Shudder Saturday: A Creepshow Holiday Special (2020)

I don't know why I made a beeline for this, considering my history of being disappointed by pretty much every previous episode of this show, but common sense has never been my main strength. And it was a Shudder release that might have a hint of seasonal trimmings around it. 

Adam Pally plays Robert Weston, a man who thinks he may be a lycanthrope, and may be responsible for killing a number of people. He heads along to a Shapeshifters Anonymous meeting, headed up by a woman (Anna Camp) who claims she can turn into a cheetah. Other people are there, claiming to be able to turn into other animals, but the meeting is interrupted by an attempted invasion by many people dressed as Santa. This is where it gets Christmassy, but in a very Creepshow kind of way. Santa doesn't like shapeshifters, and he and his army of helpers will do all they can to destroy them.

Maybe a lot of the stops were pulled out for this holiday special, or maybe it's a sign of better things to come, but this is a lot of fun, and gets the feel of the Creepshow brand right more than any other episode so far. The tone is more comedic than horror, but there's a good amount of blood and gore, a nice feeling of things being a bit off-kilter, and some impressive creature design work in the second half of the episode.

The whole cast do well in their roles, with Camp and Pally making for very enjoyable leads, ably supported by Pete Burris (who can turn into a tortoise), Frank Nicotero (cousin of Greg, playing a character here who can turn into a boar), and Candy McLellan (who can turn into a hippo . . . when she dresses up, she's actually just a Furry they allow into the meeting every week). There's also Derek Russo as Ryan, a strong and silent type who only joins in with everyone for the wonderfully crazy third act.

Based on a story by J. A. Konrath, the writing and direction from Greg Nicotero is pretty perfect. Okay, I may be being a bit too positive because of my expectations going into this thing, but it's really very difficult to think of how this slice of festive fun could have been made any better, certainly under the umbrella of the Creepshow name. Some viewers may want a more sedate, traditional, Christmas horror, but that's not "on brand", as it were. Don't look for that here. This is colourful silliness, with no weak segments throughout the 45-minute runtime.

I never thought I would say this, but this special is the best Christmas-themed horror viewing I have had this year. 2020 continues to be a very odd year.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Creepshow Animated Special (2020)

Here we are, a special episode of the much-anticipated anthology series springboarding from the classic movie, and I felt it should be discussed here. It's not a movie, I know, but it's not the first time I have discussed something here that is not a movie. And it won't be the last time either.

A lot of people were delighted with the news that this series was coming. Many people are still delighted that it has happened, with some commenting that the feel of the show is just what they wanted, and the stories and framing make everything seem nicely in line with that Creepshow vibe.

I have to respectfully disagree.

Much like the tale of the monkey's paw that features in one episode in the first series, Creepshow is a classic example of being careful what you wish for. We already had the classic first movie. A lot of people really like the second movie. But there was a third movie, which was pretty bad. Now we have this, arguably the weakest of all of the products that have the Creepshow name attached.

I don't know why I held out hope that this animated special would be better, but I did. Maybe I was carried along on the wave of positivity that seems to keep coming from the horror community. But let's be clear, I cannot help thinking that the positivity, the love, for this series is coming from people who are still hoping it becomes better than it has been so far. As easy to please as I am, the hit rate for the show has been just below 50%, at a conservative estimate. The better stories have been good, the worse stories have been godawful.

A lot of the success depends on the source material, so I was pleased to see that the first tale this time around was "Survivor Type", a dark and twisted Stephen King story about a man who ends up on a desert island, and aims to stay alive for as long as possible, no matter what. I've long been a fan of this story (which I first read in "Skeleton Crew" and, considering the nastiness of it, using animation to tell it seemed like a perfect choice. Kiefer Sutherland voices the main character, the animation style is okay, and it wasn't that bad. If the second tale was a good one then I could see myself enjoying this special.

The second tale, "Twittering From The Circus Of The Dead" was not a good one. I'd actually say it sit easily alongside the worse of the tales featured in season one. A young girl (voiced by Joey King) and her family end up going into a roadside circus attraction, which features zombies and people in peril. The people in peril act as if they're genuinely afraid. I am sure you can guess why. Based on a short story by Joe Hill, I can only assume this was picked as a way to give the special that father-son writer connection, all this did was make me wish they had gone with some other, ANY other, Joe Hill story. Given the form, this would have been an ideal opportunity to introduce people to the quirky world of Pop Art (okay, not as grounded in horror, maybe, but a much more interesting choice).

I'll watch a second season of the show, but it's become increasingly obvious with each episode, and particularly with this special, that the people crafting Creepshow (and it's Greg Nicotero who has his name writ large over most of it) have forgotten how to capture that spark of magic that makes the original film such an enduring classic, and even makes the second film a fun time for horror fans. I hope they bring some people on board soon who can help them remember how to find it.

4/10

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Dead By Dawn 2016: Creature Designers - The Frankenstein Complex (2015)

Creature Designers - The Frankenstein Complex is another documentary about the special people who have made our special effects over the years. But what separates this from the likes of Nightmare Factory and other documentaries covering similar territory? Well, first of all, this one isn't just looking at the KNB EFX Group. Secondly, it's both a more specific look at the designers and how their passion has helped craft so many memorable designs over the years and yet also a wider look at the many departments now working together to design and operate one creature. It may start back in the early days of cinema but it doesn't forget to look forward at the potential still ahead of us. Sometimes that is viewed with optimism and sometimes there's an inevitable tinge of sadness as practical work is overshadowed and/or replaced by computers.

Because there's no real plot to discuss, obviously, and no performances to weigh up, none of the usual movie review stuff, I'll just use this paragraph to reel off a list of names. Some, but not all, of the people appearing onscreen to talk about special effects and creature design are: the Chiodo brothers, Rick Baker, Guillermo del Toro, Joe Dante, John Landis, Phil Tippett, Greg Nicotero, Kevin Smith, Tom Woodruff Jr, Mick Garris, and Matt Winston. It's an impressive selection, no doubt, but the notable omission of Tom Savini (who is only ever namechecked once) makes it feel slightly incomplete. And I'm always a bit miffed, as a huge fan of his work, whenever the mad genius of Screaming Mad George is overlooked.

Directors Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet do a very good job of getting the right people to wax lyrically about their perspective on the industry, whether it's Phil Tippett sharing his passion for model work, the Chiodo brothers being shown alongside both Killer Klowns and Critters, or Tom Woodruff Jr admitting that he doesn't remember his work on Mortal Kombat with too much fondness. Dante and Landis are both great talkers, as usual, and Kevin Smith speaks for us all when describing how he views any shark to this day because of Jaws.

There's not much else to say about this documentary. Fans of horror, and fans of special effects, should already know that they want to see it. Others can take or leave it, as they see fit. It's certainly recommended for fans of all kinds of cinema though.

7/10

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