Review Time: “Creepshow”

“Creepshow” is a 1982 cult classic horror anthology film directed by George A. Romero (RIP) and written by Stephen King. This is the comic adaptation of the movie with illustrations from Bernie Wrightson (RIP).

Gallery 13 published this graphic novel edition of “Creepshow” in 2017, and it is entertaining for sure. We get to see The Creep, with his hooded decaying face, introduce and close out each story with his classic “heh-heh” laugh.

See the source image

I enjoyed the illustrations a whole hell of a lot, and the stories were fun as well. In the end, the movie was just a better medium though. Below, I’ll go into each story a little bit, but my advice: skip the comic and watch the movie. Really, only get this if you want the art because it is something special.

IMG_5115

“Father’s Day”

This is a twisted tale about a family reunion where the members discuss their crazy aunt who killed her just as crazy father seven years ago. The aunt visits her fathers grave every Father’s Day at 4 pm sharp. This year however, daddy decides to dig his way to the surface.

See the source image

Zombie dad runs around asking for cake and killing the family members. It’s a great time.

IMG_5116

“It’s Father’s Day and I want my cake!! And I mean to have it!!”

IMG_5117

“The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill”

In the film, Stephen King himself played ole Jordy. Jordy, a simple man, lives by himself in the middle of nowhere. One night he sees a meteor crash into his property. He goes to inspect it and gets infected with what looks like grass.

See the source image

Jordy has visions of selling the meteor and when snapped back to reality he realized the alien grass is spreading. The itching becomes unbearable for poor Jordy and the grass spreads to cover his entire body. He eventually kills himself and we see his entire house and lawn are now covered in the alien grass.

IMG_5119

“The Crate”

This is my favorite from the anthology. A janitor finds a mysterious crate at a University. He calls one of the professors to come check it out. The janitor and professor open the crate. The janitor reaches his hand inside and gets sucked in by a mysterious beast.

See the source image

The professor runs for help and finds a student who also investigates the crate and also gets attacked by the beast. The professor then goes to his co-worker’s house, tells him the story of the crate. Mr. co-worker decides to get a little revenge on his cheating wife and tricks her into checking out the crate. You can probably guess the result for the Missus. After she gets torn up, the professors lock the crate up and sink it.

IMG_5121

“Something To Tide You Over”

We start out seeing a man’s head in the sand… he is buried up to his neck at the beach. This turns out to be a revenge tactic. The man had relations with Richard’s wife. Richard buried the man, Harry, and Becky (the wife) both up to their necks in the sand. He set up television screens and cameras in front of both of their faces, so they could watch each other drown as the tide came in.

IMG_5123

While they watched each other, Richard watched them die from the comfort of his home. After watching them die, Richard takes a shower. While showering, zombie Becky and Harry arrive and bury Richard up to his neck on the beach.

IMG_5124

“They’re Creeping Up On You”

This one gives you the creepy-crawlies for sure. A man living in his spotless apartment begins having trouble with roaches. As he battles the roaches, the city experiences a blackout. During this blackout, the apartment is infested with roaches. When the lights turn back on, there are no more bugs… except for the millions escaping from the dead man’s mouth.

See the source image

“Creepshow” was very enjoyable, but I the comic format only served as a good visual, it wasn’t very fun to read. My rating may seem generous based on what I’ve said, but I do like all the stories and the movie is just so awesome. It is a cult classic for a reason and I highly recommend it.

4 out of 5

Netflix Adapting “In the Tall Grass” and More “Pet Sematary” News

The 2019 remake of “Pet Sematary” signed another actor and the director made some big statements. Meanwhile, Netflix nabbed the rights to the co-written novella “In the Tall Grass.”

“Pet Sematary” (2019) screenwriter Jeff Buhler, in an interview with Dread Central, said, he and the directors, Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch, want to make the upcoming remake King’s scariest movie yet.

They are aiming for a more “grounded and psychologically horrific” adaptation. Buhler also said “if you love the book, you’ll love this movie.” Which is very encouraging.

IMG_1231

King’s 1983 novel tells the tale of a doctor and his family who move into a new home in Maine and discover a secret cemetery behind their house that harbors a greater power than they could imagine.

IMG_2278

Last week, I told you “Pet Sematary” had landed its leading man; Jason Clarke as Louis Creed. Well, as soon as last week’s post published, it was announced the movie had begun negotiations with another actor.

John Lithgow has joined the cast and will portray the Creed’s neighbor, Jud Crandall. Jud becomes a great friend of Louis and tells the younger man about the horrific past of the cemetery behind his home.

Jud was portrayed by Fred Gwynne, a.k.a. Herman Munster in the 1989 movie. Gwynne nailed the role, so Lithgow has some big shoes to fill.

giphy

Lithgow, known for his work on “The Crown” and “3rd Rock from the Sun,” should be a perfect casting choice for the elderly neighbor. Jud is a wise, sad, and caring old man; all traits which Lithgow can express perfectly. I just hope he hides his goofier side and based on the direction the movie seems to be heading, I’m sure there will be very little room for levity.

“Pet Sematary” is my favorite King novel. I am hoping for an excellent adaptation and I’m chomping at the bit for any news and updates, stay tuned!

“Sometimes dead is better.”

