Original Creepshow poster.
The Creepshow franchise is a horror comedy anthology series originally created by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. The first films release was in 1982, spawning two more movies, and two television series.
The first film earned million in the United States. It was followed by a 1987 sequel, Creepshow 2, directed by the first film's cinematographer, Michael Gornick, written by Romero and based on stories by King. A second sequel, Creepshow 3, was released in 2006, without involvement from either Romero or King. In 2019 a Shudder original television series by the same name was released. The show followed the basic same plot and premise as the original film trilogy.
Creepshow (1982)[]
The first and original Creepshow was released in 1982. It directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. Creepshow consists of five short stories: "Father's Day", "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" (based on the King short story "Weeds"), "Something to Tide You Over", "The Crate" and "They're Creeping Up on You!" Two of these stories were adapted from King's short stories, with the film bookended by prologue and epilogue scenes featuring a young boy named Billy (played by King's son, Joe), who is punished by his abusive father for reading horror comics.
Creepshow is an homage to the EC horror comics of the 1950s, such as Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear. In order for the film to give viewers a comic book feel, Romero hired long-time effects specialist Tom Savini to replicate comic-like effects.
Creepshow 2 (1987)[]
Creepshow 2 is a 1987 American comedy horror anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, and the sequel to Creepshow. Gornick was previously the cinematographer of the first film, and the screenplay was written by George A. Romero who was director of the original film with the film starring Lois Chiles, George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour, and Tom Savini. It was once again based upon stories by Stephen King, and features three more horror segments consisting of "Old Chief Wood'nhead", "The Raft" and "The Hitchhiker".
Unlike the first film, Creepshow 2 only contains three stories instead of five. Originally, two additional stories, Pinfall and Cat from Hell were set to appear in the film, but were scrapped due to budgetary reasons; however, the latter has been filmed for Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. The film was Dorothy Lamour's final film before her death in 1996.
Creepshow 3 (2006)[]
Creepshow 3 is a 2006 American comedy horror film, and a sequel to Stephen King and George A. Romero's horror anthology classics Creepshow (1982) and Creepshow 2 (1987). It was directed and produced by Ana Clavell and James Dudelson. The film stars Kris Allen, A. J. Bowen, Emmett McGuire and Stephanie Pettee.
Like its predecessors, the film is a collection of tales of light-hearted horror: "Alice", "The Radio", "Call Girl", "The Professor's Wife", and "Haunted Dog", although there is no EC Comics angle this time around.
The film was panned by critics.
Creepshow TV series (2019)[]
Creepshow is an American horror anthology streaming television series that was released on Shudder in 2019. The series serves as a continuation of the 1982 film of the same name, ignores the sequels Creepshow 2 and Creepshow 3, and features seventeen episodes with two horror stories per episode. The series premiered on September 26, 2019.
On October 30, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season. On October 30, 2020, an animated special titled A Creepshow Animated Special was released. On November 10, 2020, it was announced that a holiday special titled A Creepshow Holiday Special would premiere on December 18, 2020. On February 18, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season, and the second season premiered on April 1, 2021. The third season debuted on September 23, 2021. On February 10, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.