As we arrive at the season finale of Creepshow’s third season, there’s a certain sense of apprehension that hangs in the air like the stench of a freshly exhumed corpse.
While it’s probably true that the middle of this season was maybe a little formless, the quality of the various segments were of a more consistent quality than some of the precious seasons, which makes the fact that details of a Season 4 hasn’t yet resurfaced a little worrying. It’s been confirmed by Shudder, apparently, but that was nearly a year and a half ago and the lack of fresh news about a fourth go-round for the Creep doesn’t bode especially well.
Still, the bright side is that, thanks to its two most prolific contributors, Creepshow Season 3 ends strong with a confident couple of tales that are diverse as they are fun and this mixture of Thai folklore and George Romero tribute take us out on a gruesome high.
Drug Traffic: Opportunistic presidential candidate Evan Miller is in the midst of a publicity stunt as he escorts a bunch of impoverished, minorities to the US – Canadian border in order to highlight the inadequacies of American healthcare. However, Miller’s desire to shamelessly milk sympathy from voters hits a speed bump in the form of border security officer Beau who was drafted to this remote post for his outspoken, communist views.
While the two bicker about politics, Beau is forced to stop a foreign woman who is carrying a bag jam packed full of illegal, chinese medical drugs and is detained, but while Miller is overexcited at possibly being able to be filmed while playing the hero, something dodgy is going on with the woman’s sickly daughter, Mei. It seems Mei is a Krasue, a spectral creature from Thailand that sheds its body and floats about the place as a disembodied head with its internal organs hanging out the neck stump – and its bloodlust won’t be sated until she gets the drugs she needs.
A Dead Girl Named Sue: Set during the events of George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead, Police Chief Evan Foster is dedicated to upholding the law, even in the face of a steadily growing, zombie invasion. He’s certainly going to have his work cut out for him as the local men folk as amassing for a spot of comunity building vigilantism against local rapist, Cliven Ridgeway, who has always gotten away with his crimes in the past due to the fact that his father’s the mayor.
Understandably, this puts Foster in quite the moral conundrum, especially considering that Ridgeway’s last victim was heavily rumoured to be Sue Donovan, a young child who’s discovered body has kicked this whole thing off.
Finding Ridgeway a suspect in another death, Foster arrests him, but in the face of rising zombie attacks across the country, will the courts ever reopen to bring a man like this to justice? It seems that in an uncertain, zombie infested future, Evan needs to work out exactly where he stands on upholding the law.
I have to be honest, whenever Creepshow nails both its segments, it always gives me a warm feeling inside and make no mistake, this final delve into Season 3 left me nice and toasty. We start with Greg Nicotero’s Drug Traffic, an utterly bizarre entry that fuses social issues that plague America with the presence of an ancient spirit, usually found in Thai folklore that gives the story a fresh, new feel. To save me some column space, those unsure of what a Krasue is, just bop over to Netflix and watch 2019’s Inhuman Kiss in order to get the scoop on this intestine trailing apparition, but the fact that Nicotero chose to got this route of picking an Asian creature over the standard, European choice of a werewolf or vampire is inspired and the sight of Mei’s severed bounce floating around in anguish as it takes massive bites out of everyone it sees is both as blackly absurd as it is genuinely disturbing.
Elsewhere, we find the incredibly welcome presence of Michael Rooker (how the hell has it taken this long to get this guy in a Creepshow episode?) and nature of both his and Reid Scott’s characters is the other thing that makes the segment shine. The gag is that it’s the redneck, border guard who is actually more socially minded while the politician is the most callous, casually racist of the two and he’s only doing all this charitable stunt work to garner votes for himself. The two butt heads beautifully, their smysing verbal one-upmanship for the cameras overshadowing the fact there’s a flesh eating ghoul in their midst until it’s too late and the whole episode stands as a major point that’s a floating head (if no shoulders) above the norm.
Hell, we even get a brief glimpse of a live action Creep in the wraparound, something that’s getting all.the more rare theses days…
From floating ghouls from Thailand, we head back stateside for the inspiration for the second story which not only gives us Romero-style zombies, but even sets it in the timeline of the director’s legendary debut movie – what could be more American than that?
Those hoping John Harrison has taken after Nicotero’s awesome Evil Dead inspired episode in Season 2 may be initially disappointed to find that this isn’t a skull blasting gorefest with retro trappings, but instead is a deliberate, noir-ish thriller that features the actual news broadcasts from the fiona showing on the TV as the story unfolds (“bash ’em or burn ’em, they go up real easy.”).
Telling the tale of what happens to a dedicated lawman when the rules go out the window, there’s an argument to be made that there’s maybe a more energetic story to be told here, but Harrison (arguably Creepshow’s most inconsistent talent) admirably sticks to his guns and tells a tense, tight zombie story that, audaciously, barely has any zombies in it.
No, this is about those scales of justice that lives in Chief Foster’s head as they struggle to find balance in a world that’s rapidly losing its marbles and if he doesn’t try to reconcile his notions of justice against the opportunity fate is offering him, an unrepentant rapist will more than certainly walk free. It’s a fascinating premise and I wish that many, official NOTLD projects would have used this level of thought and creativity when spring boarding off Romero’s work.
The result is a brooding episode with some neat, directorial touches (the Schindler’s List style use of colour when suggesting destroyed innocence is a beaut) and the odd arresting image (the sight of an undead Sue emerging from a sack is right out of Audition) and with the further addition of some forthright performances, that completes a great victory lap for Season 3.
So, will there be a Season 4? All signs supposedly point to yes, but when we’ll get any word is anyone’s guess – so for now, the Creep can lay himself out in his coffin and hang ten for a while. However, I’d appreciate it if he could be roused sooner rather than later…
Drug Traffic: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A Dead Girl Named Sue: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
We've Got (Back) Issues 