get away. This one is honestly the slowest & worst of the three it just goes on and on and gets to predict where the outcome is going to lead.