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Released by: Arrow FilmsRelease Date: May 1st, 1987 (Theatrical)
December 13th, 2016 (Blu-ray)
Region Code: REGION A (locked)
Run Time: 1h 32m
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
English: LPCM Mono
Video: 1080p (1.85:1 Aspect Ratio)
Thanks for the ride, lady! -The Hitchhiker
THE FEATURES [3.5 out of 4]
Screenplay for a
Sequel (10m 45s, HD)
George A. Romero, who wrote the script for Creepshow 2,
talks about his involvement with this film as well as what drew him to the
project in the first place. (other than being the director of the first film).
He talks about reading comics as a kid and how his favorite comics were the EC
comic series.
We learn that the original Creepshow is the only film of Romero’s
to reach #1 at the box office. We also learn that he would love to do another
Creepshow. This featurette was produced
for the 88 Films blu-ray.
Tales from the Creep
(7m 53s, HD)
SFX wizard Tom Savini recounts his stint as the Creeper who
appears at the beginning and the end of Creepshow 2. Savini talks about how he
hates wearing prosthetics and how he had to lip sync to prerecorded dialogue on
set. He also loves the effects in the film, except for the blob. This featurette was produced for the 88
Films blu-ray)
Poncho’s Last Ride
(14m 44s, HD)
Daniel Beer, who stars in the short The Raft, talks about
his time making the film. He talks about how he got hypothermia during filming
and all of the restrictions he faced when he returned to the set. His story is
really interesting because there is a lot of info of hypothermia that I did not
know. This interview was recorded, for
this blu-ray release, in October of 2016.
The Road to Dover
(13m 51s, HD)
Tom Wright, who plays the hitchhiker in The Hitchhiker,
talks about his time on set. While he is an actor, he is also a credited
stuntman, which was one of the reasons he got the job. He talks about the
make-up and how the stunts were done. This
interview was recorded, for this blu-ray release, in October of 2016.
As soon as this interview started and I saw who the actor was, I knew I had seen him somewhere. While watching this interview, which is pretty good, I remembered that he played the politician in Tales from the Hood.
Nightmare in Foam
Ruber (no I did not misspell
rubber. That is how the menu reads.) (32m 3s, Upconverted HD)
SFX Artists Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger talk about their
history of working together. They also talk about working on Creepshow 2 and
how they were the guys everyone set came to. Lots of behind the scenes footage accompanies this featurette, which
was recorded for the dvd release from Anchor Bay.
My Friend Rick (2m
43s, Upscale HD)
FX Artist Howard Berger talks about his first encounter with
Rick Baker and his working relationship with the FX master. This featurette was recorded for the dvd release from Anchor Bay
Behind-the-Scenes (5m
50s, Upscaled HD)
VHS footage of Tom Savini getting put into the Creeper
make-up and of him shooting his scene.
Image Gallery (3m
34s, HD)
Portions of the film’s score play over a montage of images
taken from the film.
Trailers and TV Spots
-Theatrical Trailer #1 (1m 38s,
HD)
-Theatrical Trailer #2 (1m 12s,
HD)
-TV Spot (34s, SD, 1.33:1 VHS
Sourced)
Audio Commentary
Director Michael Gornick and moderator Perry Martin take us
through the making of Creepshow 2. This is a pretty good commentary and meets
all the requirements of being such. Martin does a good job at keeping the track
on track (no pun intended) and a lot of information is learned. This is the
same commentary track that was found on the Anchor Bay dvd.
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THE PACKAGING [4 out of 4]
This is a lovely package that Arrow has put together for us.
The first thing that you will notice is how striking the artwork is. There is a
shine to it that we don’t normally see on blu-ray releases anymore.
The cover
shows the Creeper reading the Creepshow 2 comic book and in a cloud of smoke,
various images from each of the stories are seen. This outer box is red with
Canadians getting a purple version.
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Inside the outer box is the normal amaray case that we have
come to love from Arrow. The front cover is the same as the outer box, just
this time it is purple. The inside box is red for Canadians. The reverse cover
is the original theatrical poster of the skeleton wearing a thin cloak, sitting
in a movie theater pointing to the screen. There is also a booklet inside the amaray case that
contains an essay, Deadtime Stories by Michael Blyth, and information about the
restoration. The disc art is the same as the front cover.
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All in all, this is a great package and I hope that Arrow
keeps this coming in 2017 and beyond.
THE PICTURE [3.5 out of 4]
Like Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, Arrow has been under
fire because of what some see as a framing issue. If you remember, Hellraiser
III’s framing was moved to the left, sometimes revealing things the filmmakers
never intended anyone to see. While this framing didn’t really hurt the viewing
of the film (the scene in question goes by so fast that it is a wonder who it
was found in the first place) there were a lot of fans who swore off of Arrow
releases because Arrow did not issue a recall. While I am a purist and want all
of the blu-rays that I buy to not have any problems with them in terms of
picture quality, framing, music cues, etc, I didn’t really see the point in the
level of hate that was lobbied at Arrow. It was not their fault (it was
Lakeshore Entertainment that is to blame) and they had no incentive to issue a
recall.
So when Creepshow 2 was released on blu-ray in December
2016, there were already people waiting with their keyboards ready. They knew
that Creepshow 2 was a Lakeshore Entertainment property, so they knew that the
framing was going to be off. They wanted to be ready to hurl the hate at Arrow
yet again.
