{"id":31989,"date":"2025-09-24T14:34:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T21:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=31989"},"modified":"2025-09-24T14:34:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T21:34:25","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review-creepshow-2-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=31989","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD Review: CREEPSHOW 2 (1987)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow\nVideo will be available for purchase on September 30th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For me, the original Creepshow<\/em> (1982) was a\nlandmark movie that cemented a lifelong appreciation of horror films. Even\ntoday, I still get a kick out of the flick and it\u2019s pretty easy to see why it\nmade an impression. There\u2019s great production design and photography,\nspectacular make-up effects and a darkly comic set of stories that pay homage\nto creepy comic books. All of this is buoyed by a talented cast of actors who\nlook like they\u2019re having a great deal of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was never as enthused with Creepshow 2<\/em>, but\nwill admit that it is a decent anthology that does have several fun moments \u2013\nincluding one particularly excellent segment. Arrow Video released an\nimpressive Blu-ray of the title back in 2016 and are now giving the film a 4K\nUltra HD upgrade. Besides a new and much sharper transfer of the feature, it\nincludes the same great extras that will give viewers more of an appreciation\nfor what the cast and crew did manage to pull off. As the bonuses reveal, this\nwas a surprisingly troubled production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sequel contains three moralistic horror stories that\nfeature characters taking selfish actions and paying for it via some\nsupernatural monsters. The first segment, \u201cOld Chief Wood\u2019nhead\u201d involves a\nlife-sized, fully-carved store figure that takes revenge on the nasty kids who\nsteal from and assault an elderly pair of shop owners (George Kennedy and\nDorothy Lamour). \u201cThe Raft\u201d follows some teens (Daniel Beer, Page Hannah, Paul\nSatterfield, Jeremy Green) who go to a remote lake to party, only to contend with\na strange oil slick that attempts to consume them. \u201cThe Hitchhiker\u201d is about a\nwealthy socialite (Lois Chiles) who runs down the title character (Tom Wright).\nInstead of helping the victim, she decides to simply drive off. The woman is\npursued by the deteriorating corpse of the man, who repeats, \u201cThanks for the\nride, lady!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first two chapters are well-produced and feature\nimpressive location work. Of course, this is a horror anthology and as such the\nbig highlights are really the practical make-up effects. They include Old Chief\nWood\u2019nhead himself, who comes to life and creakily stalks his prey. The make-up\njob on the man playing the statue is top notch. While by today\u2019s standards, the\nblob from the second tale looks a bit less convincing, there are some\nnasty-looking moments as characters get grasped and absorbed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In truth, it\u2019s the third story that packs the biggest punch.\nTruthfully, it\u2019s an extended chase, but one that is loaded with tension and\nstartling car stunts as the deteriorating hitchhiker continues to try and enact\nhis revenge of the driver. In the end, this is the one that ultimately stays\nwith you. All of the stunts and make-up were done for real on location and they\nlook spectacular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disc presents a 4K restoration from the original camera\nnegative, presented in Dolby Vision. This transfer that highlights the film\u2019s great\neffects work, as well as shortcomings of the production. Some of the night\nfootage in the final segment has some grain, but that\u2019s simply the way it was\nshot. And the small problems are understandable, given the stories about\nshooting from the extra features present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When I reviewed the original Arrow Blu-ray, I suggested that\nit was the best the film had or would ever likely look. I was wrong. This is an\nimprovement. Again, there is a fair amount of natural grain during the opening\nand in the first segment. But \u201cThe Raft\u201d does look sharper, to the point where,\nif you look hard enough, you can see it raining in the background of a shot\nsupposedly set during a hot summer day. And even though it\u2019s set all at night,\n\u201cThe Hitchhiker\u201d looks the clearest, with dark blacks and plenty of detail on\nthe vehicle and road during the extended confrontation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s a fascinating commentary track with director Michael\nGornick and plenty of interviews with screenwriter George A. Romero, make-up\neffects