George A. Romero’s 1982 Creepshow set the bar high for horror anthologies. It was an homage to the EC horror comics of the 1950s visually, but featured stories by prolific author Stephen King. Both of which made for “the most fun you’ll ever have being scared.” Showrunner Greg Nicotero, a special makeup effect genius with personal ties to Romero and the original film, has the unenviable task of retaining the spirit of the original film while forging new ground. It seems, based on the premiere episode, he’s nailed it.
The Creep we know and love is back, but because this is now in series form with 45-minute episodes, there’s no time to waste with a wraparound story of revenge. This is where the EC Comics tribute is at its most overt; the Creep flips through the pages of Creepshow comic books, from which the ghastly tales are brought to life. Twelve segments/stories will be told over the course of the first season, stretched over six episodes airing weekly on Shudder. The premiere episode kicks off with a bang; Stephen King’s “Gray Matter”.
Helmed by Nicotero himself, “Gray Matter” is a dark and gruesome affair that sees a small town hunkered down and quiet during a major storm. Doc (Giancarlo Esposito) and Chief (Tobin Bell) have holed up in the local convenience store. When a terrified young teen walks in to buy his dad beer, the duo leaves him in the care of the shop owner (Adrienne Barbeau) while they venture out into the storm to check on the teen’s alcoholic dad. No one could be prepared for what they find.
This faithful adaptation of King’s short story, adapted by Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi, will appease the Constant Reader. Nicotero paces the segment for maximum suspense, parceling out the details of what’s happening just a little at a time. It looks stunning, too. The Stephen King Easter egg count is absolutely insane. Just about every frame has something for the eagle-eyed viewer to spot, but you’ll need to rewatch more than once to catch them all.
The second segment, “The House of the Head”, was written by John Malerman (Bird Box) and directed by Creepshow veteran John Harrison. In it, little Evie’s parents just bought her a massive, elegant dollhouse that’s home to a family of dolls not unlike her own. But she begins to notice that the family of dolls seems awfully frightened by the appearance of a creepy severed doll head. Evie tries to solve the doll family’s new haunting, but things are getting increasingly more terrifying.
Just like that, “The House of the Head” upstages King’s “Gray Matter” and really demonstrates how much fun this new series is going to be. How Harrison approaches this haunted dollhouse is clever. Much of the horror is through the eyes of its lead, young Cailey Fleming. We watch as she shifts through confusion, awe, disbelief, and mounting dread and horror, and Fleming is remarkable. The other major component to selling the brilliance of this segment is the staging. Simple staging of the dollhouse and its contents goes an insanely long way in crafting tension and mystery. It’s riveting. Of course, look for Creepshow Easter eggs in this one as well.
Nicotero has assembled a Murderers’ Row of horror talent, both on and off screen, for this stylish and entertaining resurrection of a horror classic. The level of artistry on display already demands attention, but the segments are carefully curated as well. The first episode may kickstart the season with heavyweights King and Nicotero, but it’s the smaller-scaled segment by Malerman and Harrison that provided the biggest surprise. That makes for an exciting promise of what’s still to come.
