Creepshow TV Series – Season 4 (2023) – PART TWO
Welcome my macabre friends of mayhem (let’s get shirts made, STAT)! We started of the new year reviewing the fourth season Creepshow the TV series on the streaming horror gem that is SHUDDER and long story short, it seems this season brings back the fun and entertaining tone that the series had almost lost in previous seasons. The first four entries were a fun re-visit to what this series can do for fans of slashing, monsters, blood, guts, ghosts, ghouls and the extra terrestrial! So let’s get into the middle of the pack of entries (I hear that’s where all the good meat is located)!
Something Burrowed, Something Blue
Director(s): John Esposito
Writer(s): Todd Spence, Zak White
Starring: Tom Atkins, Curtis Lum, Kristy Dawn Dinsmore
Something about anthology horror and TERRIBLE parents and/or family goes together so well because first off, we like to see people get what they deserve in the most macabre way possible and when you add the idea of family, it gets even more personal because these are the people who are supposed to have your back so it’s especially sweet when they get their creepy comeuppance! There are several horror anthology shorts where you know the big bad or the monster will avenge the protagonist that usually has the Cinderella syndrome where the rest of the family treats them like garbage and instead of a handsome prince, it’s usually some sort of monster waiting on the other end. This entry is no different with an estranged daughter getting an offer of a lifetime from her terrible father but soon it’s revealed the price they would have to pay for happily ever after. Tom Atkins is deliciously villainous in this entry and shows that he still got the chops to hang in the horror hood and I for one, am delighted to bear witness!
Doodles
Director(s): P.J. Pesce
Writer(s): Todd Spence, Zak White
Starring: Anja Savcic, Tyler McClendon, David Lennon
A typical entry in the sense where it’s formulated as the classic, be careful what you wish for entry but that doesn’t make it any more fun. This tale is about a timid artist who gets an opportunity of a lifetime but faces adversity in the form of terrible people. Lucky for her, she gets an opportunity to change the course of her destiny with some newfound abilities but what will that mean for her soul? This was a classic take how power and choices decide our fate and with the fun visuals on how some of the kills were orchestrated, this ended up being a solid entry in an already solid season.
George Romero in 3D
Director(s): Grec Nicotero
Writer(s): Todd Spence, Zak White
Starring: Graham, Verchere, Kyra Zagorsky, Sebastian Kroon
Okay, straight up, this is the MOST FUN ENTRY in the series so far. Was it necessarily scary? Not really, although there was definitely some great homage in the zombie designs of the namesake legend. This entry focused on the lost treasure of George Romero which ends up in the hands of teen working at his mom’s struggling book store. Little did he know that Romero’s treasure comes with a twist that brings the dead back to life! What makes this entry even more wonderful is that you get to see a version of Romero that makes you miss the man behind the mayhem and makes him out to be a guide and hero for our protagonist. I could have honestly watched an entire movie with this premise but like most stories with a guide, a friend and a hero, I would not want to watch the ending since it would bring a (possible) tear to your FearTastic Vault Keeper. The entry was a fun watch that had all the classic Romero-esque living dead cliches but in the best kinds of way and again, the practical effects and makeup were very spot-on as a nice way to honor the late, great Romero. This entry was obviously done with love and the payoff was extremely satisfying
Baby Teeth
Director(s): John Harrison
Writer(s): Melanie Dale
Starring: Rochelle Greenwood, Alison Thornton
After writing about three entries that were a fun watch, it was great to end this article with a creepy entry! As fun as these entries are, I sometimes like to think about watching flicks before I was desensitized to most horrific scenes and I must say that this entry was disturbing in the best kind of ways, like the kind that I still thought about in my room in the dark, hours after watching. The story focused on a hyper-strict mother who wants nothing but to protect her daughter from the evils of the tooth fairy and of course, the daughter is a total schmuck. However, again, the way they introduced the tooth fairy in this story was stuck in my head for a couple nights…making sure those strange noises from the closet was all in my head…KUDOS to you Creepshow for being able to frighten folks after all these years!
All right folks, next is the tail end of these reviews, so I’ll see you creepers for PART 3!
Life is FAR more interesting when we take interest in things that scare us.