Creepshow Blu-ray offers solid video and decent audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
In this collaboration with Stephen King, director George Romero assembles a distinguished
cast and pays vividly hued homage to the E.C. horror comics of the 1950s. (This film
appeared years before the 'Tales From the Crypt' series.) Five creepy tales are strung
together by a framing story involving a young boy being punished by his father for reading
the gruesome, titular comic book. "Father's Day" tells the tale of a family patriarch exacting
beyond-the-grave revenge on the daughter who murdered him. In "The Lonesome Death of
Jordy Verrill," a Maine hayseed (King himself in a ridiculously over-the-top performance) is
overtaken by a meteor-based plant growth. A cuckolded husband exacts watery revenge on
his cheating wife and her lover in "Something to Tide You Over." A hairy beast in a box is
used for nefarious purposes at a university in "The Crate." Finally, in "They're Creeping Up
on You," a wealthy, arrogant New Yorker with a fear of germs has a disturbing run-in with
cockroaches during a blackout.
In recent years, it seems even renowned horror directors of the past three decades can't generate an ounce of creativity. Perhaps it's a direct result of the desensitization of youth, or the drying well of ingeniuty, but John Carpenter, George Romero, Tobe Hooper and even Wes Craven have been surprisingly absent from the horror genre. I'm not saying there's zero hope for a new batch of talent to take the mantle and run, but merely pointing out an observation that horror films have taken a step in the wrong direction since the invention of the teen slasher. With that in mind, I've been given the opportunity to revisit a true horror classic, appropriately named Creepshow. Originally conceived as a throwback to the horror comic books of their youth, Stephen King and George Romero collaborated on the film, presenting five short stories that range from ghastly to comical. To this day, I remember many sleepless nights in my youth that were directly related to a particular creature in a crate (courtesy of this film), but I'll save that embarassing discussion for another time.
Can you tell that's Stephen King's real-life son?
As mentioned above, the film is broken down into five separate short stories that are introduced and closed with a tale of a father who catches his young boy reading a comic book with the same title as the film. In between each story, the live-action film reverts to animated footage that segways into the next story from the comic book. In the next five paragraphs, I'll provide a brief synopsis of each storyline.
Father's Day: Every year for the past seven years, Bedelia (Viveca Lindfors) has returned to her father's estate to sit beside his grave on the evening of Father's Day. This year, she's been joined by several family members who are aware she was responsible for her father's murder, but recognize she did them a favor in offing the crotchety old man to give them all an early crack at his inheritance. However, this Father's Day shapes up to be slightly out of the ordinary, when the graveyard comes to life with a low growl that repeatedly mutters "Where's my cake?"
The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill: Hillbilly Jordy Verrill (Steven King) is mystified by the sudden emergence of a meteor in his backyard. Believing he can make a bundle off the sale of the meteor, he attempts to cool the molten surface of the rock with a bucket of water, causing the meteor to split in half and release a glowing liquid. Inadvertantly touching the goo in his haste to grab the remains of the fallen rock, Jordy soon discovers green plantlife sprouting all over the surface of his body.
Something to Tide You Over: Richard Vickers (Leslie Nielsen) has learned his young wife plans to leave him for a younger man (Ted Danson). Unaccustomed to losing anything he considers valuable, Richard stages a revenge plot against the two lovers that involves a sand burial.
The Crate: Professor Henry Northrup (Hal Holbrook) has had it with his wife Billy (Adrienne Barbeau), and her constant displays of disrespect at public functions. Dreaming of various ways he could do her in, Henry learns of a creature that's been unleashed in the basement of the University he works for, and decides it may be worth some further investigation.
They're Creeping Up On You: millionaire stock trader Upson Pratt (E.G. Marshall) is a shrewd businessman who doesn't bat an eye at the thought of walking over anyone that crosses his path. Sealed up in a germ-free apartment, Pratt suffers from a fear of bugs, germs, and anything he considers unclean. One night, his apartment becomes infested with cockroaches and he quickly realizes his mistreatment of those around him has deadly consequences.
