Terry's Reviews
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Creepshow 2 – Divimax Edition Anchor Bay – 2004 Directed by Michael Gornick Starring |
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| The sequel to George A. Romero’s CREEPSHOW
is not as bad as some critics have made it out to be. Long time Romero cinematographer
Michael Gornick directed CREEPSHOW 2 and he does a pretty decent job. It features the
special effects of Ed French and the guys who became KNB Effects. There are three stories
this time and each one has different quality to offer. Ray Spruce (George Kennedy) owns a small grocery store outside an Indian reservation. One day while Ray is touching up the paint on a wooden Indian statue outside his shop, he is visited by Benjamin Whitemoon (Frank Salsedo), a spokesman for the Indian tribe who brings jewelry in the form of paying off his debt. Ray reluctantly agrees to take this as payment because he does not want insult this once proud people. As Ray is closing shop that evening, Ray and his wife (Dorothy Lamour) are attacked by Benjamin's nephew Sam (Holt McCallany) and his gang of local thugs who dream of finding stardom in Hollywood and need the jewels to fund the trip. During the raid the punks inadvertently kill the couple. Sam and his gang are soon after visited by the Indian statue that stood outside Ray’s little store, which takes vengeance for the dead couple. "Ol' Chief Wooden Head" has the real feel of the EC Comics from the 50s and features the grace of old-time acting veterans George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour and Frank Salsedo. Holt McCallany makes an impression as the nephew who uses his ego and greed to full onscreen power. The statue created by Ed French and Howard Berger is quite effective and at times reminded me of THE GOLEM by the way it moved. The second story "The Raft" is probably the weakest of the three tales. It concerns a group of horny teenagers who go to a small lake to smoke pot and make out. Unfortunately for them an oil slick type monster inhabits the lake and they soon become it’s food. I got a few laughs from the third story "The Hitchhiker." A snobbish socialite accidently runs over a hitchhiker who refuses to stay dead. Like Griffin Dunne’s character in AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, every time the hitchhiker character returns he has more blood and less flesh covering his body. Perry Martin moderates the Audio Commentary with Michael Gornick. It makes sense to hear that Gornick encountered numerous problems on the film because you can sense studio interference and smell budget problems. An excellent 30 minute documentary called Nightmares In Foam Rubber chronicles KNB Effects work and the difficulties they faced making CREEPSHOW 2 work. As usual with any Anchor Bay release, CREEPSHOW 2 comes with two trailers, still and storyboard galleries, and the original script accessible via DVD-ROM. |
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