Oh man, you guys, THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH. Like grinning from ear to ear for most of it. Directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King (both his screen writing debut AND his acting debut, as he stars in the second story), what's not to love? The entire anthology is an homage to the EC and DC horror comics of the 50's, and Romero made sure some of that imagery came through with each story starting and ending with the comic book illustration version. The collection is also framed in the premise of a young boy – Stephen King's actual son, Joe – being scolded for reading such nasty comics. The characters in the story are perfect caricatures, intentionally going above and beyond more subtle acting into something much more ridiculous. I'll go story by story for my more specific reviews…#1: Father's Day – If you remember one thing about this collection, you remember Nathan Grantham (Jon Lormer) – the crabby, abusive father – moaning "Bedeliaaaaa, you b***h!" and wanting his Father's Day cake. It's so absurd that it's hilarious, and yet, true to any good black comedy, you have the very real and disturbing topics of lifelong abuse, alcoholism, and planned murder. You THINK it's the silliest story of all (though dad coming out with Sylvia's severed head on a plate is pretty awesome), until you see the next one…#2: The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill – This is the one story where we get to see Stephen King acting, and it is glorious. He is the perfect backwoods bumpkin, down to the denim overalls and unibrow. He finds a meteorite that has crash landed in his backyard, and his daydream about being lauded at the "Department of Meteors" is just too good. But then he gets some mysterious blue liquid on him – "meteor s**t!" – and things start spiraling out of control as he – and everything he touches – becomes more and more covered in these bright green weeds. I love the way they amped up the effect of said weeds with green lighting – it makes the whole yard seem like it's glowing, very ethereal. But for the silliness in this story, it's also really sad and kind of terrifying… him dying alone in his home, knowing there's likely nothing that can be done for him, and shooting himself after his last conversation with his (deceased) father.#3: Something to Tide You Over – This one was probably my least favorite of the bunch. It's definitely more psychological horror than anything, which I appreciate, but it just didn't do much for me. Richard Vickers (Leslie Nielsen) is quite clearly psychopathic as he plans out the torture and eventual murder of his unfaithful wife, Becky (Gaylen Ross), and her lover, Harry (Ted Danson). He lures each of them to his private beach and buries them up to their necks in sand, telling them their only chance of survival is to hold their breath long enough to escape once the tide has come in and loosened the sand. He has also set up closed-circuit TV cameras so he can enjoy watching their torture from the comfort of his luxury beach home. There's definitely some anxious feelings watching them be buried and seeing them sputter and gasp as the tide comes in and starts to cover them more and more often with salty water. And the ending – with Vickers himself buried in sand, laughing and exclaiming "I can hold my breath for a looooong time!" is quite satisfying.#4: The Crate – This was another great one. A college custodian finds a mysterious crate that has been hidden under some basement stairs. He contacts one of the professors and they explore the contents of the crate together, only to find it contains an extremely violent and dangerous creature who then proceeds to wreak havoc. This one doubles as both a great monster story – the creature itself is pretty terrifying, both in looks and in the fact that it's been cooped up for almost 150 years and is now hungry for blood – and a great black comedy, with Henry (Hal Holbrook) seeing the creature as a perfect means to get rid of his drunk, belligerent, and abusive wife, Wilma (Adrienne Barbeau). His daydreams about shooting her to the crowd's applause and strangling her with a tie are brilliant. He is successful, of course, and is cocky about his disposal of the creature, but the story ends with a good cliffhanger as we see the beast is in fact alive and well…#5: They're Creeping Up on You – The best story by a mile. Upson Pratt (E.G. Marshall) is the standout of the entire anthology — he's ruthless, cold, and living holed up in his hermetically sealed penthouse. The whole thing feels like a bizarre dream, exaggerated in the scenes where he is talking through the door's peephole. As the roaches seemingly multiply and invade, you feel this kind of suffocation watching his panic and attempts to escape. He locks himself in his panic room but quickly realizes they've made their way in there, too, and soon dies of a heart attack. The story finishes when it shows his now-empty panic room and his corpse… which soon bursts open with hordes of cockroaches (one of the freakiest, scariest things I've seen in a long time). Brilliant from top to bottom.Really, do yourself a favor and watch this anthology!

