The Scariest Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: Halloween Weekend Repertory Cinema Picks
Creepshow (1982)
Directed by George A. Romero
Geeks hold court now, and they’d still lurk meekly were not for Romero, screenwriter Stephen King, and SFX sicko Tom Savini. Their nostalgia-porn brood Creepshow avenges every EC comic banned, burned, or trashed by authority. From the suburban escapist prologue/epilogue to the vivid primary colors caking the panel-like frames, it’s as pure a piece of Americana as its inspiration. The trio don’t simply revive pulpy pages; they awaken their childhood gaze of the comics’ potential, all the way down to the mail-order voodoo. Unless you’re sweet on Maximum Overdrive, this is King’s best mid-coke-binge cinematic output, keying into his strongest suit—short fiction—five-fold. A beyond-buried Father’s Day sugar fix, complete with Ed Harris teaching everything you need to know about dance; a TV-addicted farmer (King himself) literally vegging out; a jealous lover (Leslie Nielsen in a woefully rare heel turn) buries his friends in the sand to lethal ends; Hal Holbrook finds a solution to boozy abuser Adrienne Barbeau; finally, in a social satire on par with Romero’s previous barf-bags, E.G. Marshall’s lily-white bubble bursts via friendly-neighborhood cockroaches. Like the old books, not every tale lands, but the palpable enthusiasm and syrupy camp keeps this horror business a worthy ride. Max Kyburz (October 28, midnight at the Nitehawk; sold out but watch for late rush/standby)