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George A. Romero’s 1982 anthology horror flick “Creepshow,” scripted by Stephen King, was an homage to the roundly gruesome EC horror comics of the 1950s. EC was overseen by William M. Gaines, and he published titles like “Tales from the Crypt,” “The Vault of Horror,” and “Shock SuspenStories.” They also oversaw sci-fi books like “Weird Science,” war comics like “Two-Fisted Tales,” and parody comics like “MAD.” For those who think media of the 1950s was square and tame, reading a single issue of “Tales from the Crypt” will prove how sick and depraved writers could get.
Stephen King was a reader of EC Comics, and “Creepshow” was his attempt to bring their twisted, violent sensibilities into the Reagan era. Although there had been “Tales from the Crypt” movies prior to “Creepshow,” the 1982 film was the biggest yet, boasting an all-star cast and salacious, energetic direction. It made $21 million on an $8 million budget, and starred Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Harris, and E.G. Marshall.
The attempts to follow “Creepshow” with TV shows and sequels, however, became a bit tricky. An anthology TV series was planned, but because Warner Bros. owned the rights to the name, and didn’t want to share it, the series became “Tales from the Darkside.” In 1987, New World put out a sequel, “Creepshow 2,” which was based on King stories, but written by Romero. That film was a more modest success. Then, in 2006, the owners of the original “Creepshow” — Taurus Entertainment — put out “Creepshow 3,” made without the involvement of King or Romero and abandoning the comic book-inspired premise. It only played in one theater in Rhode Island. /Film hated it.
In 2009, Taurus also tried to revive the “Creepshow” brand with a web series that they were going to call “Creepshow: RAW.” This series only ever had a pilot episode, however, and is all but forgotten today.
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