CREEPSHOW is rightly viewed as a
valentine for horror film fans. If you
don't count his cameo in KNIGHTRIDERS, it was the first time that Stephen King
and George Romero officially collaborated together, which is kind of like
trying to comprehend The Big Bang. It's
the sort of film that those of us who saw it when we were kids recall not so
much for what was in it, but for the obstacles that we had to overcome just to
see it. The film opened on my 14th
birthday and despite my best efforts to get in to the United Artists Middlesex
Mall Cinema I had to resort to Matt Dillon in TEX which was rated PG and playing next
door. Ironically enough, or
appropriately enough, depending on your point of view, this whole
"off-limits" notion is part of the overall theme of CREEPSHOW, as
evinced by Tom Atkin's opening invective against his young son whom he
reprimands for reading a gory comic book that's similar to the EC Comics of the
40's and 50's, and stealing glances at his own porn collection. CREEPSHOW is about the things in life that
are restricted to kids, and kids wanting to be part of the adult world.
I finally caught up CREEPSHOW on home video in the summer
of 1983 on the RCA SelectaVision CED (remember those?) because now that I was a
whole six months older I was imbued with a level of maturity that was obviously
lacking during the previous year and therefore more well-equipped to mentally
handle this film, and watched it more times that I care to admit, effectively
making me off on a helluva toot! Looking back on the film 25 years later,
and those 25 years really did go a lot faster than they should have, I am
struck by just how closely the film puts me into the same frame of mind that I
had when I saw it as a teenager, and the fact that it now exists on a 5-inch
diameter plastic disc that I can put in my pocket is nothing short of
mind-boggling. How can you not be charmed by Ed
Harris and the (sadly) late Carrie Nye
insanely boogeying to "Don't Let Go" (who sang that song?!) in the "Father's Day" segment; Stephen King stumbling around as the titular Jordy
Verrill, calling himself a "lunkhead"; Leslie
Nielsen trying to play it semi-straight while avoiding Ted Danson and Gaylen Ross in the anti-climactic
"Something to Tide You Over"; the emasculated Henry (Hal Holbrook) trying to off his bitchy wife Wilma (Adrienne Barbeau) in "The Crate"; and E.G.
Marshall trying to fend off the 250,000-plus "bastards" in
"They're Creeping Up on You".
If you're reading this review I'll assume that you've seen
CREEPSHOW at least once, so any plot encapsulation seems needless. When
DVD knocked VHS off of its perch as the preferred method of home video viewing,
CREEPSHOW was released in a movie-only edition on Warner Home Video in
1999. It has taken eight years to give the fans a special edition that
they can really sink their fangs into, and the results are well-worth the
wait.
The special edition of CREEPSHOW is currently only
available on a Region 2 PAL disc, released by Universal Home Video in Great Britain.
Given the fact that CREEPSHOW did well here in the States, I wonder why Warner
Home Video decided to forgo a domestic DVD release. For years, MISERY was
available in Great Britain
in a nice special edition with extras and a commentary, but it eventually made
its way here, so anything is possible.
If you live here in the States CREEPSHOW requires playback
on a region-free DVD player or on a computer that has software to disable the
regional encoding on your computer DVD drive (DVD Idle Pro is a nice software
solution that does just that). The film has been restored to its original
colorful grandeur, which is truly a sight to behold because it's whole raison
d'etre is to emulate the colorful comics of years past. What point is
there in watching a video transfer that is dull and muted?
The extras that have been put together by Red Shirt
Pictures' Michael Felsher are a joy. A feature-length audio commentary
with Felsher, George Romero and Tom Savini
accompanies the film, and they discuss the making of it in their usual jovial
fashion, reminiscing about Viveca Lindfors, Stephen King, Leslie Nielsen who
kept the crew laughing by setting off his portable fart machine (a man after my
own fart - sorry!), Adrienne Barbeau and her reluctance to play Billie the
drunk, and E.G. Marshall undaunted by being covered in roaches.
A second bonus disc contains a nearly 90-minute documentary
in seven parts detailing the shooting and make-up effects of the film.
CREEPSHOW was Tom Savini's first film where he had to make a fully mechanical
and moving creature in the form of Fluffy for "The Crate". He
explains how he did it.
The DVD menus are easily navigable, although the audio
choices need to be selected from the menu. I detest this maneuver because
there is no need to do it this way: other DVD's permit selection between audio
channels via the audio button from the remote without leaving the film, so why
relegate this feature to the main menu? The film has three audio options: the original two-track stereo mix, a new 5.1 Dolby Digital mix, and the
commentary. There are no foreign language options. The film is
subtitled in English should you choose this option, but they should have also
included Spanish and French at the very least. There is also a stills
gallery, theatrical trailers, and behind-the-scenes footage shot on the
set.
The film is slipcased in a cardboard boxed with the
original American teaser poster art on the inside sleeve jacket.
It would have been nice to have a separate music track of
just the score because the film is loaded with great music by John Harrison,
and the Varese Sarabande and La-La Land soundtrack album pressings contain
about one-fourth of this music. Let's hope that a complete, 2-disc
soundtrack CD is released someday.
Despite my carpings, the purchase of this disc is a
no-brainer. If you like CREEPSHOW and can play it, this is the
disc to own. The film can be purchased from Xploited
Cinema. Tell Tony that House of Horrors sent you!
