Creepshow 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Creepshow 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 14, 2016

Horror portmanteaus have always been one of my favorite subgenres, maybe because I grew up watching reruns of fantasy shows like The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series after school and matriculated to Rod Serling’s Night Gallery when it came along, enjoying how it often mixed more than one vignette into any given episode (especially when it was an hour long). There have been a number of interesting horror portmanteaus through the years (Amicus fairly built their reputation with them), with at least a couple of them, like Dead of Night, now considered minor classics. Creepshow 2 probably isn’t in the top tier of horror anthologies, and some would argue it’s somewhat of a letdown after the original Creepshow, but it provides a few chills along the way, at least for those without any outsized expectations.

As with several other re-releases I've had in my review queue lately, I'm going to assume most coming to this review will be more interested in a comparison of video and audio quality as well as this disc's array of supplemental material than they will be with a plot summary. Please see Michael Reuben's Creepshow 2 Blu-ray review of the Image release for an overview of the film's vignettes.

Creepshow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Creepshow 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

Creepshow 2 has been exclusively restored in 2K resolution for this release by Arrow Films and is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono, stereo 2.0 and 5.1 audio options.

The original 35mm interpositive was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered 4K Lasergraphics Director Scanner at Deluxe Burbank. Picture grading was completed on a DaVinci REsolve at Pinewood Studios. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed using PFClean software. Overall image stability and instances of density fluctuation were also improved. All restoration work was completed at Pinewood Studios.

The original soundtrack was transferred from the 35mm magnetic master reels by Deluxe Audio Services, Los Angeles, and was conformed and restored at Pinewood Studios.

As I have repeatedly suggested in previous reviews of re-releases, my attempts to replicate (or come close) to some of the screenshots in Michael's original review provide an opportunity for fans or just "interested bystanders" to form their own conclusions rather than relying on my descriptions. With that said, there are some obvious differences between the two versions, with Arrow's noticeably brighter and with what to my eyes looks like a more natural and pleasing palette. Colors are nicely suffused and pop a good deal better than on the Image release, due at least in part to the uptick in brightness. Grain is still sometimes on the chunky side, especially in the hitchhiker sequence (see screenshots 16 and 17), and I personally found that vignette to be the least pleasing looking in this new transfer. In this "episode" there's sometimes really coarse looking grain that has chroma like anomalies and which tends to mask detail levels. As Michael noted in his review, the film has a lot of opticals, including the animated interstitials, and grain understandably spikes in these moments. Overall, though, grain looks organic and resolves without any issues. Restoration efforts have also delivered elements that are in very clean and damage free condition. Finally, there's been yet more bandwidth devoted to framing differences between the two releases, and a cursory comparison shows extra information in the Arrow release, especially on the left and top of the frame. I personally found nothing odd looking aside from occasional headroom issues (which I never found troubling), but those who have imprinted on previous releases may differ in that opinion. Finally, as I've repeatedly stated in my reviews of other re-releases, I'd caution against any comparison of my scores on this release with Michael's scores on the Image release. There's no guarantee I would have scored that release the same way Michael did, and conversely Michael might very well have scored this release differently than I have (a good indication is that I evidently like the actual film a bit more than Michael does, hence my higher score).

Creepshow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike the Image release which sported only a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, Arrow has provided both an LPCM 2.0 and an LPCM Mono track along with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The mono track sounds a little rough to my ears, something that's not an issue in the surround track, though as Michael noted in his review of the Image surround track, the Arrow surround track also doesn't offer a whale of a lot of immersion. There are occasional nice effects like the gurgling of the water in the swimming episode or the marauding of the car in the hitchhiker episode, but this is by and large a front- centric mix, aside from occasional discrete channelization of effects and the appealing spread of the score, something that does tend to inform the side and rear channels more consistently than anything else.

Creepshow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Screenplay for a Sequel (1080p; 10:45) is a fun interview with George A. Romero.


• Tales from the Creep (1080p; 7:53) features Tom Savini discussing his makeup, animatronics and even acting work in the film.


• Poncho's Last Ride (1080p; 14:44) is an interview with Daniel Beer, who portrays Randy in the swimming vignette.


• The Road to Dover (1080p; 13:51) interviews Tom Wright, who plays the hapless hit and run victim.


• Nightmares in Foam Rubber (1080i; 32:03) interviews SFX artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero. The menu has a misspelling in the title, for those who care about such things.


• My Friend Rick (1080i; 2:43) features Howard Berger discussing his mentor Rick Baker.


• Behind the Scenes (1080i; 5:50) has some good footage of makeup, prosthetics and the like.


• Image Gallery (1080i; 3:34)


• Trailers and TV Spot

  Theatrical Trailer 1 (1080i; 1:38)

  Theatrical Trailer 2 (1080i; 1:12)

  TV Spot (480i; 00:34)

• Audio Commentary features Perry Martin hosting director Mike Gornick.


• Original Screenplay is available as BD-ROM content.

The insert sleeve features reversible art and the insert booklet contains an essay and information on the restoration.

Creepshow 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Creepshow 2 doesn't quite reach the heights of its progenitor, and it's probably more in line with some of the more middling Amicus portmanteaus, but that doesn't mean it's not without its own peculiar pleasures. All three of the stories have fun elements, and some of the practical effects are quite impressive (especially considering some of the SFX team were "kids", as they discuss in a supplement). Video and audio quality are both improved from the Image release, though those concerned about the framing differences may want to parse the screenshots more carefully than others. As usual, Arrow has assembled a top flight array of supplements. Recommended.