Creepshow 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Creepshow 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson July 3, 2023

Scream Factory's 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray combo of George Romero's Creepshow (1982) marks the third occasion the horror anthology classic has been available on BD in North America. For a critique of the film and summaries of its five stories, please see Dustin Somner's review of the 2009 standard edition from Warner Bros.

"I want my cake."

Creepshow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Thirty of the frame grabs are pulled directly from the UHD disc and downsampled to 1080p. They don't encompass the full HDR so they may not be completely representative of the film's color values when projected at 2160p.

Scream's new release comes with a BD-100 (feature size: 80.6 GB) and a BD-50 (feature size: 37.2 GB). The keep case comes with a slipcover that features identical cover art and text on the front and back. The picture appears in its original exhibition ratio of 1.85:1. When I covered Scream's 2018 "Collector's Edition" Blu-ray, the transfer was described as emanating from a 4K scan of the original camera negative supervised and approved by director of photography Michael Gornick. The UHD disc (presented in Dolby Vision with HDR10 compatibility) and Blu-ray in this set are advertised as receiving a new 4K scan of the original camera negative that was performed earlier this year. The packaging doesn't state if Gornick also oversaw the most recent scan. In fact, it doesn't specify who did. Compared to the 4K scan used five years ago, this year's transfer generally boasts warmer skin tones. Facial tones are a bit more pale on the '18 transfer. The grain structure varies somewhat between the two. The image from '18 has a coarser grain structure. Grain isn't as evident on faces on this year's scan because of the warmer tones. If you compare the two transfers and zoom into the face of Upson Pratt (E.G. Marshall) in Screenshots 31-32, for instance, one is a tad pinker than the other. Color saturation and gamma levels are superior on this year's transfer. For example, look at the pure blue sky in Screenshot #3. The '18 image has a lighter blue. Background details are hazier on the old transfer. Overall, colors are more natural-looking on the '23 transfer.

The enclosed Blu-ray is a different disc than the BD-50 from '18. It's based on the most recent scan and also splits the supplements with the UHD. I studied the Blu-ray in 1080p on a monitor and also watched it upscaled to 2160p on my QLED. Even when watching it upconverted to 4K resolution, it sometimes doesn't have the same "pop" as the UHD. For example, the HDR and DV make the figures depicted in Screenshot #15 really stand out in the foreground from the shrubs, tree foliage, and building in the background. The Blu-ray does boast exceptional clarity in the penultimate story: e.g., framings of Henry Northrup (Hal Holbrook) and Dexter Stanley (Fritz Weaver), even amidst the gray and dingy basement of Amberson Hall.

The 4K Ultra HD sports an average video bitrate of 75097 kbps while the new Blu-ray displays a mean video bitrate of 30.8 Mbps. Each disc comes with twelve chapters for the two-hour movie.

Screenshot #s 1-30 = Scream Factory 2023 Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD
Screenshot #s 31, 33, 35, 37, & 39 = Scream Factory 2018 Collector's Edition 4K-scanned Blu-ray
Screenshot #s 32, 34, 36, 38, & 40 = Scream Factory 2023 Collector's Edition 4K-scanned Blu-ray

Note: While watching the UHD and Blu-ray discs, the house and surrounding environs on Comfort Point appears very static while the jeep drives up, causing me to surmise that it's a matte painting. I watched Michael Felsher's retrospective documentary Just Desserts: The Making of CREEPSHOW (2007) in between my viewings and Romero confirms that it's indeed a matte shot.

Creepshow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream has supplied a brand-new Dolby Atmos track (standard bitrate: 4035 kbps; average bitrate: 3651 kbps; maximum bitrate: 5928 kbps), a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround remix (3609 kbps, 24-bit), and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mix (2002 kbps, 24-mix) on both the UHD and Blu-ray. Pitch levels were raised on the 2018 CE but I didn't find that a problem on these tracks. Dialogue is noticeably louder on the opening and closing scenes that bookend the film (largely courteous of the angry father portrayed by Tom Atkins) compared to, for instance, the group conversation in the living room of the Bedelia home where vocal tones are softer. The 2.0 Stereo track has nice range and depth. Dialogue and background f/x are easy to pick out in the high- and low-ends. The special sound effects were created by Petur Hliddal.

The height channels and extra rear surrounds on the Atmos replicate the same audio info for the thunder and lightning bolts that open the film in front of Stan's (Tom Atkins) house. There's more distinct separation of weather-related f/x in the fronts and rears in the "They're Creeping Up On You" segment. In addition, the swarm of cockroaches creates a most lively presence along the rear speakers. There's also very good surround activity as the ocean waves roll around the beach in the "Something to Tide You Over" story. Overall, the Atmos track is a terrific addition, even if it's not frequently omnipresent across your HT.

