18th Oct2019
Which is Better? #4 – Creepshow vs. Trick 'r Treat
by Chris Cummings
Which is Better is a new column here on Nerdly where we'll pick two related movies and discuss each of them, and then conclude which we think is the best one. It might be about sequels in comparison to the first film, or the original film and its eventual remake, we might even do it for full film franchises. It could be about TV shows or movies that have similar themes or stories. It will be a way to talk about which, in my view, is the better. This time, I'll be pitting two horror anthologies against each other… it's Creepshow versus Trick 'r Treat!
I'm a huge horror fan and grew up with the genre in the 80s and 90s, letting it soak into my skin. Amidst all the sub-genres of horror, I'm a lover of the horror anthology. Whether it's VHS, Tales of Halloween, ABCs of Death or these two films, Creepshow and Trick 'r Treat, I love seeing them. These two, though, are the ultimate anthology films in horror, and delightfully spooky flicks to throw on around Halloween. So, I figured it would be fun to pit both of these beloved films against one another in our latest Which is Better article!
Creepshow, released all the way back in 1982, was written by horror-icon Stephen King and directed by The Godfather of The Living Dead, George A. Romero. Marketed as a comedy-horror anthology, Creepshow has become a cult classic and a film that remains beloved in the minds and hearts of fans all over the globe. Featuring five tales, Creepshow used an old-school comic-book format to tell its stories, similar to old EC comics from back in the 1950s. The shorts themselves range from "The Crate", the tale of a mysterious crate that contains an ape creature, to "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill", a tale of a backwoods guy who touches a fallen meteorite only to be overtaken by weeds and alien vegetation that spreads like wildfire across his body and his home. The five stories all all entertaining and flow together wonderfully in this old-school comic manner. It's creepy, funny and charming as hell, and one I love to revisit most years.
Trick 'r Treat, while it shares the anthology element with Creepshow, is tonally completely different, going for a traditional Halloween feel from the opening moments until it ends. Written and directed by Michael Dougherty, the film features a narrative that splits off and comes back together, an anthology of sorts, yet done in a way that brings everything back together. It's all set in the fictional town of Warren Valley in Ohio and features tales of zombie kids, werewolves and a modern horror icon with the head of a pumpkin and the body of a child, named Sam. It's an outrageous, exciting and festive Halloween film that has become iconic and beloved, much-like Creepshow. There's enough horror here, among the whimsy, to appal to the diehard horror crowd, but enough cute and fun elements to bring in those who aren't perhaps in love with the scary stuff.
Both of these movies are drenched with reasons to love them. They each offer something unique to the genre while retaining an element of an homage, a feeling of traditional to them that makes them all the more accessible and interesting. If you're looking for Halloween brilliance with pumpkins, gore and gloomy spookiness, then Trick 'r Treat is for you. If you're after a comedy-horror anthology with bite and blood and brilliant writing, directed by a total horror legend, then you need to see Creepshow. They're both bloody wonderful films in their own rights.
When you look at this smashing little sub-genre of horror you have to put these two films high up on that list, the top of the anthologies to have come out. It's the best month, too, to check these out if you haven't, and if you have… then a revisit is surely in order. Still, the point of this is to decide "which is better", so I better get to it.
While Trick 'r Treat offers a seasonal autumnal horror tone and a grim and fun story, you might say it isn't quite as iconic and timeless as Creepshow has become over the past 37 years. Creepshow fired off two sequels (one of which is a lot of fun) and a new television show in 2019, and because of just how bloody good it is, even all this time later, I'm going to have to say Creepshow wins this fight, but it's a tough one, because I probably love these two movies equally.
Creepshow!
So, what do you think? Are you in agreement? Do you think Trick 'r Treat is the better of the two? Let us know below, thanks for reading, and… go watch these flicks again!
Category : Fun Stuff
Tags : Creepshow, Trick 'r Treat, Which is Better