Creepshow 2

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.

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.

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...

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