Composer John Harrison's electronic score is an integral presence on these three mixes. Originally, Romero wanted to incorporate cues from the Capitol Records music library but the tapes were not of satisfactory quality. Harrison was initially going to write only a main theme to open and close the picture but ended up composing more underscore for the five stories than anticipated. On the back jacket of Varèse Sarabande's soundtrack LP album, Harrison states that he performed the score on a PROPHET V (5) polyphonic synthesizer by Sequential Circuits, Inc. as well as Steinway and Weber grand pianos. Michael Abelson delivered additional piano performances. (In the liner notes accompanying the remastered soundtrack album issued by La-La Land Records, Randall D. Larson analyzes the score and mentions the instruments.) Harrison's score sounds splendid on the front and back channels of the UHD and Blu-ray.

I also watched Creepshow with the optional English SDH on throughout. They deliver an accurate transcription of dialogue and very brief description of f/x. They miss one expletive, though.

Creepshow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scream hasn't added any new extras from its terrific set of supplements from the 2018 CE. While they have duplicated the commentary tracks across both discs, they have distributed different extras across the two.

DISC ONE: 4K UHD

• Audio Commentary with Director George A. Romero and Special Make-Up Effects Creator Tom Savini Moderated by Michael Felsher

• Audio Commentary with Composer/First Assistant Director John Harrison and Construction Coordinator Ed Fountain

• Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Michael Gornick Moderated by Lee Karr

• Audio Interviews with Director of Photography Michael Gornick, Actor John Amplas, Property Master Bruce Alan Miller, and Make-up Effects Assistant Darryl Ferrucci

• Mondo Macabre – A Look at Mondo's Various Creepshow Posters with Mondo Co-Founder Rob Jones and Mondo Gallery Events Planner Josh Curry (9:42, 1080p)

• Collecting Creepshow – A Look at Some of the Original Props and Collectibles from the Film with Collector Dave Burian (12:31, 1080p)

• The Colors of CREEPSHOW – A Look at the Restoration of CREEPSHOW with Director of Photography Michael Gornick (10:10, 1080p)

• Into the Mix – An Interview with Sound Re-recordist Chris Jenkins (13:05, 1080p)

• Posters and Lobby Cards Gallery (6:44, 1080p)

• Movie Posters Gallery (2:20, 1080p)

• Color Stills Gallery (2:15, 1080p)

• Special Effects Makeup Gallery (6:04, 1080p)

• Behind-the-Scenes Gallery (6:29, 1080p)

DISC TWO: Blu-ray

• Audio Commentary with Director George A. Romero and Special Make-Up Effects Creator Tom Savini Moderated by Michael Felsher

• Audio Commentary with Composer/First Assistant Director John Harrison and Construction Coordinator Ed Fountain

• Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Michael Gornick Moderated by Lee Karr

• Audio Interviews with Director of Photography Michael Gornick, Actor John Amplas, Property Master Bruce Alan Miller, and Make-up Effects Assistant Darryl Ferrucci

• Terror and the Three Rivers: A Round Table Discussion on the Making of Creepshow with John Amplas, Tom Atkins, Tom Savini, and Marty Schiff (30:10, 1080p)

• The Comic Book Look – An Interview with Costume Designer Barbara Anderson (12:51, 1080p)

• Ripped from the Pages – An Interview with Animator Rick Catizone (15:37, 1080p)

• Horror's Hallowed Grounds – A Look at the Original Film Locations Hosted by Sean Clark (14:56, 1080p)

• Deleted Scenes (15:31, 1080i)

• Tom Savini's Behind-the-Scenes Footage (25:52, 1080i)

• Deleted Scenes (15:31, 1080i)

• Theatrical Trailers (1:49, 1080p) English and Spanish trailers for Creepshow.

• TV Spot (0:28, upscaled to 1080i)

• Radio Spots (1:04)

Felcher's comprehensive doc Just Desserts should be viewed as a supplementary companion. Synapse Film's 2016 "Special Edition," which remains in print, contains unique extras from the Scream Factory releases with the exception of Horror's Hallowed Grounds and Savini's behind- the-scenes footage. To add on what my colleague Brian Orndorf wrote in his review, the Scream Greats Volume One: Tom Savini, Master of Horror Effects contains a short segment about Savini's work on Creepshow (including the creation of Fluffy). I remember seeing the doc after I checked out the VHS from a video rental store. The image quality as shown on the Blu-ray looks better and is probably comparable with the LaserDisc edition where it was likely sourced from. A lot of footage from the films excerpted in this career profile piece (up through 1985) are struck from VHS copies, but the contemporary interview footage of Savini, Romero, and their collaborators looks pretty crisp, especially considering the age of the material. Scream Greats spends the most time on Day of the Dead (1985).

Creepshow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even if you own Scream Factory's fine 2018 Collector's Edition of Creepshow, you'll want to strongly consider upgrading it with this stellar 4K UHD/Blu-ray pack. From the 4K scan completed earlier this year, the Dolby Vision and HDR10 help deliver some noticeable improvements over the scan completed five years ago. The skin tones and overall color values appear warmer and richer than they did before. The recently produced Dolby Atmos mix is pretty impressive. I hope this is a sign that we will be getting more 4K editions of titles that involve Romero, Savini, and King in one way or another. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.