Serie - Creepshow Animated Special: A perfect return to the source of inspiration

By Mulder, 26 october 2020

Featuring Kiefer Sutherland (24, Designated Survivor) and Joey King (The Kissing Booth, The Act), Creepshow Animated Special will be broadcast exclusively on the horror streaming service in all of its territories, as well as via the Shudder offer in the AMC+ package. This Creepshow Animated Special presents two stories directed by showrunner Greg Nicotero, with animation from the animation studio Octopie: Survivor Type and Twittering of the Circus of the Dead. A Creepshow Animated Special is produced by the Cartel with Monster Agency Productions, Octopie, Taurus Entertainment and Striker Entertainment.

Survivor Type is based on the short story by Stephen King and adapted by Greg Nicotero. It stars Kiefer Sutherland (24, Designated Survivor) as a man determined to stay alive alone on a desert island, no matter what the cost. Twittering from the Circus of the Dead is based on the short story by Joe Hill and adapted by Melanie Dale. It stars Joey King (The Kissing Booth, The Act) as a teenager whose family road trip includes a visit to the most serious show on the planet.

It is interesting to see in this special episode of the Creepshow series a return to the very sources of inspiration of the film saga composed of three films, several graphic novels published in July 1982 and an excellent series broadcast on Shudder in 2019, i.e. the horror comics of the EC of the 1950's., Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear come to mind. It was no coincidence that the films began with a short cartoon and that each of the horror stories referred to a graphic novel.

These two stories designed for an adult audience have proven to be a real success because they are based on an excellent script. The first story is based on one of the short stories from Stephen King's novel Brume (Skeleton Crew) (1985) and the second from a collection of short stories from The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology (2010). These two episodes resemble graphic novels whose pages would be turned with jubilant pleasure to see how they end. The violence that emerges from each story fits perfectly with the Creepshow spirit and proves to be just as successful as the first cult movie in which our favorite writer Stephen King appeared.

Survivor Type is intended to be a satire of our consumer society in which some people will do anything to get rich, including Richard Pin, a surgeon who was fired for embezzlement and who opened his own practice and decided to bring in heroin. Unfortunately for him, the liner that was taking him from Saigon to San Francisco fails and he ends up on a tiny island with a corpse, his drug but no food or drink. We won't say any more but this film deals perfectly with the capacity of the human being to survive at all costs. Only one voice is heard in this story, that of actor and singer Kiefer Sutherland, and he seems to take real pleasure in bringing his character to life.

Twittering from the Circus of the Dead is a tribute to George A.'s zombie movies. Romero's zombie movies and a critique of social networks. This story is also a vibrant caricature of all those youtubers who deliver their lives on social networks to gain maximum views and become famous at all costs. With both humor and horror, this second story is also the scariest and you won't see circuses the same way afterwards.

Synopsis :
This episode consists of two stories. A man is determined to stay alive alone on a desert island no matter what the cost. A teenager goes on a road trip that includes a visit to the most serious show on the planet.

A Creepshow Animated Special
Directed by Greg Nicotero
Produced by Mitchell Galin
Screenplay by Christopher Drake
With casting voices: Joey King, Kiefer Sutherland
Music by Christopher Drake
Release date : October 29, 2020 (Shudder)
Running time : 46mns

A review written by Boris Colletier

(Source : press release)