artists Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger and Tom Savini. There are also\nones with actors Daniel Beer and Tom Wright (additionally, it contains\nbehind-the-scenes footage, two trailers and an amusing TV spot). The bonus\nfeaturettes are over an hour of really informative interviews and extras that\nhelp explain what a difficult time they had on set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To summarize, production company Laurel (the company behind\nthe original Creepshow<\/em>) secured financing from smaller outfit New\nWorld Pictures. However, the money raised was slightly less than $4 million,\nroughly half of the budget of the original film. Some of the segments used were\nconsidered for the first film. And, while they wanted to do the film with\nanother five tales, the lack of funds resulting in the cutting of two planned\nsegments; at least one of which, \u201cThe Cat from Hell\u201d, was eventually filmed as\npart of the 1990 Tales from the Darkside: The Move<\/em> anthology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When the group came together to begin production on the\nfilm, it was in Arizona for \u201cThe Raft\u201d. Not only was shooting on the water\nchallenging and slow, but they immediately experienced terrible delays due to\ntorrential rain and inclement weather. Segment star Daniel Beer caught\nhypothermia, slowing the shoot even more. Almost immediately, the feature was\nover budget and 10 days behind schedule. That\u2019s a truly terrifying scenario for\na small, independent feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And by the time they returned to the Northeast to shoot \u201cThe Hitchhiker\u201d finale, even more problems had arisen. Being later than anticipated resulted in the lead actress having to leave and be recast (Lois Chiles stepped in for Barbara Eden). Winter had arrived and the weather had turned especially cold and icy, making the shoot all the more troublesome. During the commentary, Gornick does state that Chiles was a real sport, stating that the cold conditions actually helped her get into the role. He also mentions shooting Stephen King’s cameo. Considering the unending trials of this production, it\u2019s amazing the movie came off as well as it did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to the informative commentary, and archival\ninterviews with executive producer\/screenwriter George A. Romero, actor\/make-up\nartist Tom Savini, cast members Daniel Beer and Tom Wright. There is an\narchival feature on the make-up effects with Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero, a\nmoment in which Berger pays tribute to mentor Rick Baker, as well as\nbehind-the-scenes footage, an image gallery, trailers and TV spots, original\nscreenplay galleries, a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d booklet with a comic adaptation of the\nunfilmed segment \u201cPinfall\u201d (which was screenwriter Romero\u2019s favorite bit), a\nbooklet with new writing on the film and a sleeve with new and original artwork\nfor the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most sequels, Creepshow 2<\/em> isn\u2019t as\neffective as its predecessor. However, it certainly has its moments and is\nstill far more enjoyable than many other anthologies out there. I still feel\ncompelled to revisit it every now and again for a few late-night chills and\nchuckles. As anticipated, the new Arrow Video \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD\nrelease provides an image quality upgrade over the Blu-ray. And for those who\nhaven\u2019t seen them, the bonuses give plenty of fascinating insight into the\nproduction. Horror fans, and especially those who appreciate anthologies, should\nbe more than impressed with the release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video will be available for purchase on September 30th. For me, the original Creepshow (1982) was a landmark movie that cemented a lifelong appreciation of horror films. Even today, I still get a kick out of the flick and it\u2019s pretty easy to see why it made an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[120,300,1577,1836,2923,2936,4895,4896,4897,4900,4901,5129,5910,6155,8193,10603,12571,13784,14763,15308,15636,15834,18035,19051,20976,21977,23046],"class_list":["post-31989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-120","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-anthology","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-creepshow-2","tag-creepshow-2-4k-ultra-hd","tag-creepshow-2-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-creepshow-2-review","tag-creepshow-sequel","tag-daniel-beer","tag-disc-review","tag-dorothy-lamour","tag-george-kennedy","tag-jeremy-green","tag-lois-chiles","tag-michael-gornick","tag-new-world-pictures","tag-old-chief-woodnhead","tag-page-hannah","tag-paul-satterfield","tag-sequel","tag-stephen-king","tag-the-hitchhiker","tag-the-raft","tag-tom-wright"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}