Creepshow 2: The Sequel to the Popular Horror Anthology Comes to 4K (Limited Edition 4K)

The Film:

Back in 1982, horror maestros George A. Romero and Stephen King teamed up to deliver an intriguing anthology called "Creepshow," which consisted of five different stories that were meant to be a tribute to the old EC horror comics of the 1950s. Some of the tales were stronger than others, but it was mostly successful in what it set out to do in that it provided a few thrills, while also mixing in a slightly comedic, over-the-top tone to give it some levity. The film was pretty successful at the box office, grossing about $21 million against its $8 million production budget, so it's not that big a surprise that "Creepshow 2" was delivered five years later.

This time, however, some of the crew roles got shifted around, with DP Michael Gornick taking over directing duties and director George A. Romero writing the screenplay, though still basing it on stories by Stephen King, who had written the screenplay for the first film. It's a sequel that doesn't seem to get mentioned all that much, but with it quickly approaching its 40th anniversary in a couple of years, Arrow Films has decided to put it in the spotlight by giving it a stunning 4K upgrade and packing it with lots of extras, so as usual, it's time to go back and see how well it stacks up to the original film, while also seeing if perhaps it deserves a little more attention than it usually gets.

"Creepshow 2" consists of three stories and a mostly-animated wrap-around segment about a kid dealing with bullies. The first tale, "Old Chief Wood'nhead," involves an elderly shopkeeper (George Kennedy) and his wife (Dorothy Lamour), who have been rather charitable to their ailing community, but soon find themselves the victims of some young thugs. "The Raft" tells the story of some college friends who visit a lake for some recreation, only to find themselves trapped on a wooden raft by a strange creature in the water. Finally, "The Hitch-hiker" involves a woman (Lois Chiles) who accidentally runs over a hitch-hiker (Tom Wright) on her way home, seemingly killing him. The problem is, now he won't leave her alone.

As mentioned, the original "Creepshow" contained five tales, some of which were decent and some of which were on the weaker side, including what ends up being the longest of the bunch, "The Crate," which takes up about a third of the film's two-hour runtime. However, having numerous stories within one anthology film gave it more chances to deliver tales that would make an impact, in a sense taking pressure off the film as a whole. Because of this, it ended up being pretty good overall, giving us some fun, thrilling stories such as "Father's Day," "Something to Tide You Over," and "They're Creeping Up on You," though, again, you also get the over-extended "The Crate," as well as the rather forgettable "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" that features Stephen King himself.

When it comes to "Creepshow 2," having only three stories puts a lot more pressure on each of them to be at least decent, which is sadly where Romero & King end up dropping the ball. Starting with "Old Chief Wood'nhead," this is a story that takes quite a long time to get going, and even when it finally gets to it, all that ends up happening is that a wooden Indian statue comes to life and goes on a revenge spree. It's rather uninspired and doesn't really provide much in the way of thrills, though it is a delight, as always, to see Oscar-winner George Kennedy as a sweet, elderly shopkeeper.

"The Raft" has some potential to it, especially in how it could've become a tense story of these kids trying to get back to shore or just survive against this unknown creature in the water, but instead it gets stuck in a somewhat repetitive rut pretty quickly as the characters are devoured one by one, once again not getting much of a chance to build up the thrills or get the audience invested in any way.

As far as "The Hitch-hiker" goes, it turns out they saved the best for last. Here we have the tale of Annie Lansing, who is on her way back home from having an affair, but gets momentarily distracted and accidentally runs over a hitch-hiker... who then keeps popping up over and over again, in worse condition each time, as Annie tries to get away. There's not a lot to it, and it certainly doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it ends up being rather amusing just to see how the whole crazy thing will play out. Has she just become crazy after what she did? Is the hitch-hiker some kind of super-human creature? Regardless of how you interpret it, it ends up providing the film's only decent thrills, and at least brings the film to a semi-strong close (if you ignore the rather pointless wrap-around filler segment, that is).

On the whole, it's unfortunate to have to say that only one of these three stories provides the fun & excitement that the filmmakers were aiming for. Perhaps if they had thrown in a couple more tales, they would have increased their odds of delivering a better balance of stronger & weaker entries along the lines of the first film, but as it is, their big gamble of including only three just didn't pay off, primarily because two of them are rather under-developed ideas. In the end, one amusingly over-the-top story simply isn't enough to sustain the entire film, ultimately making "Creepshow 2" a disappointing follow-up to what had been a unique & solidly-entertaining horror anthology.

Video/Audio:

"Creepshow 2" comes to 4K in a 2160p, Ultra High Definition transfer of excellent quality. It may be a low-budget horror film from nearly 40 years ago, but it's been cleaned up beautifully, with a picture that looks perfectly sharp & clear throughout the entire 89-minute duration. Likewise, the lossless mono, stereo, and 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks are marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Arrow Films has done an incredible job in both areas for the film's 4K debut.

Special Features:

Commentary by Michael Gornick & Perry Martin

Screenplay for a Sequel (11 Minutes)

Tales from the Creep (8 Minutes)

Poncho's Last Ride (15 Minutes)

The Road to Dover (14 Minutes)

Nightmares in Foam Rubber (32 Minutes)

My Friend Rick (3 Minutes)

Behind the Scenes (6 Minutes)

The film comes with a fantastic selection of extras that includes a director's commentary and about 90 minutes of featurettes, primarily consisting of interviews with select cast & crew like screenwriter George A. Romero, make-up artist/actor Tom Savini, and FX artists Howard Berger & Greg Nicotero. Definitely plenty of fascinating material here for fans to delve into.

Conclusion:

"Creepshow 2" sadly ends up being a rather disappointing follow-up to what had been a pretty unique & amusing horror anthology outing, primarily due to two of its three stories being rather under-developed ideas that don't provide much in the way of thrills or entertainment. The third story in the set may finally get around to delivering them, but it simply isn't nearly enough to save the entire film, ultimately turning it into a mostly-forgettable sequel.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on Limited Edition 4K starting tomorrow.

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