George A.Romero and Stephen King bring five tales of terror to the screen.
Well here is the start of my “Creepshow” franchise review, I’m looking forward to reviewing this cult franchise so lets get on with it!
As a big fan of anthology Horror films I have to admit that “Creepshow” is one of my favourites and who can blame me, it brought together Horror icons Stephen King, George A. Romero and Tom Savini. Something like this happening today would cause huge reactions from fans, it would be one of the most anticipated films ever to be released.
We also get an awesome cast with the likes of Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Harris, Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Tom Atkins and more. Stephen King even gets an acting part, he had an allergic reaction to the make-up he had to wear for his transformation. He was subjected to shots and medication “so the work would be bearable.”
My favourite segment has to be the one featuring King called – “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”, it’s very much a throwback story but one that never gets old and is always fun to see. King actually does a very good job of playing his manic character and definitely holds his own with the stellar cast line up.
But that’s not to say any of the others are bad, in-fact there isn’t a bad story in this film. Each segment has it’s own charm and it never ever bores. Plus the fact that the make up and effects are absolutely brilliant as is the set pieces. They just don’t make them like this anymore.
“Creepshow” is very much a firm favourite in the Horror genre and if you haven’t seen it yet you’re definitely missing out!
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
Stephen King carried a toy figure of the character “Greedo” from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope on the “Creepshow” set for good luck.
Rice Krispies were used as maggots on the corpse’s eyes in the first story, “Father’s Day”. In addition, real maggots were also utilized.
The marble ashtray (which plays a major role in Creepshow’s first story, “Father’s Day”) is featured in all five of the film’s stories if you look closely. 1 – Father’s Day – Obvious. Shown to viewers multiple times. 2 – The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill – Next to the cash box at the Department of Meteors. 3 – Something to Tide You Over – On the nightstand next to Richard’s bed. 4 – The Crate – On the writing desk when Henry writes the letter to Wilma. 5 – They’re Creeping Up On You – The soap dish when Upson Pratt is washing his hands. 6 – The wraparound story – On Billy’s desk when he first starts stabbing the voodoo doll.
The wrestling match Jordy Verrill is watching on TV in the second segment, “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”, was being called by Vince McMahon (Chairman of the WWF – now WWE). The wrestlers in the ring were then-current WWF Champion Bob Backlund and The Samoan No. 1.
A sign leading to “Castle Rock” (Stephen King’s trademark fictitious town) appears at the very end of the segment “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”, among other signs.
Ted Danson, who played Harry Wentworth in “Something to Tide You Over”, said in a T.V. interview that his daughter was on the set during the scene where his character returns from the dead encased in rotting flesh and seaweed. He purposely tried avoiding his young daughter out of fear of scaring her. Finally, despite his best efforts, she went up to him, looked at him and simply said, “Oh, hi Dad.”
It is rumoured that Max von Sydow was originally slated to play Upson Pratt in Creepshow’s final story, “They’re Creeping Up On You!”.
Why does Aunt Bedelia’s father come to life after 7 years in the first story “Father’s Day”? Not because of the lucky number it turns out. If you watch closely you will see Bedelia spills whiskey on the grave. In Gaelic, the word for whiskey is translated as Water of Life, and is likely a nod to James Joyce and his book “Finnegan’s Wake”. In the story a builder’s labourer falls from a ladder and breaks his skull, but is revived when someone spills whiskey on his corpse at the wake. The story of Finnegan’s Wake is in turn written based off an old Dublin street ballad.
In a “Creepshow” special feature from the pages of “Cinefantastique” magazine around the time of “Creepshow”‘s release, Stephen King (screenwriter) and George A. Romero (director), revealed that if the film’s final story (“They’re Creeping Up On You!”) had proven to be too difficult and ambitious to film, it would have been substituted with the King short story “The Hitch-Hiker”, which ended up being the final story of the film’s sequel, Creepshow 2, directed by George A. Romero’s cinematographer on the original Creepshow, Michael Gornick.
Originally, in Stephen King’s first draft 142-page screenplay for the film, the stories “The Crate” and “Something to Tide You Over” switched places. Making “The Crate” story number 3 and “Tide” story number 4. This is also how the Berni Wrightson Creepshow graphic novel adaptation turned out.
