Creepshow 2

This time we got just three stories and new director. Sure, King's presence is felt throughout whole thing and sequel is more or less on the same level with original. Because of really great last story I even rated it bit higher than it's prequel. To all horror and King fans I strongly recommend to see at least that last one.

6/10

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.

You have to be in the mood to watch this sort of thing late at night and I was definitely in the mood although I was about to turn the film off after the first story about the wooden Indian. I just wanted to watch that to see what DOROTHY LAMOUR was doing in a horror film. I notice she won a Saturn award for the role but I was underwhelmed by her performance.

However, if you stay with it, CREEPSHOW 2 improves with each story. There are no real touches of originality in any of them except for the clever use of animation used quite extensively and very effectively to bridge the gap between stories.

CHIEF WOODEN HEAD gets the film off to a start about a couple running a store in the middle of the desert without paying customers who are left some valuables by an Indian who owes them a debt. What they don't know is that their store is about to be invaded by a trio of ruthless thugs led by an Indian lad who is willing to kill in order to grab whatever loot he can. Their death is avenged by--well, guess who? Some clever touches here, but nothing that really stands out. Nice performance by GEORGE KENNEDY gives the whole tale some much needed class.

THE RAFT is compulsively watchable once you see the set-up wherein four attractive young couples decide to swim out to a raft where they are all about to meet their grisly deaths. PAUL SATTERFIELD in his yellow speedos is the standout among these and his demise is particularly chilling. It's got all the requisite suspense and horror you'd expect from King and the special effects are particularly gruesome. DANIEL BEER as Satterfield's worried pal does a nice job, especially in the scene where he almost takes advantage of the sleeping gal.

THE HITCHHIKER could easily have been the one that steals the show, but it becomes a little too repetitious and fond of its own dark sense of humor to be taken seriously. Howevere, LOIS CHILES is very convincing as the distraught woman at the wheel who does everything she can to get rid of a dead man who keeps coming back for more.

Summing up: Give it a chance and it becomes compulsively watchable in the old tradition of horror king Stephen.

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.

Creepshow 2 isn't as great as the first one. Fans of the first one will probably have the sense of "have I just been ripped off here?". In the shortest terms, yes you have.

Instead of 5 short stories, you're introduced with three not-so-short stories. Yet, it's still a good movie. The stories are worth watching it especially The Raft and The Hitchhiker which were the reasons why I bought the movie.

And it's not just two missing stories, but you're also missing the wonderful direction from George A Romero. Instead of directing, George co-wrote Creepshow 2. So your missing that comic book-like direction. Too bad. I loved George's direction in the first film. It made me feel like I was watching an interactive Tales from the Crypt comic book.

An ok sequel. Creepshow fans might be disappointed with this sequel because of the lack of 5 short stories in total and George Romero not directing this time around. Other than that, it's a fairly descent sequel.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

I would like to see George Romero and Stephen King sit together once again for another Creepshow movie. At least, one last time.