Creepshow Animated Special

Director - Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead, Creepshow)

Starring - Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys, Young Guns), Joey King (The Conjuring, The Act), and Fayna Sanchez (Dollface, OJ: The Musical)

Release Date - 2020

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Strange, eerie, terrifying"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Last year was a rough one for many of us.  The pandemic took millions of lives, saw several without jobs and income, and others found themselves homeless for many reasons.  For obvious reasons, the movie industry was hit due to the pandemic and the "new normal" along with the guidelines that made filming new projects damn near impossible.  However, that didn't stop special effects legend and occassional director Greg Nicotero from knocking out an animated special for his produced Creepshow series.  It was released on Shudder but I never got the chance to check it out until I was sent the second season of Creepshow from RLJE Films and Shudder.  I finally was able to check it out as one of the special features on this release.  

     This special consists of two tales.  The first follows a surgeon that finds himself alone on an island with no way or surviving.  He resorts to eating seagulls before resorting to amputating his legs as a way of sustaining his own before succumbing to infection and starvation.  The second tale follows a teenage girl who is on vacation with her family when they come across a roadside attraction called Circus of the Dead.  They soon discover that this a circus centered around zombies and those in charge use the audience as their next batch of undead for the following show.

     I was really looking forward to this after watching season 2 of Creepshow but the animated special was not as entertaining as the actual show.  I liked the stories behind each tale but the delivery and animation just didn't sell it to me.  The voice acting in this one is alright for the most part but the cast does struggle with conveying emotions by just using their voices.  Those cast fit the characters they were assigned to but the voice acting is very flat.  The stories for this one is great on paper but the execution and delivery was just not the best approach to make them enjoyable.  I really enjoyed the plot for both stories but the animated approach and narration made the stories feel a little too goofy.  They didn't have the impact that they could have if it was actually live action.  Finally, the film has some animated violence that was fun to at times but the animation style just didn't work for me.  Overall, Creepshow Animated Special had some fun moments but it is easily forgettable.  It's not on the same level as the regular episodes which means you can skip it if you really want to.