In Stephen King’s original script for the film, the final story, “They’re Creeping Up On You!”, originally took place in a lush, carpeted penthouse apartment. However, because with roaches this would have been unworkable, Romero opted for a more empty almost hospital room-like set for the story.
Two of the characters featured in the film, Tabitha and Richard (The new professors at the faculty reception at the beginning of the fourth segment, “The Crate”), were named after Tabitha King (Stephen King’s wife) and Richard Bachman (his ghostwriting name).
In the film’s second segment, “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”, the film playing on Jordy’s television in the background is A Star Is Born, according to director George Romero’s commentary on the UK special edition DVD.
The prop 10-cent “CREEPSHOW” comic book featured in the film was drawn and inked by veteran artist ‘Jack Kamen’, one of the artists for the original E.C. crime and horror comics of the 1950’s. Creepshow was a tribute to these comic books. Jack Kamen also created the comic book-style poster for the film, which was also featured on the front of the Plume “Creepshow” comic book adaptation (which Bernie Wrightson, another prolific horror comic artist, drew and inked the interiors for). Originally,Stephen King wanted Graham Ingels, another EC artist (famous for his work on the title “The Haunt of Fear”) to do the artwork for the film’s poster, but he refused. It was head of EC comics ‘William M. Gaines’ who then suggested Jack Kamen do the assignment. Kamen accepted.
A screen capture of the “Creepshow” comic book featured in the film reveals that the letters page has letters from “Brian Hall of Ann Arbor, Mich.” and “David Graves of Spruce, Maryland”, among others. Spruce is the maiden name of King’s wife Tabitha. David Graves is the name of King’s late brother-in-law (married to wife Tabitha’s sister, Catherine). David Graves lived in Maryland (although not “Spruce”, Md), until his death in 2000.
The on-set nickname for the monster in the crate in Creepshow’s fourth story was “Fluffy”, as named by director George A. Romero. The creature’s creator (and make-up artist on the entire film), Tom Savini, was the shorter garbageman featured near the end of the film.
At the end of “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”, on the signpost is the town of Portland, Maine. This was Stephen King’s home town, and King is the star of this segment of the film.
Adrienne Barbeau was still married to John Carpenter when Creepshow was released. Carpenter would make the film version of Stephen King’s Christine the following year. King wrote and makes an appearance in Creepshow. Additionally, Hal Holbrook and Tom Atkins, who starred in this film, co-starred in The Fog with Adrienne, and which Carpenter directed.
The housekeeper in the “Father’s Day” sequence is Mrs.Danvers. The malevolent housekeeper in Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense film Rebecca is also named Mrs. Danvers.
Viveca Lindfors asked George A. Romero if she could improvised the scene at the tomb, she thought about the relationship with his own father and she had a hidden anger of George Tabori.
At the beginning of the film when the boys father is scolding him for reading the comic, the boy comes back with saying it’s no worse than what’s in the porno magazines his father has. Stephen King got his start writing short horror stories for pornographic magazines.
King put one of the latex tongues in his mouth and as a practical joke stuck it out at the unsuspecting.
King was told to play Jordy like Wile E. Coyote, the way he looks when he goes off a cliff.
During a break in filming, Stephen King took his son to a McDonalds, and as a joke, Joe was made up with bruises, cuts and scabs. The girl at the Drive-Thru called the police when she saw him.
Contrary to what Richard says in “Father’s Day”, Nathan Grantham wasn’t “about 184” years old when he died, but, according to the Roman numerals on his tomb obelisk, he was 94 (born MDCCCLXVIII [1878], died MCMLXXII [1972], 1972 – 1878 = 94).
George A. Romero went on to adapt Stephen King’s novel The Dark Half as a film. That film featured Ed Harris’s wife, Amy Madigan. Harris went on to appear in Needful Things as Sherriff Alan Pangborn, a character who originally appeared in The Dark Half.
The crew was also the crew for Sleepaway Camp according to ‘Jonathan Tierston’ (the actor who played Ricky in SC).
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