{"id":1719607,"date":"2022-11-01T07:49:33","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T11:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1719607"},"modified":"2022-11-01T10:34:30","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T14:34:30","slug":"george-romeros-creepshow-paved-the-way-for-our-comic-con-cravings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/george-romeros-creepshow-paved-the-way-for-our-comic-con-cravings\/","title":{"rendered":"George Romero\u2019s \u201cCreepshow\u201d Paved the Way for Our Comic-Con Cravings"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgeorge-romeros-creepshow-paved-the-way-for-our-comic-con-cravings%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1719607&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Cree-show-1982-crate-monster-2.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><strong>George A. Romero\u2019s \u201cCreepshow\u201d (1982) is never mentioned as a major, trailblazing comic book movie, but it is.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Whereas many notable mid-to-late 20th century films that were based in spirit or directly on a comic book (or, excuse me, Graphic Novel) adapted a jokey, condescending tone (I\u2019m looking at you, \u201cSuperman III\u201d), Romero\u2019s film isn\u2019t fooling around.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the use of gooey corpses, a decapitated head and a tombstone used as a murder weapon (for starters), Romero\u2019s film is an ambitious, two-hour effort to muse movies with comic books in a cinematically synergistic way.<\/p>\n<p>All of the above preceded Warren Beatty (\u201cDick Tracy\u201d), Robert Rodriguez (\u201cSin City\u201d), Zac Snyder (\u201c300\u201d and \u201cWatchmen\u201d) and Christopher Nolan (the Dark Knight trilogy), all of whom followed his path much later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCreepshow\u201d is an adoring tribute to E.C. Comics, and the age of publisher William Gaines\u2019 going to bat against critics who accused him of putting out tasteless comics (indeed they were- but also witty, beautifully drawn and structured like a bite sized morality tale).<\/p>\n<p>Romero and Stephen King\u2019s wonderful collaboration is tonal and visual approximation of the lurid joys, visual pulp and moral rot within the likes of E.C. Comic\u2019s \u201cTales from the Crypt\u201d and \u201cVault of Horror.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here is a major-league filmmaker with a lifetime of indie cred that aimed to create a comic book aesthetic (note the splashes of primary colors during jump scares and self-conscious panels during scene transitions, to name just a few examples), while screenwriter King shaped yarns that, indeed, your mom wouldn\u2019t approve of and your dad would toss in the trash.<\/p>\n<p>It begins with Tom Atkins as a positively loathsome dad, who berates and even slaps his son (played by future author Joe Hill) for possessing a horror comic book. The bad dad tosses the comic in the trash, bores his wife over the plots within the comic (King\u2019s way of teasing us that we\u2019re about to watch the \u201ccrap\u201d he\u2019s describing) and the appearance of a ghoul outside the boy\u2019s window indicate some sort of revenge plot is in order.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the line-up of the vignettes, which are best viewed with as little prior knowledge as possible.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/terror-in-the-aisles-1984-review\/\"><strong>RELATED: HOW \u2018TERROR IN THE AISLES\u2019 CAPTURED \u201980s HORROR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFather\u2019s Day\u201d is a perfect opener, as it\u2019s well paced, sets up its sick joke premise and moves along into its bad taste howler of a final shot. Plus, watching Ed Harris (in his first film role) dance badly to a peppy disco tune is hall of fame worthy (a runner up is clearly Crispin Glover\u2019s spastic moves in \u201cFriday the 13th: The Final Chapter\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill\u201d admittedly might have benefitted from a leading man who is more of an actor and less a shameless ham. Still, watching King fearlessly portray a dimwitted bumpkin is a once-in-a-lifetime kick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething to Tide You Over\u201d is my favorite. Featuring two terrific performances by Ted Danson (a hoot in his film debut) and Leslie Nielsen, years before he became the go-to leading man for movie parodies, it\u2019s as cruel, funny and satisfying as the best of E.C. Comics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Crate\u201d is overly drawn out and, despite obvious highlights, is the weakest of the bunch. Nevertheless, it\u2019s enjoyable to watch Hal Holbrook go so lowbrow and Adrienne Barbeau (so endearing in John Carpenter\u2019s \u201cThe Fog\u201d) play such an obnoxious character. Once we finally get to it, The Monster inside that crate is wonderful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re Creeping Up on You\u201d succeeds in setting up a hermetically sealed, clinical environment, infesting it with roaches and building to a glorious, gross-out ending.<\/p>\n<p>If the stories are all variations on horror comic book \u201ccrap,\u201d then this is another of the film\u2019s greatest accomplishments: \u201cCreepshow\u201d has a stylishness that is atypical of American horror films but is every bit as disreputable, gross and mean as the comic books that inspired it.<\/p>\n<p>Although \u201cCreepshow\u201d is never cited alongside the the first serious-minded comic book movies, here is a big-budget effort to get the look and feel of the source material right. It\u2019s also one of the best and every bit as essential to the genre as Richard Donner\u2019s \u201cSuperman \u2013 The Movie\u201d (1978) and Tim Burton\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/tim-burton-batman-made-mcu\/\">Batman<\/a>\u201d (1989).