A rarely utilised trope within the world of television and film these days is the unhappy couple. And I mean that in the sense that one side of the relationship seems fine, and the other just seems to have an insurmountable hatred for the other. Almost to a comedic level. And that's precisely what this next episode of Creepshow entails: an unhappy man in a marriage that doesn't seem all that terrible, aside from his incredibly loud and mouthy wife which just can't help but annoy everyone around her. I remember reading a short story by Anton Chekhov a while back, featuring a story on a man that hated his wife so much, even though there was actually nothing wrong with her. It was a hilarious story that showcased a man's desperation to escape her in every moment possible. I was reminded of that story while watching this episode. Though, while there's not a whole lot wrong with the character's wife, she does manage to bring him down a lot, constantly belittling him and making him feel useless. We see other characters at an establishing scene of a party taking pity on him, talking to each other over who even invited her and why. This is a more sophisticated party, a place of more elite individuals that hold a certain prestige to themselves. Naturally, his louder wife just doesn't fit in. There's this feeling of embarrassment in the husband as a result. And this leads to some rather comedic moments.
During the party, the husband begins to imagine scenarios right there and then. We don't really know that he's just day dreaming in the moment. He just pulls out a gun at the party and shoots her in the head. These moments come out of nowhere and almost seem real, completely natural to which everyone surrounding her at the party just comes together in some comedic manner to celebrate and thank the husband. Finally, the racket of her insufferable attempts at conversation has been removed! These day dreaming moments come quite frequently after the other, which seems almost completely unrelated to the main story that the episode is actually about: a strange crate under a staircase which seems to have a date on it, showcasing its posting from the arctic during an expedition. This crate actually contains a strange creature that once disturbed will open the crate up and kill whoever is outside, pulling them into the crate never to be seen again. Do you yet see where this is heading? If not: it's all a little convenient that this man wants to get rid of his wife, and what better option that the sudden discovery of a strange crated creature that pulls people in, of which only he knowns about now? This episode is another that is probably a bit too long than it needs to be, focusing a lot on the setup, the discovery, and then finally getting to its point. But it's a fun one that speaks of what true evil is: is it the create kept in the crate, or the man feeding it?
In terms of thrills and scares, there aren't all that many in this episode. Much of it is a darker comedy over the ridding of the man's wife. Though here and there the episode focuses on the discovery side of the creature, to which it leads to a few unexpected death. This has the episode almost hoping that the final outcome of this story would be more of a surprise, hoping it isn't too much of a blatant outcome, but it certainly is. I didn't mind it that much, but it's definitely not a story that has the same charm as the first two stories in Creepshow. It's a little more similar to our previous episode which isn't all that creative in its visuals either. Not holding that typical Creepshow style to it. Though moments of action are sometimes met with the more comic book styled framing, to which the scene is coated in a drawn layer of blood around it, or the background disappears and turns into stripes. I quite like this side of Creepshow, the stylisation aspects mixed with the filmmaking. I just don't think there was enough of it in this one, and the previous story for that matter. It was an episode that felt a little lacking in something, and I couldn't quite put my finger on what that was exactly. Perhaps the longer runtime. Perhaps the theme as it's clear the creature won't have a larger presence and cause some real horror. It's all kept quite tightly.
This one didn't leave much of an impact on me. Not enough backstory on the creature or what it was capable of. Just a simple story on a man that hates his wife and wants out. Nothing all that spooky or thrilling about it, and far from one of the higher rated episodes I'd say. Still, some of the comedic moments in the earlier parts of the story are stronger, it's where much of the interest remains. It just gets left aside as the story progresses and takes another turn into something else. There are some fun moments though, moments where the Creepshow fun enters. The blue and red lighting in moments of stronger horror. But yeah, a little bit thin still.
This was another weak story, but it's not the worst. I'd argue that the worst one is yet to come. But this is still fun with its story, the moments of horror and gore. It still holds the fun of an anthology.
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