If you've seen Creepshow before, I think you'll agree with my opinion that "Something to Tide You Over" and "The Crate" are the cream of the crop. The other three stories are interesting in their own way, but lack the clever edge of Richard Vicker's torturous revenge, or the bone-chilling creature that emerges from the crate. "Father's Day" comes awfully close to generating some chills (I admittedly jumped during a scene in the graveyard despite knowing it was coming), but I can't find much horror in a zombie that simply wants a little cake on Father's Day (wink, wink). Stephen King's acting turn in the second story is surprisingly good, but the innocence of Jordy and his unlucky plight make the inevitable conclusion a depressing affair. Rounding out the plotlines, is the entirely weak entry about cockroaches inexplicably showing up in the millionaire's sealed off apartment. Perhaps I don't find bugs all that terrifying, or I simply didn't care how the bugs made their way into the apartment in the first place, but the story just doesn't generate much entertainment value. It probably doesn't help when the weakest entry follows the best story on the disc, but even if that wasn't the case, I'd still consider one or two jabs at the chapter skip button on my remote.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the VC-1 codec (at an average bitrate of 25Mbps) , Creepshow looks surprisingly good considering it's 27 year vintage. Several years ago, I owned the DVD copy released a full decade ago, and wish I had it on hand to draw comparisons, but I'm positive this is a noticeable upgrade over that aging relic. From a detail standpoint, the level of clarity is good, but rarely fantastic. There's seems to be a subtle difference in fine object detail between the five segments, with the tale of Jordy Verrill fairing the worst. I'd wager the occasional haziness that creeps in is a product of the source material, since the sequences that appear less distinct are typically distance shots. As far as the coloring in the film, skin tones appear natural, and the animated segments look far brighter than I remembered on previous viewings, demonstrating a greater level of accuracy in the coloring on this release. Along the same lines, I felt black levels were appropriately deep, and contrast is spot on from start to finish. I looked as closely as possible for aliasing, DNR, or the presence of any digital anomalies, but never detected even a hint of transfer tampering. In closing, I should mention there's a degree of fine grain during some scenes and the occasional speck on the print, but it never progressed to a level I'd consider distracting.
The default audio offering on the disc (provided you have equipment that can handle lossless audio) is a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 track. There's not a whole lot to comment on from an audio basis, since there's zero surround differentiation in the dated mix. After all, you can't exactly turn apples into oranges, and short of a major ground-up remastering, this is likely the best we're going to get out of Creepshow. Digging into the positives, the clarity and volume balance between the various elements in the track are all highly proficient, allowing the viewer the opportunity to sit back and soak up every blood-curdling scream without worrying about adjusting the volume or straining to hear critical pieces of dialogue. If you're a long-time fan of Creepshow, the increased clarity and robust nature of the lossless track will be a welcomed improvement in the transition to the Blu-ray format. For all others, this will merely stand as a serviceable audio experience from an aging production.
Considering the success of Creepshow and Twilight Zone: The Movie, I'm surprised Hollywood has abandoned the short story structure in recent years (Sin City is the only exception I can think of). I've enjoyed Creepshow for many years now, and this new release on Blu-ray provides viewers with an entirely new visual experience. There's nothing I love more than revisiting a classic film in a resolution that comes extremely close to replicating the original theatrical experience, since it's almost like watching the film for the first time. If you're already a fan of Creepshow, this will be an easy purchase. For all others, I'd recommend a rental first, since there's a chance the mediocrity of several episodes will overrule the cost/value trade-off on this release.
Warner Home Video has announced ten titles from its catalog for Blu-ray release
on September 8: 'Catwoman', 'Creepshow', 'Dead Calm', 'Freddy vs. Jason', 'The
New World: Extended Cut', 'Over the Top', 'The Postman', 'Snakes on a Plane',
'Sphere' and 'The ...
