Synopsis:

This second horror anthology presents more eerie tales based on Stephen King stories, collected from several anthology films featuring the author's work.

Intentions:

1987's Creepshow 2 simply does not hold a candle to the original film, and it occurred to me that there are two greater anthology films that incorporate Stephen King's work, along with frequent George Romero collaborators. I pulled segments from 1985's Cat's Eye and 1990's Tales from the Darkside, editing each section down to improve pacing and suspense, to create a cohesive version of Creepshow 2 that delivers a cohesive quality of terror. All killer, no filler! I use the wraparound from Tales from the Darkside with Debbie Harry and Matthew Lawrence, but this was a bit difficult since this and the other two films all have 3 segments and my edit will include 5 total.

Change List:

THE RAFT This is an adrenaline-filled nightmare. I cut about 2 minutes out to keep the pacing breakneck, removed earlier moment that serves to salvage the main protagonist in a moment of carnal weakness, leaving him to look even more perverse in my edit, and heightened his final demise. Current runtime is 19 minutes. QUITTER’S INC I aimed to make the anti-smoking company more vicious because the lead doctor seems so apologetic when describing their methods in the original release. I also cut the Drew Barrymore scene because her through-line character in Cat's Eye won't show up in my edit, along with moments that I deemed too cartoony (dancing cigarette packs, a coworker blowing smoke like a train, gregarious dancing, etc.) Those latter scenes are just too comical in comparison to the original Creepshow. Some campiness is fine, but I'd argue its valid only for the sake of masking gore from being too horrific. Current runtime 24 minutes. THE LEDGE This is actually a really solid, sadistic segment, and I trimmed about a minute out to reduce some clunky pacing and to deemphasize the cat that serves as the through line for the original film. Current runtime is 23 minutes. THE CAT FROM HELL Tales From the Darkside is largely an enjoyable movie, and it has a colorful wraparound, but whenever an anthology uses 3 films, the editing feels so clunky. In TftD especially, it feels like shots linger, causing the pace to suffer greatly. Otherwise, this segment feels tonally closest to the original Creepshow, with its cyan toned flashbacks and overall grand guignol tone. I did desaturate and increase contrast on the purple-toned cat-vision scenes, just to lesson the aged/distracting visual effects. Additionally, I also eliminated the "cat insertion" sequence in order to heighten the scare of the "cat birth" only a few moments later. Current runtime about 21 minutes. THE HITCHHIKER While there aren’t many specific cuts to this segment, as its arguably the most gruesome of the original Creepshow 2’s set of stories, many scenes are eliminated to enhance pacing. I aimed to make the violence more brutal, the chase scenes more exhilarating, and the protagonist less sympathetic. The final runtime of this segment is 19 minutes. Annie’s more resolute in her crime and in her decision to not turn herself into the authorities. She never suggests that she could do so tomorrow if she has a change of consciousness. Much like the company in Quitter’s Inc, a more diabolical character in this case makes Annie’s punishment more satisfying. THE WRAPAROUND In my opinion, anthology films need a wraparound that ties all the stories together. The original Creepshow 2’s is animated awfully, Cat’s Eye’s is inherently tied to the conclusion of that film (which I didn’t include here), but Tales from the Darkside’s is incredibly endearing. Debbie Harry is reminiscent of the Old Witch, host Haunt of Fear, one of the original counterparts to the Tales from the Crypt comics. In Tales, she holds Matthew Lawrence kidnaped and he reads a series of stories to distract her from cooking him. Because there are only 3 segments in Tales, I had to get creative when splitting the wraparound, and unfortunately two of the films segments need to run into one another. TRANSITIONS To better match the style of the original Creepshow, I added illustrated stills to lead into and out of each story, adding music ques from Tales on top of the introduction of each story.