Film Review: 'Creepshow 2' (1987): Slightly Cheesy 80s Horror

The film Creepshow 2 isn't as good as the original Creepshow, but it's still worth watching for fans of 80s horror.

Creepshow 2 (1987) directed by Michael Gornick from a script by George Romero; starring George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour, Daniel Beer, Paul Satterfield, Tom Wright, and Lois Chiles.

Creepshow 2 is a Stephen King anthology movie, a sequel to the better-known Creepshow (1982), which was directed by the legendary horrormeister, George Romero. Like many King movies from the 80s, Creepshow 2 delivers the chills with a somewhat lighthearted wink to the audience. Director Gornick was the cinematographer for Creepshow '82 and has worked on numerous Romero films in various capacities.

Three separate segments each showcase a story by King. This film isn’t a true classic like the first Creepshow, but it’s a reasonable way to pass the time for viewers who may be jonesing for slightly cheesy 80s horror. Wrapping the segments together is a "framing" story about a boy named Billy, who eagerly awaits the arrival of the latest issue of his favorite Creepshow comic book. The framing story is told in both live action and 2-D animation, which doesn’t work very well, IMHO. Gornick should have chosen one or the other.

The first segment, Ol’ Chief Wood'nhead, is notable mainly for including the last onscreen appearance of sarong-wearing 40s legend, Dorothy Lamour. She and George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke - 1966), play the Spruces, an elderly couple who run a small general store in a dying desert town somewhere in the Southwest.

Dependant on the Spruces' store is a tribe of local Native Americans, headed by Chief Benjamin (Frank Salsedo). Mr. Spruce keeps an old wooden cigar store Indian outside of the store that he repaints often. Mrs. Spruce disapproves of the tribe, because they charge a lot to the store and don’t pay, but she changes her mind after Benjamin pays the tribe’s account with a bunch of valuable silver and turquoise jewelry. Unfortunately, Benjamin’s no-good nephew, Sam (Holt McCallany), later arrives with a gang of toughs to rob the store, and there are tragic results for the Spruces. Rest assured, though, the old wooden Indian has taken note of Sam’s perfidy—and accounts will be settled.

The best segment is the middle one, entitled The Raft. Four high school friends arrive at a forbidden swimming hole for an afternoon of fun. They comprise a fairly stereotypical foursome, including a hunky blonde Chad, his cheerleader girlfriend, a brown-haired smart guy, and a tomboyish brunette girl. They swim out to a dilapidated wooden raft many yards from the shore and encounter a mass of black goo in the water that they think is an oil slick. It’s actually a sentient creature that hunts and eats people, and the four teenagers are trapped on the raft. The ending is pretty predictable, but the build-up is effectively suspenseful. Daniel Beer and Paul Satterfield star as the nerdy smart kid and the arrogant Chad, respectively.

The last segment features former 70s Bond Girl Lois Chiles (Moonraker - 1979) as an obnoxious trophy wife who accidentally runs over an impoverished black hitchhiker (Tom Wright) with her big, top-of-the-line Mercedes. She drives away instead of stopping, only to find later on that the hitchhiker isn’t really dead. She runs over him repeatedly, but he refuses to die. Once again, the ending is predictable, but overall this segment is a nice, nostalgic commentary on the excesses of 80s materialism.

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