Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Sam Panico 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.

Mr_Ectoplasma "Creepshow 2," in the tradition of its predecessor, frames a series of shorts as a part of a horror comic book. This offering features three stories: one about a wooden Native American statue that comes to life, another about a mysterious entity devouring swimmers in a lake, and the last about a woman stalked by a hitchhiker she's killed on a lone country road.The original "Creepshow" was a part of my childhood, and a semi-classic of the genre. This followup historically seems to have gotten short shrift in some regards, though it's far from a great film, and in many ways is an obviously weaker production. The writing of the segments themselves feel less developed and considerably more gimmicky, and they are marred by some weak dialogue (this is particularly true of the last two). That said, each of the three segments do attain a considerable sense of atmosphere that is admirable; the first has a well-established dusty desert setting; the second utilizes an ominous lake to claustrophobic extremes; and the last plays on the utter creepiness of driving alone in the country at night. The special effects are also a strong suit here, which, though dated in some respects, are still very elaborate and well-done. The performances are a mixed bunch given the size of the cast, ranging from good to very bad, but in context, the acting is not a major problem.Overall, "Creepshow 2" is a fun but flawed sequel. Where it fails most is in its individual segments which, though they have well-developed atmospheres and aesthetics, feel conceptually underdeveloped and gimmicky at times. It is not a bad sequel, but it does feel considerably less toned than its predecessor; however, even in spite of this, there is undeniable fun to be had. 6/10.

GL84 Waiting to see the new Creepshow comic book, a young boy arrives when The Creep drops them off and begins leafing through the book, reading three stories.The Good Stor(ies): Old Chief Wood'nhead-Running a general store in a drying up town, a man and his wife are presented with a special gift for their services. Immediately afterward, a group of punks decide to rob the store, leaving the couple for dead. The Indian sculpture in front of their store, Old Chief Wood'nhead, comes to life and tracks them down one-by-one. This wasn't bad, and is overall pretty decent. The special effects for the statue are excellent, applying a 'wooden' body-suit to make it move and act just like a wooden statue coming to life, having the stiffness that comes with a moving statue. It steals all the best scenes, especially the assault in the garage and inside the trailer park which are both quite suspenseful due to its presence. The kill scenes also show some verve, as we get attacks by a volley of arrows, a swipe to the head with an axe, and a pretty nasty scalping. On the downside, the story is predictable which ruins the experience a little as you know exactly what's going to happen exactly as it would be expected, playing out basically a routine slasher film with the statue as the killer. It's quite obviously going this route, though, and it makes for a fun time overall.The Raft-Heading out to an abandoned lake, a group of friends swim out to a raft floating in the middle for some relaxation. When a floating mass nearby takes an interest in them, they have to find a way to get away before it kills them all. The biggest thing with this one is that the blob in the lake is really cool. There is a lot of mystery surrounding it and you can't really tell how it's going to end. As great as the mystery is, the creature just looks like a black tarp floating in the water. The deaths are wildly over-the-top, as the blob eats through their flesh, leaving a mound of bloody bones and melted skin. It has a lot of great suspense, and the tension in the second half, where the creature begins to break through the holes in the wood is really creepy. The story moves along at a sharp pace, hardly ever slowing down and being really entertaining once it gets started. This is the segment that features the most satisfying ending and everyone gets their just desserts, featuring a twist that is the nearest the film ever gets to capturing any of the black humor that ran through the original. It's a really good story.The Hitchhiker-Running late from a tryst, a woman hits a hitchhiker accidentally with her car, but fearing the repercussions she takes off. As she struggles with herself for doing the deed, she encounters him repeatedly as she continues on looking for revenge for her actions. The most interesting thing here is how hard the woman fights against the hitchhiker. She runs him over with her car, runs over him and crushes him against trees continually. She does practically everything a human would really do in a similar situation, and it's quite fun to see them. The special effects in here did a very good job on the hitchhiker as every time you see him he's gradually gotten more and more mashed to pieces thanks to Louis Chiles repeatedly driving over him with her car until there is but a skeleton left. The longer it goes on, the more it becomes distorted and the more gruesome it becomes. However, the segment becomes so ludicrously overblown in the escalating wrecking of the car in attempts to dispose of the hitcher that it earns far more on the laugh scale than ever does for its scares. It might have been more interesting if they played up how the mangled hitchhiker could have been a figment of her imagination. That really could've been played up more rather than a few passing hints at it. Its biggest problem, though, is that it gets repetitive after a while and they could have cut this segment down to keep it fresh. It feels like it's doing the same thing over and over, and could've been trimmed down.The Bad Stor(ies): While all have their little problems, as a whole this one is decent enough. The biggest thing that these suffer from is an overall bored feeling. They aren't that original either, as there's been tons of stories out there with the same general plot as these and do it much better. Also quite hard to sit through is the wraparound segments, which are quite terrible, have nothing to do with the features being presented afterward, and have none of the style and wit of the previous entry. That also applies to the stories, but this one mainly suffers from the lack of creativity.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity and drug use.

loomis78-815-989034 Three stories are featured this time, two down from the original which might have been one too long. A cheap animated wraparound surrounds the stories and is a far cry from the original. 'Old Chief Wood'nhead' has an elderly couple (Kennedy & Dorothy Lamour) running a small town grocery store that is nearly bankrupt like the town. Outside the store is a life-size wooden Indian statue that comes to life to seek revenge on a gang of idiots who kill the old couple. The second story is 'The Raft' that tells of four teenagers who swim out to a barge in the middle of a lake and get trapped on it because of a black ooze floating in the water. The ooze graphically swallows and devours the group one by one. The final story is 'The Hitchhiker' which features cheating wife Anne Lansing (Chiles) returning home one night where she runs over a derelict (Wright) in the road killing him. She panics and leaves the scene battling with her conscience. Soon the dead hitchhiker begins appearing on the road and then everywhere she looks. This terror filled ride home has the hitchhiker attempting revenge on Anne until the very end. The stories are from Stephen King again and George A. Romero wrote the screenplays but directing chores went to Michael Gornick Romero's cinematographer on the original and other Romero films. Gornick does a decent job but the stories just aren't as good this time around. Where the original could have lost a story, this one could have added one. The three stories seem one shy of a full load. The cheap wraparound animation and simple sets make you wonder if there were budget issues because the production is surly lacking a big feel. The gore is decent and the stories are certainly watchable if not entirely compelling. As an anthology movie, Creepshow 2 can hold its own, but compared to the original it is a bit of a letdown.