Creepshow 2 (1987)

Best movie ever!

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Blistering performances.

In a perfect world, Creepshow 2 would be even better than the original. But sadly, the world is not perfect and we often have to make due with what we have. Directed by Michael Gornick, who was the cinematographer for Romero's Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Knightriders, Day of the Dead and the original Creepshow, this follow-up is based once again on King stories (but screenwritten by Romero).Creepshow 2 was originally going to be five stories (Pinfall and Cat from Hell went unfilmed, although Cat does appear in Tales from the Darkside: The Movie), but a lower budget forced the film to only include three tales.PInfall was to be about the rivalry between two bowling teams with one coming back from the dead to kill the other. It reminds me a lot of the story in Haunt of Fear #19, Foul Play!Instead of what wasn't filmed, let's get into what was: In Dexter, Maine, a delivery truck pulls up and drops off the latest issue of Creepshow, with the driver being the Creep himself!In Old Chief Wood'nhead, an elderly couple named Ray and Martha Spruce (George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour in her last role) live in an old town on its last legs. No one in town has money and soon, the store they own - and their lives - will fade away, too. Chief Whitemoon comes to visit and gives them sacred jewelry to pay back his debt. It's not money, but the thought is what counts.As the wise old man leaves, the wooden Indian that stands guard in the store nods to him, which frightens him. It foreshadows what happens next, as that night, the chief's nephew Sam and his gang rob the store and kill the kindly old couple. Their blood splashes all over the old wooden chief as they depart with the stolen sacred jewels.The gang plans to go to Hollywood, where Sam thinks his long hair will make him a star. But he and his entire gang are killed, with their scalps and the jewelry left for the old chief.In The Raft, four teens (one of them is Page Hannah, the sister of Daryl and all of the characters share the surname of the actor playing them) try to go swimming but have to contend with a black blob that wants to kill them all. Again - this is an incredibly simple tale told well. I'd say it's the highlight of the film, but the more I write about these, the more I remember how much I truly enjoy this movie.Finally, The Hitchhiker concerns a businesswoman who is trying to get home from a tryst with her lover before her husband notices. Along the way, she hits a man who keeps coming back. And coming back. And coming back. Again, simple idea, but told really well. Ironically, the hitchhiker is played by Tom Wright, who played the civil rights activist who comes back from the head in Tales from the Hood. It's an amazingly similar role! Even stranger is that Barbara Eden was to play the woman before her mother's illness caused her to drop out.Ed French was the original effects guy for this, but got upset when director Gornick asked Howard Berger for advice, as he wasn't happy with the look of the creature in The Raft. Greg Nicotero and Berger ended up finishing the movie and they enlisted Tom Savini to play The Creep.Creepshow 2 doesn't have the gloss of the original. That doesn't make it a horrible movie. But the original sets a bar that's incredibly high.

The first "Creepshow" movie is very entertaining and by far the best one out of the three. This follow-up film is a disappointment. The stories included are short on inspiration and seem to drag on forever. The first story is probably the best but it takes too long to really build any kind of momentum. George Kennedy is totally wasted in this film and his acting ability isn't taken advantage of. The second story is about as dumb and as corny as it gets! The people who appear can't act their way out of a rubber johnny! Simply hopeless. The setting is far too restricted and I wasn't particularly bothered about the fate of the characters. The last story is tolerable but nothing exceptional. I did like Tom Savini as the Creeper character who appears at the beginning and end of "Creepshow 2." His makeup is scary and his performance is good. The final camera shot is imaginative as this ghoulish character is driven off into the distance, located somewhere in the American countryside. I would stick with the first one and leave it at that.

When I was little, I used to get up super early and watch television. Back in the day there was a channel in Norway that only sent movies. And the good thing was that they often sent R-rated goodness in the mornings. (don't ask me how this could be) Anyway, one time I remember there was a movie that really scared me. I was a tiny little kid at the time, and I actually turned the TV off. (this is probably the only time I have done that, for that reason)Years and years I wondered what kind of movie this could have been. For all I knew, it could have been a television show, a short, anything. A dream? Endless possibilities.Then some time in the future (seen from my younger self) I would get the answer. It was Creepshow 2, and the segment in question was "The Hitchhiker".Plus, I think I must have seen The Raft at some point in my life too, because I get that nostalgic, strange feeling you get when you see something again, that fascinated you a long time ago.So, the movie. I can't anything but love it, because of the reasons I just mentioned. But the real winner here, for me, is The Raft. It has this incredible eerie Stephen King feel to it, that I just absolutely love. It is such an awesome little tale, and this atmosphere, I can't really explain it, it gets under my skin.Yes, it can be argued that Creepshow 2 is weaker than Creepshow, and yes, the first two segments aren't super great, but something about it just appeals to me, nonetheless.

While I was aware of this movie and the King stories it contained, I'd never actually seen it until today. Certainly Mr. King has some stinkers attached to his name, but I have to say that Creepshow 2 has to be the absolute worst. Dreadfully executed and ineptly casted it was a real chore to sit through.Story the First, Chief Wood'nhead, has George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour in it, which is sad considering they've been in much better films. From the get go there's no doubt in your mind that the damn Indian statue is gonna come to life because they have it moving in the first shots. No suspense at all. So much of the opening is devoted to setting up the couple as nice old people that when revenge time comes around it's rushed through way too fast. The shotgun guy acts well and it's a shame he isn't given much more to do. Really lame. Also, they should have called the Indian Chief Rubberhead.Story the Second, the Raft, a genuinely unsettling and creepy King story is turned into....something. HORRIBLY acted. Line delivery is so bad you don't want to pay attention to what they're saying. In the setup they say how the raft is left on the lake, which means people DO swim in it, and it's not some other lake or raft they're talking about. So it makes the whole NO SWIMMING ending kind of stupid. I guess the monster has the summers off. The trash bag on the water monster effects brought me back to the Creeping Terror. The characters are really unlikable, and i can't tell if that's intentional or just really bad acting. By the time the kids have been whittled down to two, they decide to go soft-core for no reason. It makes no sense at the time or for the characters to do that.Story the Third, the Hitchhiker. The lady driver's constant monologue is so bland and flatly delivered it refused to go into long term memory. The rest of it is so-so for a horror short, less to gripe about than the previous two, but still not free from the flick's many flaws.Then there's the animation. Uncle scrotum-chin (if the animation is any indication) gives some kid the comic book version of Creepshow 2, it's probably better than the movie version. I know it's Creepshow, but the animation is just ugly and off-putting. When the Uncle Scrotor character turns real it makes you wonder why they bothered making Tom Savini up like that in the first place. It adds nothing to the film. It ends with him throwing a bunch of comics off the back of a truck and driving away (much like the creators of the movie did with a good story and technical expertise). The closing music is very odd and out of place for a horror film. It made me wonder if they had stock closing credit music in the public domain that they could just use for free. Cutting down the production costs on this to negative dollars.Kind of upset I watched it finally, but I guess the stories are still there. AVOID.