Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Creepshow: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 2, 2021

Can it really be Creepshow if there's relatively little of The Creep? Creepshow: Season 2 offers another wild and woolly tour through various "tales of horror", with many providing depictions of comeuppance in what one character in one of the episodes refers to as "karma", much as with the first season. But the conceit that Creepshow: Season 1 utilized of having the Creep provide kind of snarky introductions as well as interstitial "bits" is all but missing in this second season, which seems like kind of an odd choice. He (it?) still is in the show, make no mistake about it, but it feels like he (it?) is a kind of repeated cameo instead of the quasi-host of the first season. Instead, many of the episodes begin with animated introductions which feature explanatory "panels" from the supposed comic book, which then morph into live action. Despite this apparent slight change in presentational aspects, the second season of Creepshow is arguably a bit more sharply written than the first, and it contains a number of fun episodes that typically feature the kind of, well, karmic twist that was frequently part and parcel of The Twilight Zone . That may be especially interesting in that Creepshow is at least somewhat more "monster of the week" centered, much more in the template fashioned by The Outer Limits rather than the iconic Rod Serling creation.

The kind of one two punch of "what goes around comes around" and "be careful what you wish for" recurs throughout this second season of Creepshow, and may in fact lead some to start thinking, as frankly I did, about what set shows like The Twilight Zone apart from competitors. While The Twilight Zone did at least occasionally dabble in scary creatures (think of the inimitable ape like beast on the wing of the plane in the legendary "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" episode starring William Shatner from The Twilight Zone: Season 5), more often the "monsters" were everyday humans like the neighbors on Maple Street in another famous episode from The Twilight Zone: Season 1. But even aside and apart from any horrifying creature makeup, Serling's series quite frequently exploited the conceit of a karmic twist, with several episodes hinging on some character getting a vastly deserved comeuppance of some kind. That approach is at least somewhat and some might argue markedly different from not just The Outer Limits, but other similar (?) series that aired at around the same time as Serling's did, like Thriller and One Step Beyond.

There's something uniquely satisfying about seeing jerks getting what's coming to them, and several episodes this season tend to traffic in that kind of Schadenfreude. Some offer some kind of frankly disturbing elements, like one story depicting a poor kid entranced by monsters and monster movies who is being bullied both at school and, ultimately after his mother's death, at home, until a little supernatural help comes his way. Others, like a really goofy and even gonzo send up of everything from The Evil Dead (replete with a cameo from Ted Raimi) to PBS stalwarts like The Joy of Painting are arguably over the top in offering graphic mayhem, but are so undeniably looney that the entire things comes off as, well, a living cartoon.

Without the fun commentaries that were offered as bonus features on Creepshow: Season 1, it may not be as easy to catch all of the references this season offers, but once again as with the first season it is more than obvious that Greg Nicotero and his team bring an immense sense of appreciation and dare I say even joy to the series. There's a winking quality to just about everything in the show that tends to make the blood and guts (which can be copious) seem perhaps little less unsettling and more comedic. This season also offers a really nice array of stylized direction from Nicotero in particular. As can be seen in several of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, not only are framings often weirdly askew, many scenes are bathed in a variety of deep, evocative hues that give the presentation an appropriately lurid aspect that is in its own way perfectly reminiscent of old comic books.

Creepshow: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Creepshow: Season 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of RLJ Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As I mentioned in our Creepshow: Season 1 Blu-ray review, there isn't a ton of technical data available online about this series as usual suspect sites like the IMDb, but in the Night of the Living Late Show featurette (see below), it's mentioned in passing that the show (or at least that episode) utilizes Arri Alexas, and I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. I found this second season to be generally more impressive looking than the first, with fine detail levels on both "real" items and even some of the animated interstitials to be really nicely precise looking. The palette, as mentioned above in the main body of the review, is really vividly suffused throughout virtually every episode, and gore elements like blood look spectacularly vibrant. There are black and white elements that crop up from time to time, all of which offer solid contrast, and the Night of the Living Late Show episode in particular offers a really interesting presentational approach that attempts to blend newly shot footage in with Horror Express, with a somewhat peach colored palette. The results I think are quite organic looking.

Creepshow: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Creepshow: Season 2 features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that regularly engages the side and rear channels for both nicely designed effects as well as ambient environmental sounds and score. The glut of marauding creatures in several episodes provides nice moments of panning and discrete channelization for things like people getting vivisected and the like. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Creepshow: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Wondercon @ Home 2021 Interview with Greg Nicotero (HD; 38:00) is hosted by Megan Navarro from Bloody Disguting.


• How It Was Made: Night of the Living Late Show (HD; 7:40) shows some of the SFX of inserting Justin Long and Darcy __ into a pre-existing film.


• Behind the Sound with Bare Knuckles Creative (HD; 4:08) focuses on sound design.


• Behind the Scenes Raw Footage (HD; 4:56)


• Creepshow Season 2 Photo Gallery (HD; 00:50)


• A Creepshow Holiday Special Photo Gallery (HD)


• A Creepshow Animated Speical Photo Gallery (HD)


• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (HD)

As with the first season, a fun Comic Art Booklet is also included.

Creepshow: Season 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Creepshow is just good, old fashioned fun, and there's almost a Biblical aspect to a variety of jerks getting what's coming to them, a plot device which is utilized repeatedly this season. The writing is typically excellent, and some of the "high concepts", like Night of the Living Late Show or Public Television of the Dead, are both wryly humorous and kind of snarkily intelligent. Speaking of snarky, Nicotero shares a little info about The Creep in his Zoom like interview, but I for one hope the character has more of a featured role in Season 3. Technical merits are solid, and the supplements very enjoyable (even if this season doesn't feature commentaries). Recommended.