31 Days of Halloween 2019: In The Tall Grass

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) is pregnant, and since her boyfriend Travis (Harrison Gilbertson) isn’t ready to step up and be a dad, she’s decided to give the baby up for adoption. So she and her doofus of a brother Cal (Avery Whitted) head off on a road trip so she can have the baby and give it up for adoption. Along the way, though, they become lost in a field after responding to cries for help from a young boy named Tobin (Will Buie Jr.). Also in the all-encompassing greenery are the boy’s father Ross (Patrick Wilson) and his mom Natalie (Rachel Wilson). Soon, everyone is walking about aimlessly in the field, and as night falls with seemingly no way to escape, things keep getting stranger, and more dangerous.

31 Days of Halloween 2019: Creepshow Season 1, Episodes 1-3

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

We’re three episodes into Shudder’s reboot of CREEPSHOW, the comic book inspired horror anthology series that originated with Stephen King and Berni Wrightson’s graphic novel and its companion film adaptation by George A. Romero in 1982. With each episode delivering two stories at roughly 45 minutes long, that adds up to a little over 2 hours total so far. So more or less the length of a feature film. Seems like as good a point as any to analyze what we’ve seen so far.

In general, just like the original film, each story aims for a tone similar to fifties horror comics ala EC's "Tales From the Crypt". That means lots of bright primary colors, black humor, and a host in the form of The Creep. Unlike The Crypt Keeper, however, The Creep is essentially mute, only offering the occasional raspy laugh. Now on the the specifics.