Creepshow based on the 1950s, Tales of the Crypt comic books series is a collaboration between director George Romero and writer Stephen King. Book ended with a young boy being scolded by his dad for reading scary comic books it is an anthology of five stories.All the stories are unfurled in a comic book style. 'Father's Day' is a short story with a few jolts about a cantankerous old man terrorizing his family and wanting his Father's Day cake even if it means coming back from the grave. The creepiest part is to see Ed Harris disco dancing.Stephen King hams it up in 'The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill' as a yokel who finds a meteorite that slowly turns him into a green moss like infestation on his body. This is the weakest story.In 'Something to Tide You Over' Leslie Nielsen takes revenge on her cheating wife and her beau by burying them up to their neck in sand and waiting for the tide to come in. However soon after something more than the tide comes in to haunt Nielsen.'The Crate' sees academic Hal Holbrook imagining all sorts of horrors befalling on his nagging wife. His colleague at the university opens a crate that unleashes a demon giving Holbrook an idea.'They're Creeping Up on You' sees E G Marshall playing a nasty Howard Hughes type tycoon with a phobia about germs living in a clinical, air sealed apartment that suddenly gets infested with cockroaches and he hates bugs.The first two stories are short but they get increasingly longer and thus lose their effectiveness. All the stories have some type of scares but at heart they seem to be morality tales on human phobias but the film is a mixed bag.

Billy is punished for reading comic horror Creepshow. The Creep invites him to five tales. In Father's Day, the old patriarch Nathan Grantham was killed by his daughter Bedelia. During a family gathering, Nathan is resurrected and takes revenge while getting the cake. In 'The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill', Jordy Verrill (Stephen King) is a dimwit farmer who finds a meteorite and is soon overcome with extraterrestrial plant life. In 'Something to Tide You Over', wealthy Richard Vickers (Leslie Nielsen) takes revenge on his wife and her lover Harry Wentworth (Ted Danson) by burying them up to their necks in the beach. In 'The Crate', college professor Henry Northup (Hal Holbrook) is informed of a deadly creature inside of a crate and he sees an easy way to get rid of his hateful wife Wilma (Adrienne Barbeau). In 'They're Creeping Up on You', ruthless business Upson Pratt (E. G. Marshall) has sealed himself up in his high tech apartment due to his germophobia. There is a blackout and his apartment is overrun by cockroaches.The first two tales are forgettable. The third one burying alive Ted Danson is not. It is the most compelling tale in the whole movie. It works on every level from the acting to the writing. The fourth one has a couple of interesting actors and the last one is creepy as hell. I'm not that afraid of bugs but people who do would really get unhinged over that one. The wrap-around story with Billy could probably be better. I'm sure they could have found a better actor than Stephen King's son. Teaming up horror icons like George A. Romero and Stephen King doesn't guarantee anything but this one worked out great.

'The Creepshow' is a 50's retro-styled horror comic book come to life. Think "Tales From the Crypt", and you've got the idea. It's a very well packaged, fun collection of stories with a great cast.The movie opens with a scene of a little boy being punished for reading a Creepshow comic book, which probably wasn't all that uncommon back in the '50s. As the kid pouts up in his room, a ghastly figure appears at the window beckoning the child to join him, and thus becoming our host for the evening's entertainment.The naysayers will say it comes across as campy and corny, or that it's not scary, etc....Look, Stephen King and George Romero wanted it to be silly and corny, that's what comic book's were/are. In this regard, they nailed it. In classic comic book fashion, a lot of scenes are framed in retro comic book style graphics, with even the occasional caption thrown in for good measure, as they cut away from a scene. And the acting is superb throughout, as professionals like Ed Harris, Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson, E.G. Marshall, Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver and even Steven King all make appearances. I always laugh when I see the young Ed Harris in the first story, already sporting a receding hair line as a young man.While I agree that this movie isn't really that scary, I found the fourth story, 'The Crate', to have it's fair share of suspense and is easily the scariest story of the bunch. The third story, 'Something to Tide You Over', which features Nielsen and Danson, I found to be particularly creepy as Nielsen lures two lovers, one which happens to be his wife, to a secluded beach which he ironically calls 'Comfort Point' and buries them up to their necks in the sand. Waiting for the tide to come in. And that's not even the worst part. He sets up cameras and monitors in front of each lover so they can watch each other drown. Of course, he's also able to watch the action from the 'comfort' of his beach house, where he doesn't lack for enthusiasm.One last thing. For short stories, there is genuinely really good character development which lends itself to some pretty funny scenes and lines, albeit some can be somewhat subtle. Watching Ed Harris dance always makes me laugh. And Leslie Nielsen is, well, Leslie Nielsen, and really portrays his demented character to perfection. And some of the scenes when Hal Holbrook fantasizes about killing his wife, Adrienne Barbeau, are just flat out hilarious. As is she as she constantly belittles him in front of everybody.I've given this movie an 8 because it's entertaining and fun. It's not the scariest movie. It was never meant to be. Yes, it's kinda of campy and corny. Which is exactly what it's supposed to be. If you can just enjoy 'The Creepshow' for what it is and not what it isn't, most likely you'll like it.