The record-breaking first season of Shudder’s original anthology series Creepshow has wrapped up (just in time for a second season to be announced!), offering 12 new tales of terror from the likes of Stephen King, Greg Nicotero, Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, John Harrison, David J. Schow, Joe Hill, and Tom Savini, among others.
As is the case with almost any horror anthology, the offerings were uneven – some were terrific, others not as successful. While there wasn’t an out and out clunker in the bunch, there’s no getting around the fact that not all of Season One’s segments were created equally.
It’s time to look back at the highs and lows of the first six episodes.
12) “By the Silver Waters of Lake Champlain” (Episode 6) It brings me no joy to rank this one last, seeing as how it’s adapted from a story by Joe Hill and the only Season One installment directed by the great Tom Savini, who directs all too rarely. A young girl misses her father while coping with mom’s abusive boyfriend puts her faith in a lake monster her dad once claimed to have seen. Though it tries to say some things about abuse and childhood belief, the emotional beats come across a little too saccharine; the results feel dramatically limp. It takes too long to get where it’s going; by the time it finally arrives, the results are too little, too late.
11) “Grey Matter” (Episode 1) This new iteration of Creepshow got off to a somewhat shaky start with this segment, adapted from a Stephen King story and directed by makeup FX legend Greg Nicotero, who also serves as showrunner. It’s about a kid whose alcoholic father is slowly changing into…something else. Despite boasting one of the most impressive casts of the season – a lineup that includes Tobin Bell, Adrienne Barbeau, and Giancarlo Esposito – as well as some cool and goopy practical effects, “Grey Matter” never quite comes together in a satisfying way, making the segment a pretty mixed bag. Thankfully, the back half of Episode 1 was much more promising.
10) “The Companion” (Episode 4) Fairly standard revenge yarn, adapted from a short story by Joe Lansdale, about a bullied kid who discovers a killer scarecrow willing to do his bidding. David Bruckner (V/H/S “Amateur Night,” The Ritual) directs it well and even brings a bit of gothic flavor to this story, which is almost slow burn until it eventually rips. Everything about this segment is competently done, but its lack of any real surprises lands it on the lower half of the list.
9) “Times is Tough in Musky Hollar” (Episode 5) Gritty prison drama-slash-zombie story about a former mayor locked up in a prison with several of his co-conspirators (including David Arquette), all being held captive by angry townspeople with a score to settle. Director John Harrison was the composer for the original Creepshow and director of Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, so he knows his way around anthology horror and gets a good deal of mileage out of the show’s comic book approach. Though it takes a stab at political relevance, there’s almost too much story and too many ideas for this segment’s running time, so it never really comes together in a satisfying way despite displaying a great deal of promise. The same comic book shortcuts that work in something like “Bad Wolf Down” here prove to be a hindrance. At least the effects are cool.
8) “Lydia Layne’s Better Half” (Episode 4) Tricia Helfer brings some star power to this darkly comic morality play about an executive who murders her employee/lover but runs into trouble when trying to dispose of the body. Written by John Harrison and Greg Nicotero and directed by Roxanne Benjamin (XX, Body at Brighton Rock), “Lydia Layne” is more of a character piece than most of the other Creepshow segments – a distinction that’s to the short’s benefit. Reminiscent, in some ways, of the great Tales from the Crypt segment “And All Through the House” (in terms of the challenges of getting rid of a body), “Lydia Layne” tries for a bit of social commentary but is ultimately a little too thin to pull it off.
7) “All Hallows Eve” (Episode 3) The most emotional segment of the season centers on a group of kids trick-or-treating on Halloween night. This being Creepshow, there’s obviously more to it than first meets the eye. This one scores major points for its Halloween atmosphere – an entry set on the best holiday of the year is a must for any horror anthology series – and for some genuinely sad and moving developments in its story. It’s less “horror” than many of the season’s other offerings, but one of the things I really like about Creepshow’s inaugural season is that allows for so many different flavors inside the genre.
6) “Bad Wolf Down” (Episode 2) Sure, this WWII werewolf tale directed by Rob Schrab is basically Dog Soldiers, but it’s punchy and fun and features Jeffrey Combs playing a Nazi. Between the color palette and some of the editing, this is also the first segment of the season to really lean into the old Creepshow comic book style, cleverly using animated panel transitions to compensate for the lack of budget to do full werewolf transformations. It’s a fun one.
5) “Skincrawlers” (Episode 6) The more successful of director Roxanne Benjamin’s Season One contributions is also the goriest outing to date. Dana Gould plays a man looking into a radical weight loss treatment that has…explosive results. I’m a fan of gore that goes giddily, gleefully over the top – the kind where I feel like I can imagine the director cackling off camera at what she or he has orchestrated. That’s how I felt about the climax that Benjamin orchestrates here. Again, I love that Creepshow has made room for all kinds of horror in its first season, including gnarly splatstick comedy like “Skincrawlers.”
4) “The House of the Head” (Episode 1) An extremely creepy affair, once again directed by John Harrison, arguably the MVP of Creepshow’s first season. It features a ghoulish disembodied toy head that suddenly appears in a little girl’s dollhouse, causing her other dolls to begin behaving strangely. This might be the most psychologically unsettling segment of the first season. If only it had managed to stick the landing a little better.
3) “Night of the Paw” (Episode 5) Despite being the umpteenth retelling of W.W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw,” this John Harrison-directed installment is one of Creepshow’s strongest offerings by virtue of its moody atmosphere and a terrific performance by Bruce Davison. He plays an undertaker who rescues a woman on the run and spins an elaborate tale of finding a paw that seemingly grants wishes, with dark and macabre results. The punchline of this one is in the grand E.C. comics tradition.
2) “The Man in the Suitcase” (Episode 3) One of the most offbeat segments of the first season – even by Creepshow standards – is also one of the best. A young man whose life is dangerously close to shambles accidentally picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport, only to discover that inside is a badly contorted man who, it turns out, dispenses money when caused pain. This bizarre riff on the standard genie-in-the-lamp tale is yet another morality play, though this one’s willing to reward the decent more than Creepshow usually is. Director David Bruckner takes such a straightforward approach to the material (written by Christopher Buehlman) that he totally sells the insanity, finding the perfect balance between humor and horror, camp and class. The whole segment is like a dazzling high wire act.
1) “The Finger” (Episode 2) My favorite segment of Season One comes from showrunner Greg Nicotero and author David J. Schow. It tells the story of a divorced man (DJ Qualls) who finds a finger that rapidly grows into a creature he nicknames Bob, brought to wonderful life through what looks like stop motion animation and practical puppetry. Bob begins acting on all of the man’s darkest desires and things get bloody pretty fast. Not only is Bob a great creation, but his bond with Qualls’ character and the actor’s direct-to-camera narration sets this one apart from every other segment in the season.
Part morality tale, part creature feature, “The Finger” is classic Creepshow.