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| Credit goes to Adam Tyner over at dvdtalk.com for this image and clarifying what everyone else is trying to say. |
The framing for this release of Creepshow 2 is different, it
isn’t “off” nor is it “wrong”. It appears that the Image blu-ray release (and
88 Films as they used the same master) is wrong. The image is cropped on the
Image release. Lakeshore knew this and fixed it when they scanned the negative.
The transfer on the Arrow release is the best I have ever
seen the film look. Colors pop and the film doesn’t looks like it takes place
at night anymore. The Image release was dull and murky, while the Arrow
transfer is beautiful and full of life.
This is a wonderful transfer and it is always good to see
that there are people out there who still care about framing and the way a
particular film is supposed to look.
THE SOUND [3 out of 4]
I wasn’t really that bowled over with the sound on this
release. Dialogue is crisp and clear and I didn’t hear any problems. Given
that, I should have given the film a four star rating, but I can’t.
While the
sound is good, it is the surround that suffers. This is an incredibly lifeless
track. Almost nothing is going on around us. I didn’t expect this film to be a
showstopper in the sound department, but I expected something. At the end of the day, though, the soundtrack is fine. I
just wanted it to be better than fine.
THE FILM [3 out of 4]
Creepshow is not one of my favorite films. It isn’t even one of
my favorite anthologies. I found this first film to be way too dry for my
tastes. I guess that it doesn’t help that I was brought up with the Tales from
the Crypt TV show and only saw Creepshow for the first time a few
years ago. I don’t hate the original Creepshow, I just find it dull.
So you can guess what my excitement level was when I got
around to seeing this, the second film in the unofficial trilogy (I say
“unofficial” because no one really considers the third one part of the series
even though it bares the “Creepshow” name)
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this film.
The stories still aren’t the best, but I have seen a lot worse than what this
film has to offer and I can say that there is something good about each of the
stories.
The first story is “Old Chief Wood’nhead”. Here we find
an older couple who run a convenience store in the middle of the desert. The
husband (George Kennedy) loves working at the store even though they don’t get
very many customers. The wife (Dorothy Lamour) wants to sell the place and
retire. The husband doesn’t want to have any of that. He just wants to redo the
war paint on the old Indian chief statue outside the store and be left to
peace. Soon the head of one of the tribes comes to visit the couple. He gives
them a bag full of jewelry and other important items that he collected from the
tribe to repay money they owe to the couple. The husband will hear nothing of
it until the chief tells him that it would be offensive if the husband didn’t
take the bag. On his way out the chief pays honor to the statue.
That night, three kids (not really kids. Just can’t find the
right name for them) come into the store and rob the couple of everything,
including the bag of jewelry. One of the kids gets a little too trigger happy
and shoots the couple dead. The only witness to this crime was the statue and
we know how this is going to end.
Next up is “The Raft”. This is the story that
everyone I know loves. It tells the tale of two couples who go out to the
middle of nowhere to go swimming. The notice something that looks like an oil
slick on the other side of the pond. As it grows closer, the two couples swim
over to a wooden raft in the middle of the pond. They are stuck in the middle
of this pond while the oil slick keeps floating around them. One of the girls
gets too close and the slick pulls her in. As the oil slick devours her, she
pops up and keeps saying “it hurts” to the rest of her friends. As time goes
on, the oil slick devours the rest of the friends.
I have no idea what the moral of this story is supposed to
be. I guess that one could say that the group were a bunch of assholes so they
had it coming, but usually there is something tying the victim and killer together.
In the last story, the statue went on a revenge killing because, not only were
his people disgraced by what the kids did, but so were the couple who ran the
store and kept the statue up. In “The Raft” there is no morality at play. This
oil slick has no hand in the game. It is just there when the couples happen
upon it. It just seems like this story could have been written a lot better.
The last story is “The Hitchhiker” and this is my
favorite story, so much so that my wife hates hearing me say “Thanks for the
ride, lady” any time she does something weird. The story here is about a rich
lady who is cheating on her husband with a male whore (?). On her way home, she
drops her cigarette. While trying to find it she hits a man who was trying to
hitchhike. She freaks out and speeds away, thinking that the man is dead and
she won’t have to worry about it. Soon after, the hitchhiker shows up and says
“Thanks for the ride lady” She tries to kill him again and then the same thing
happens. This goes on for the whole story. It gets really ridiculous when she
is driving through the forest trying to lose the hitchhiker. The last few shots
of this story are priceless.
As anthologies go, Creepshow 2 rates above most of the
crap that is being made today, but isn’t as good as Cat’s Eye or Trick
‘r Treat. The first story is you basic revenge story. There is really
nothing new here. The second story, “The Raft” is entertaining, but gets
really stupid and pointless. The third story is the best one. The constant
harassment of the rich white lady is really well handled and kind of scary.
The effects on display here are fantastic. The statue, when
in movement, actually looks like it is made out of wood. What happens when the
oil slick takes people is pretty graphic and terrifying. The stages of make-up
that the hitchhiker has to go through are really realistic and funny at the
same time.
A lot of people crap on this film. I liked it. I can see why
though. This film doesn’t have the stories that the first film did. Sure, the stories
here are a bit more memorable, but they don’t have the resonance that the
stories in the first film had. This is a well made film that should get another
look. I think that many people will find this film better than they remember.
OVERALL [3.5 out of 4]
Creepshow 2 is not a great film, but I have seen far worse. It
is worth a watch, though. Arrow has done a fantastic job on this blu-ray
release. We finally have the right framing on the film and it looks really good
to boot. The sound is lacking, but I didn’t find it to be a huge problem. The
special features are worth the watch, but it is the packaging that takes the
gold here. I hope that Arrow does more releases like this.
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