Alright creeps, gather 'round the flickering glow of the old CRT. Remember that feeling? Scanning the horror aisle at the local video store, the lurid cover art practically buzzing under the fluorescent lights, promising thrills, chills, and maybe a few spills. If you were lucky, maybe you snagged a copy of Creepshow 2 (1987), the slightly scrappier, arguably meaner follow-up to the EC Comics-inspired classic. Popping that tape in felt like catching up with an old, slightly unhinged friend.
While the original Creepshow (1982) had a certain comic-book opulence, this sequel, steered by Michael Gornick (cinematographer on the first film, making his directorial debut here), feels a bit more grounded in grime, perhaps a reflection of its tighter budget – reportedly around $3.5 million, a noticeable step down from its predecessor. But don't let that fool you; the pedigree was still there, with stories conjured by Stephen King and adapted by the maestro George A. Romero. The result is an anthology that might lack the consistent polish of the original but doubles down on the visceral, sometimes nasty, fun.
### More Tales from the Crypt Keeper's Cousin
The wraparound story trades the troubled kid from the first film for young Billy (played by Domenick John), eagerly awaiting his dose of horror comics, delivered by none other than The Creep himself. These animated segments, brought to life by Rick Catizone, have a distinct Saturday morning cartoon-meets-grindhouse vibe, bridging the three live-action tales with a certain low-fi charm that feels perfectly suited to the VHS format. It sets the stage: less outright comic book panels, more pulpy paperback dread.
### Old Chief Wood'nhead
First up is "Old Chief Wood'nhead," a morality tale steeped in classic Americana... before turning decidedly vicious. We get the legendary George Kennedy and, in her final film role, the wonderful Dorothy Lamour as Ray and Martha Spruce, kindly owners of a struggling general store in a forgotten desert town. Their reverence for the stoic wooden Indian statue outside ("Old Chief Wood'nhead" himself) feels genuine, adding weight to the tragedy when local hooligans, led by a sneering Holt McCallany (years before Mindhunter!), commit a brutal robbery.
The segment takes its time building sympathy before unleashing the supernatural vengeance. Seeing that stoic statue creak to life, powered by pure, righteous fury – that was pure practical effects magic back in the day. No CGI morphing here, just clever editing, sound design, and a performer inside a convincing, slightly stiff costume enacting brutal, blocky revenge. It’s slower paced than the other segments, but the payoff, particularly the final image of the chief holding the scalps, delivered a grim satisfaction that stuck with you. It perfectly captures that EC Comics sense of ironic, often brutal, justice. A fun fact: finding the right remote Arizona location, Dead River, proved crucial for capturing that authentic dusty, isolated atmosphere essential to the story's mood.
### The Raft
Okay, let's be honest. For many of us, this is the segment that burrowed under our skin and stayed there. "The Raft" is pure, distilled aquatic horror, stripped down to four horny college kids (Page Hannah, Daniel Beer, Jeremy Green, Paul Satterfield) skinny-dipping out to a wooden raft on a remote lake, only to be besieged by a sentient, oil slick-like creature with an insatiable appetite.
This is where Creepshow 2 truly shines, showcasing the gruesome genius of the effects team, still operating under the umbrella of Tom Savini's expertise even if he wasn't hands-on directing the effects himself (future legends Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero cut their teeth here). The creature itself is horrifyingly simple yet effective – a pulsating black mass that dissolves flesh on contact. The tension is relentless. Remember watching through splayed fingers as the blob oozed through the cracks in the raft? The agonizingly slow, terrifying demises are pure nightmare fuel, executed with stomach-churning practical effects that felt terrifyingly real on grainy VHS. Forget smooth digital monsters; the tangible slime and gore here felt immediate and inescapable. It’s a masterclass in minimalist horror, proving you don’t need complex mythology when you have primal fear and expertly crafted goo. Was there ever a more potent argument against late-autumn swimming?
### The Hitch-hiker
Rounding out the trilogy is "The Hitch-hiker," a nasty little piece of road rage horror that feels like a Twilight Zone episode filtered through a slasher sensibility. Lois Chiles (familiar to Bond fans from Moonraker) plays Annie Lansing, a wealthy woman driving home late after dallying with a gigolo. Distracted, she runs down a hitchhiker (Tom Wright) and, in a panic, drives off.
But this is a Creepshow tale, so death is merely an inconvenience for the wronged. The hitchhiker keeps reappearing, increasingly mangled and decayed with each encounter, delivering his signature line with ghoulish persistence: "Thanks for the ride, lady!" This segment leans heavily into black comedy, pushing the gore and absurdity further with each reappearance. Lois Chiles sells the mounting hysteria beautifully, and Tom Wright is unforgettable as the relentlessly cheerful undead nuisance. The makeup effects charting his gruesome decomposition are, once again, top-notch practical work, becoming more elaborate and repulsive with each scene. It’s a relentless, darkly funny chase that hammers home the theme of inescapable guilt. Apparently, getting the effect of the hitchhiker clinging to the car roof involved some genuinely risky stunt work, typical of the era's commitment to practical danger.
### Still Worth the Late Fee?
Creepshow 2 might live in the shadow of its older brother, feeling a bit rougher around the edges due to its reduced resources and perhaps a less unified vision. Michael Gornick does a capable job, particularly in capturing the claustrophobic terror of "The Raft," but it lacks some of the comic book flair Romero brought to the director's chair in the original. The stories themselves, while classic King, feel slightly less developed than the original's offerings.
Yet, there’s an undeniable charm here. It’s a leaner, sometimes meaner machine that delivers potent bursts of horror, buoyed by fantastic practical effects that hold up surprisingly well precisely because they feel tangible. It captures that specific late-80s horror vibe – a willingness to be nasty, a touch of dark humor, and a reliance on physical craftsmanship over digital wizardry.
Rating: 7/10
Why? While undeniably uneven and not quite reaching the iconic heights of the original, Creepshow 2 delivers two truly memorable segments ("The Raft" is an all-timer) fueled by fantastic practical gore and creature effects. "Old Chief Wood'nhead" offers solid, atmospheric revenge, and the wraparound segments have their charm. It loses points for lacking the overall consistency and visual pop of the first film, but gains them back for sheer visceral impact and nostalgic B-movie pleasure.
Final Thought: It might be the slightly less reputable sibling, but Creepshow 2 is pure VHS gold – a grimy, gory, and grin-inducing trip back to when horror anthologies felt like digging into a forbidden comic book after dark. Thanks for the ride, indeed.