Creepshow 2
Daniel Beer, who played Randy in the segment "The Raft" almost died from hypothermia. The water was so cold his body turned green. The crew wanted him to continue acting, but Director Michael Gornick said if they get him to keep working, he will walk off the set and never return. So they took him to the hospital and he made a full recovery, and completed the segment of "The Raft.",When Annie Lansing is looking out of the back of her car to see if the hitchhiker is still running behind her, he has disappeared but instead you can see a crewmember through the upper left corner of the car window.,Sam Whitemoon: Look at this. Look at this sweetheart. Tell me this ain't a movie star. What're you, kiddin'? They gotta make me a movie star. Hey. As soon as they see this hair they gonna say, "Sam, get over here. Get in front of these cameras." There's a hundred million women out there just waiting to come and take me in their arms.,After the credits are over the following text appears: "Juvenile delinquency is the product of pent-up frustrations, stored-up resentments and bottled-up fears. It is not the product of cartoons and captions. But the comics are a handy, obvious, uncomplicated scapegoat. If the adults who crusade against them would only get steamed up over such basic causes of delinquency as parental ignorance, indifference and cruelty, they might discover that comic books are no more then a menace than Treasure Island or Jack the Giant Killer". (Colliers Magazine, 1949).,When initially released to Blu-ray in Germany, it was heavily cut down by almost 10 minutes.,Featured in Nightmares in Foam Rubber (2004),Theme from 'Creepshow'
Composed by John Harrison,Creepshow 2 was released in 1987 and was directed by George Romero's regular cinematographer Michael Gornick. Gornick, who was a late replacement for the original director FX maestro Tiom Savini, cut his directorial teeth on several episodes of Laurel's Tales From The Darkside and was a natural choice to make the film. He does a commendable job with what is clearly a modest budget and three stories that are not as engaging, gripping and frightening as those available to Romero in his original 1982 film.

Only one of the three stories has been previously published, the other two being originals devised for the film by Stephen King and scripted by Romero. The first story is called Old Chief Woodenhead and stars Hollywood veterans George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour. It concerns a wooden storefront statue of an old Indian chief that comes to life to avenge the death of two elderly people by a gang of youths. It is the least impressive of the three tales but retains a certain ghoulish charm.

The second story is The Raft. Originally published in King's 1985 short story collection Skeleton Crew (with a slightly different ending). The segment is about four scantily-clad teenagers who arrive at a deserted lake, late one summer, for an afternoon swim but find that something thoroughly unpleasant is waiting for them. The special effects are well below par with King himself commenting that the monster in the lake looks something like "a dirty old man's raincoat". However, this episodes's grim punchline would make The Cryptkeeper himself chuckle with approval.

The third and probably best story is The Hitchhiker and stars Louis (Moonraker) Chiles as a bored, rich housewife who regularly enjoys the services of a handsome gigolo. On her way home from such an encounter she accidentally runs over a young Hitchhiker (played by stuntman Tom Wright) killing him instantly. Terrrified by the consequences of her actions she quickly leaves the scene of the accident. However, a few miles down the road she sees the Hitchhiker, bloodied and amazingly returned to life, limping towards her. To reveal any more would be to dampen this segment's sick delights but I will say that it features a neat cameo by King himself as a foul-mouthed truck driver.

A fourth story called Pinfall was planned for the movie but later dropped due to the faltering budget. It concerned an overweight band of beer-chugging bowlers that are murdered by a rival bowling team and come back from the dead for revenge in true EC style. Its a shame we will never get to see this story but it is very close in theme and structure to both Oldf Chief Woodenhead and The Hitchhiker.

All in all, Creepshow 2 is worth a look and remains a guilty pleasure of mine that I have enjoyed with alarming regularity over the years. It may not be up to the standards set by the first Creepshow but there are more painful ways to spend an evening. Ask The Hitchhiker...,