<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the attempt to create a cinematic duplication of the comic book format was as crucial to \u201cCreepshow\u201d as the design of \u201cAng Lee\u2019s eternally controversial and experimental \u201cHulk\u201d (2003).<\/p>\n<p>The success of \u201cCreepshow\u201d led to an enjoyable, clunky and lower budgeted \u201cCreepshow 2\u201d (1987), released by New World Cinema and not a prestigious operation like Warner Brothers (who distributed the original).<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the first film, the sequel sported shoddier production values and more B-movie ready cast. However, the take-it-or-leave-it cheap frills of \u201cCreepshow 2\u201d at least aligned it with the source material; like the Quentin Tarantino \u201cDeath Proof\u201d segment of the delicious \u201cGrindhouse\u201d (2007), it\u2019s less an ode to dirty B-movies than the genuine article.<\/p>\n<p>The straight-to-video, nearly unwatchable \u201cCreepshow III\u201d has no involvement with Romero or anyone originally attached to the series. On the other hand, the more appropriate spinoff of \u201cCreepshow\u201d is worth revisiting and celebrating.<\/p>\n<p>The small, spooky and always inventive \u201cTales from the Darkside\u201d TV series was essentially \u201cCreepshow\u201d for the small screen; it aired from 1983-1988 and was a fixture of after-hours network TV and basic cable programming for four seasons.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/house-review-1986-william-katt\/\"><strong>RELATED: \u2018HOUSE\u2019 TOOK MORE RISKS THAN MOST \u201980s HORROR FILMS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Premiering around a golden era of post-\u201cTwilight Zone\u201d TV horror and fantasy anthologies, \u201cTales from the Darkside\u201d took on the E.C. Comics mode of characters lacking a moral compass who encounter the supernatural and meet a typically horrific end. Nearly every episode was done on a single set with few actors and a high-concept premise that could be wrapped up in under 30 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>While lacking the flashier production values of the more heavily hyped anthology shows of the era, like \u201cAmazing Stories\u201d and the new \u201cTwilight Zone,\u201d the durable appeal of \u201cTales from the Darkside\u201d lingers on, as does the eerie sleaze it carries over from its E.C. Comics source.<\/p>\n<p>The punchline to both \u201cFather\u2019s Day\u201d and \u201cSomething to Tide You Over\u201d bear a resemblance to the deliciously cheesy \u201cLot 249\u201d portion of \u201cTales of the Darkside: The Movie\u201d (1990), which, due to Romero\u2019s connection and the horror anthology format, has been often referred to by fans as the unofficial \u201cCreepshow III.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As clever and enthusiastically fiendish as King\u2019s screenplay is, what makes the film truly special is how Romero directed it. This is a true tour de force, as Romero has shaped this labor of love into a living breathing comic book.<\/p>\n<p>Flashes of red light when a gruesome attack is made, split screens to create a comic book layout, angles and color lighting to suggest the panels. So do the side pans, \u201csplash at\u201d replications within the murder sequences.<\/p>\n<p>The actors are also a part of Romero\u2019s approach \u2013 no one is giving a condescending, \u201ccomic booky\u201d turn akin to the cast of \u201cSuperman IV: The Quest For Peace\u201d (1987) or \u201cBrenda Starr\u201d (1986). Yet, there is an elevated quality to the performances that fit the tone entirely.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s interesting that, unlike the slasher films and most genre films of its day, most the \u201cCreepshow\u201d cast are veteran and middle-aged film and theater actors.<\/p>\n<p>If Romero\u2019s zombie movies are trojan horses for social issues he wanted to explore through genre works, then \u201cCreepshow\u201d is, like the comic books it is based on, an attack on social norms, morality, ethics, proper etiquette and domestic roles.<\/p>\n<p>Romero\u2019s counter-culture attitude was always present in his work. Even his recently unearthed, long believed to be lost and devastating \u201cThe Amusement Park\u201d demonstrates his directorial strengths and frustrations with society.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCreepshow\u201d is, perhaps, not the film school staple that his \u201cNight of the Living Dead\u201d (1968) is but certainly deserves to be. In bringing not just the tone but a clever representation of graphic novel storytelling to the big screen, \u201cCreepshow\u201d wasn\u2019t just ahead of its time but also Romero adding a measure of prestige and fiendishness that honors the best of E.C. Comics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George A. Romero\u2019s \u201cCreepshow\u201d (1982) is never mentioned as a major, trailblazing comic book movie, but it is. Whereas many notable mid-to-late 20th century films that were based in spirit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1719610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1719607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1719607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1719610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1719607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1719607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1719607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}