CREEPSHOW 2 (1987)

INFORMATION:

Country: US

Original Title: Creepshow 2

Alternative Title(s): Dead and Undead: Creepshow 2 (USA - alternative title)

Year: 1987

Genre: Horror/Comedy

ABOUT: 

Creepshow 2 is a 1987 American comedy horror anthology film directed by Michael Gornick,and the sequel to Creepshow. Gornick was previously the cinematographer of the first film, and the screenplay was written by George A. Romero who was director of the original film. The film's stars were Lois Chiles, George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour, and Tom Savini. It was once again based upon stories by Stephen King.

FACTS:

Where the first film consisted of five stories, Creepshow 2 features only three. Two additional King stories, "Pinfall" and "Cat from Hell", were set to be adapted in the film, but were scrapped due to budgetary reasons.[5] "Cat from Hell" was later filmed for Tales from the Darkside: The Movie.[5] It focuses on a wealthy old man hiring a hitman for $100,000 to kill a black cat, which was believed to have killed three other people inside the residence he lives in and fears to be next. Unbeknownst to them, the cat soon exacts cosmic revenge on the two.

"Pinfall", which was set to appear after "Old Chief Wood'nhead", told the story of two rival teams consisting of the Regi-Men and the Bad News Boors competing in a bowling alley owned by an aged millionaire. The owner is killed in a freak accident and the teams find out afterwards that he would have awarded one of them $5 million for whoever got the highest score. Soon, things take a turn for the worst for the Regi-Team when the Boors, killed in a fiery car-crash purposely caused by the Regi-Team, return as burnt-up revenants and get their revenge on their killers. Unlike "Cat from Hell", which managed to be brought onto the screen in a different film, "Pinfall" was never shot and never appeared outside of the film's original script. In 2014, the segment was funded through Kickstarter by Dayle Teegarden and was successfully pledged by its backers with £1,231 put into the project against its £1,000 goal. The segment was going to be in the sequel for Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, but this never came to fruition.

Watch ”The Raft” segment here! Please report dead links.

During "The Raft" segment, actor Daniel Beer stated that he almost died from hypothermia due to the water being very cold. While the crew wanted him to continue working, director Michael Gornick brought him to the hospital, as he feared the actor would leave the set and never return if they forced him to keep working. After a full recovery, he managed to finish the segment.

The film was theatrically released on May 1, 1987. On its opening weekend, it grossed $3,584,077 and has achieved $14,000,000 during its run in theaters.

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Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the film "has three suitably grisly ideas that are only glancingly developed. The episodes are marginally interesting, but each is a little too long. And each could be fully explained in a one-sentence synopsis.” Todd McCarthy of Variety panned the film as an "omnibus snoozefest which is utterly lacking in chills or thrills," with all three stories "so deficient in imagination and scare quotient they wouldn't pass as even satisfactory episodes on a TV show like Amazing Stories or The Twilight Zone.” Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a cut-rate sequel from those two popular masters of horror, Stephen King and George Romero, that plays like leftovers. Fans of both deserve better.” Richard Harrington of The Washington Post wrote that the film "goes nowhere slowly. Part of the problem is that King's short stories simply work better in print.” Allmovie awarded 1.5 stars out of 5 in a retrospective review and stated: "Despite its strengths -- a livelier pace, some creatively gory set-pieces -- this is a much cheaper-looking effort than its predecessor, with the deft guidance of Romero conspicuously absent (long-time collaborator Michael Gornick took up the directorial reins); as a result, King's gross-out sensibilities don't come off as well.”

RATING OVERALL

RATINGS BY SEGMENT

1. OLD CHEIF WOOD’NHEAD

2. THE RAFT

3. THE HITCH-HIKER

OPINION:

I have loved this since forever  … or at least since 1987. This was one of the few VHS tapes we had at home when I grew up, so I have probably seen it a million times. At least part 2 and 3, the first one ”Old Cheif Wood’NHead” was never a favorite, so I usually fast forwarded until ”The Raft” started. ”The Hitch-Hiker” still creeps me out today, but it probably wouldn’t if I saw it the first time today. Then it would probably just be cheesy, but thank f**kin someone that I grew up in the 80’s. It was an awesome century.

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