Braindead Radio Forum: the Movie

[IggytheBorg]

1) It's a living EC Comic.
2) It's still one of the most taut Romero films.
3) Wonderful score.
4) It's a highlight reel for the best in early 80s American Horror.
5) Ed Harris dancing.
6) Tom "The Lord" Atkins
7) Leslie Nielsen towards the end of his actor era, right before the dawn of the Parody Era.
8) King's script managing to balance old-world horror sensibilities with the modern visual overload of gore.
9) It's not Hackers.
10) Standing out as an indie horror film that was only picked up by Warner Brothers after initial shooting, Romero's Creepshow showed the last pangs of true horror before the major studios took it over. In the start of an era where horror became franchises led by wise-cracking monsters, Creepshow dared to offer up new ideas based on older sensibilities. While the over-the-top comic styling might annoy newer viewers, it's representative of an aesthetic that has longed passed. Does that make the film harder to approach? Sure, but you have to appreciate the sheer fact that it was trying to be a different horror film at the end of a sluggish era.

[*Slowly removes hat, places it over heart, and nods appreciatively, smiling & trying to hold back tears of joy*]

* Sniff! * Thatwasfuckin'beautiful, man!

Edited to add: I BEG your pardon, Hocken?

[Abraham Smashington]

Neither Hackers nor Creepshow have Ke$ha in them, so I say advantage goes to The Willies.

Solid logic.

[Abraham Smashington]

[*Sputters Diet Coke all over computer screen*]

*Koff! Koff!* Wh. . . what!?

HERESY!!!

I explain why I don't dig on this flick up above.

[Ed Hocken]

[*Slowly removes hat, places it over heart, and nods appreciatively, smiling & trying to hold back tears of joy*]

* Sniff! * Thatwasfuckin'beautiful, man!

Edited to add: I BEG your pardon, Hocken?

Sorry, I should have also mentioned that in place of Senior Horror Analyst Tim225. Here is Senior Horror Analyst and BDR legal scholar Iggy

[Timothy225]

Shit, someone get senior horror analyst Tim225 in here, if hasn't already fainted.

Somebody call? Oh, I see my esteemed colleague, Prof. Iggy, is already holding court. (doffs cap)

Ruckus pretty much nailed the main reasons why Creepshow deserves some love. As a loving ode to all things EC, it captures the whole 50's/60's horror feel quite succinctly. The original comics pretty much inspired many of the filmmakers that were churning out horror around that time (King, Romero, Savini, Carpenter, etc.), and this film would also inspire stuff like Tales From The Darkside and Monsters, as well as HBO's Tales From the Crypt. It did mark an ending to that era of independent horror, but also served as a launch point for the next wave, one that would give us the Nightmare on Elm Street series (say what you will, but I see a very EC vibe from Mr. Freddy Kruger).

Ruckus called it when he said that it tried to be a different beast than the typical horror film, especially after the bigger companies discovered there was gold in them thar films (I'd argue that would explain Creepshow 2). Creepshow was done out of love, and wasn't trying to become a franchise like later horror flicks would and what the bigger studios wanted (again, gotta go with Nightmare on Elm Street on this - when they start directly marketing to kids stuff like a talking Freddy Kruger doll, despite the fact the guy was a child molester and killer, well, the genie is out of the bottle by that point).

As for Rob's viewpoint, hey, different strokes and stuff - can't give him too much heat for not liking Creepshow if he shows an appreciation for Romero's The Crazies. I would like to point our to the esteemed Mr. Hughes that if he wants proper viewing of Ms. Jolie's blouse mice, he should rent/buy/download Gia (1998). Full frontal viewage of Angelina's assets, some lesbianterianism, and a great, great performance that makes the stuff she did in Hackers look pedestrian.

That being said, Prof. Iggy, would you like some buttered scones and some Earl Grey before we move on to a discussion of the films of Argento? Or perhaps some of Bava's films (I've had a hankering to rewatch Demons lately)?

[Abraham Smashington]

I've seen Gia. That was more of an extra bump for my HACKERS love. Plus Jolie wasn't even the one I was looking at in Gia. Elizabeth Mitchell was...

But I digress, I still don't think Creepshow works as a horror flick. I know what it attempted to do, but most episodes of Tales from the Crypt are better than Creepshow.

And Dawn of the Dead is still Romero's best flick.

[Ed Hocken]

How could you not be looking at Jolie in GIA? HOLY SHIT! She was at her hottest and most likely craziest point of her life.

[Abraham Smashington]

She was not her hottest in that movie IMO. HACKERS takes that cake.

[Ed Hocken]

Looks we'll have to agree *does wacky hand gesture* to disagree.

Fuck, we may need to comission a poll on this issue.

[Timothy225]

She was not her hottest in that movie IMO. HACKERS takes that cake.

Mental note: Rob likes girls with Spock haircuts... fascinating.

[Ed Hocken]

Ergo, he must have jerked it to that Vulcan chick from Enterprise.

[nerdious dorkus]

Mental note: Rob likes girls with Spock haircuts... fascinating.

I just imagined Lesley with this hair style and then chuckled a little.

[IggytheBorg]

Timothy225 = Billy Bob Thornton?

[Ed Hocken]

Tim, do you like mashed taters with mustard on them?

[Timothy225]

Doc Hocken? I didn't know you was back in town?