In_The_Tall_Grass_cover

Aside from the “Pet Sematary” remake: on May 8 Netflix announced they purchased the rights to the novella, “In the Tall Grass.” Yes, another King movie!

King wrote “In the Tall Grass” with his oldest son Joe Hill. Hill is also a best-selling author known for novels like “NOS4A2” (which AMC is adapting into a tv series) and “The Fireman” as well as the “Locke and Key” graphic novel series. I guess writing runs in the family.

kingandhill

“In the Tall Grass” was originally released in two parts in the June/July and August 2012 issues of Esquire magazine. In October of 2012, the novella was released in e-book and audiobook formats.

The novella tells the tale of a brother and sister who venture into tall grass in Kansas after hearing a young boy’s cry for help but discover there may be no way out…

James_Marsden_by_Gage_Skidmore

James Marsden, known for “Westworld” and “X-Men” has signed on as the lead. Meanwhile, Vincenzo Natali will direct and has written the script while Steve Hoban, Jimmy Miller, and M. Riley will produce the film.

Natali and Hoban worked together on the film “Splice” and Miller and Riley both produced the movie “The Lazarus Effect.”

king-in-the-tall-grass

In 2017, Netflix released two other King adaptations: “1922” and “Gerald’s Game.” Both films were very well done and received great reviews among King’s faithful constant readers.

“In the Tall Grass” will begin production this summer in Toronto but a release date has yet to be announced, so again, stay tuned and thanks for reading!

In-the-Tall-Grass-featured

Review Time: “Cell”

“Cell” was my 62nd Stephen King novel. It was quick and pretty interesting but didn’t have enough to make it great for me.

A signal known as The Pulse is released through all cellphones into the brains of everyone who uses them. This signal drives the victims insane, making them primal.

IMG-1447

“Cell” was released in 2006. This 350-page novel is King’s unique twist on zombies. As usual, King weaves in a very intriguing story with some incredible characters as well as an extremely creepy villain, Raggedy Man.

This novel had a very fun, very exciting start. Lots of gore, lots of action, lots of suspense.

The middle of “Cell” was a bit dry for me. It had a lot of explanations that played in later, but the actual events flew by almost too quickly. King, usually a very descriptive writer, decided to give an almost synopsis-like depiction of the characters journey from place to place.

cell_fullcover_uk

The main character and main protagonist, Clay Riddell, a striving comic artist, was leaving a meeting in Boston where his artwork for a comic called “The Dark Wanderer” (sound familiar?) was just purchased, when The Pulse happened.

Clay does not own a cellphone. He makes friends and quickly gets out of Boston and heads north in search of his son.

Clay is easy to love. He is humorous, smart, and determined. The friends he makes along the way are great too. Specifically, Jordan. Like I said, King is great with characters.

cell-2

“Cell” had plenty of moments where King would slow it down and spend some time in one area, and those moments were always awesome. Gaiten Academy, where we meet Jordan, being a personal highlight for me.

Jordan is a loyal and extremely smart young boy attending Gaiten Academy. He also didn’t own a cellphone but is a computer genius of sorts. Jordan’s character quickly became a favorite of mine due to his strength, courage, and brains. His theories on the phone crazies prove to be very useful and important.

Gaiten is also where we first see the creepy torn up leader of the phone crazies: Raggedy Man.

Komórka

King does what everyone knows he’s good at: describing someone who will haunt you. Raggedy Man is that someone. He is a phone crazy but seems more aware. His physical description alone is creepy as hell, but some of his actions really made his scenes scary.

The end though… WOW. King packed a HUGE punch. The whole Kashwak scene was just INSANE! Talk about going out with a bang. The last few pages could have been done differently, but overall, I actually sort of liked the cliff-hanger.

“Cell” was adapted into a movie, starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, released in 2016. I watched it shortly after finishing the novel…

I wasted 97 minutes of my life.

Within the first five minutes of the film I was already angered. Changing small details that didn’t need to be changed, the effects were poor for a 21st century movie, and the acting was Cheetoh’s level cheesy.

2

Don’t waste your time on the movie but do read the book. The book is at least cool.

“Cell” was pretty good, it just wasn’t great. I talked to a few people who follow my Stephen King Instagram page and discussed my issues. The last 100 pages or so made it better for me.

It felt like “The Stand’s” little cousin, but not nearly as good. There were a few “Dark Tower” nods that made me smile but the novel probably could have used another 100 pages and it would have been great.

tumblr_o97wx0FkIf1tsy6uyo1_400

This does seem to be a novel that people either love or hate, so read it and find out for yourself.

In the end, I give “Cell” a 3 out of 5, but it is a high 3… would probably be about a 7 out of 10 if we’re getting technical.

3 Out Of 5

Bookswithmeg

Books are a uniquely portable magic.

WordPress.com News

The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.

bunnie bleaux

Reader of Books, Crafter of Crafts, Eater of Pizza

Long Rat Writes

Reviews & Bad Opinions™ by Olivia

books & tea & opinions

book reviews, nerdy rants, & lots of tea

B's Book Blog

All of my book reviews and anything else I enjoy and want to share

Tony's Horror Corner

Reviews and News for the world of horror

Discover WordPress

A daily selection of the best content published on WordPress, collected for you by humans who love to read.

Longreads

Longreads : The best longform stories on the web

The Daily Post

The Art and Craft of Blogging

WordPress.com News

The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.