When compared to the original, Creepshow 2 is an exercise in paring down. They've cut the stories down from five to three, have less familiar faces in roles, and removed all the stylish comic book trickery used in the first. In fact, the only thing tying them together is that each tale is introduced by a Cryptkeeper cloning "host" called The Creeper. He's also part of an animated wraparound story involving a young kid and some bullies that only manages to feel out of place and tacked on to keep some form of continuity. These loose ties still won't stop you from getting your anthology horror fix here.

This time out George A. Romero has handed the directorial reigns to longtime collaborator Michael Gornick (who was director of photography on the original) and just taken the writing chores by adaptating three more Stephen King stories. First up is "Old Chief Wood'nhead" and stars veteran actors George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour (in her last film appearance) as the general store owning couple in a small desert town. Business hasn't been good and the local Native American tribe's chief gives them priceless jewelry to hold onto until he can pay back their debts. Along comes Hollywood dreaming Sam (Holt McCallany) and a couple of inept thugs to rob the place and, after they've accidentally killed our shopkeeps and taken the jewelry, they meet vengeance in the form of the reanimated wooden Indian that stands guard over the store. It's mix of whimsy and slasher movie isn't too bad and it benefits from Lamour's epic over-emoting during her death scene, McCallany's charismatic turn as our egotistical baddie and a cool looking moment where someone is pulled through a wall.

Second up is "The Raft" which most people consider the best tale here. I'm not going to argue with that even if it's basically just an aquatic version of The Blob. Four college kids head out to a remote lake in the dying moments of the Fall to take a dip and swim out to a raft situated in the middle of it. They're just there to smoke weed, party and maybe have sex. Little do they know an oil slick looking creature skims the lake looking for fresh blood. This middle story is where all the real gooey effects happen as we see our human victims covered in glistening black slime as their skin melts off. It's a fun enough time though I question why one character decides to molest another sleeping survivor (ever heard of rape?).

Our final tale, "The Hitch-Hiker", introduces us to lawyer's wife Annie Lansing (Lois Chiles) who has just cheated on hubby and has to hit the highway to try and beat him home so he's not suspicious. While racing home, and trying to come up with excuses if she's late, she accidentally runs over a hitch-hiker. Rather than stick around she goes all "Hit and Run". This turns out to be a bad idea as our undead hitcher has decided to stick around and mutter "Thanks for the ride, lady!" as Annie tries to shake him off by driving her car through all sorts of rugged terrain. I dug the make-up on our hitcher and Chiles is suitably icy and bitchy but it's the constantly uttered quote above that's made this story so memorable all these years later. This one also contains a cameo by King as a truck driver.

Like I mentioned before, Creepshow 2 makes for an entertaining 89 minutes and does a good enough job filling your needs if you're looking for a decent anthology flick. I really did miss the EC Comics flavor that Romero and King brought to the original and could've done without all the animated crap, but I still enjoyed my time with this. It's true enough to the spirit of the first but, really, didn't need to sport the Creepshow name at all. Romero would return to the sub-genre again three years later by being involved with the movie spin-off of Tales from the Darkside, a television series he created in 1983 that ran for four seasons. There'd also be another sequel in 2006 and the less said about it, the better. (Chris Hartley, 10/29/13)

Directed By: Michael Gornick.
Written By: George A. Romero.

Starring: Lois Chiles, George Kennedy, Dorothy Lamour, Daniel Beer.