30 Day Horror Challenge: Day 8

A collection of tales with the sole purpose to frighten you. What could be better? There are many movies that can qualify in this category, but none have captured my imagination as much as this one. It could have been the recognizable stars in unusual roles. It could have been the people involved behind the scenes. It could have been the dark humor. The truth is, it was all of these and the fact that I was at an impressionable age when I first saw it.

Your favorite horror anthology.

Creepshow (1982)

Let's start with the wraparound. A young boy named Billy (played by Stephen King's son Joe, who is quickly becoming my favorite author) is caught with a trashy horror comic book that quickly gets thrown out. Billy's fantasy world intrudes after he is sent to his room, when a character from the comic book invites him to come along for some fun.

We are now transported into each story from the comic book. Five stories in all, which were inspired by the fifties E.C. comics. "Father's Day" was the story about a father coming back from the grave to claim his cake. It was written by Stephen King specifically for the movie. "The Lonesome Death Of Jordy Verrill"was adapted from a previously published Stephen King story. It features King in a role as Jordy. A meteor falls to Earth and Jordy dreams of being rich and famous by discovering it. Stephen King delivers my favorite line in the entire film when he gets some goop on his hand.

"Something To Tide You Over" features Leslie Nielsen as a vindictive psychopath who gets a kick out of watching people die. Those people being Ted Danson and Gaylen Ross. The tides turn on him when he starts to hear strange things. "The Crate" features a classic monster in the laboratory story. "They're Creeping Up On You" features a man who lives in a sealed off sterile environment and his battle with roaches. The film end where it began, back to Billy and his family. Billy managed to clip out some coupons from the tossed comic and is now seeking his revenge.

Directed by George A Romero and written by Stephen King, this film is a smorgasbord of horror and dark comedy. I was hooked on it the minute I saw the film.