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Creepshow scares up chilling new footage and unearths September premiere date
After the first Creepshow trailer dropped this morning, showrunner Greg Nicotero unveiled one more horrific surprise for attendees of the series' panel at San Diego Comic Con 2019. Following his admission that the trailer was released earlier in the day in order to "get ahead" of the debut of the Walking Dead movie teaser, Nicotero screened even more footage from the forthcoming Shudder anthology.
The exclusive, never-before-seen clip was taken from "The Companion," an episode based on a story by Joe R. Lansdale, Kasey Lansdale, and Keith Lansdale. In it, a boy is running from his bullying older brother in the dead of night when he stumbles upon an eery farm. He tries to take refuge in a dilapidated house, but is stalked by something way more malevolent than a bullying sibling. Shot with plenty of fog, backlighting, and off-kilter angles, the footage gave off some really old school horror vibes and was a bit reminiscent of Nick's Are You Afraid of the Dark? in the best way possible. This iteration of Creepshow is definitely ready to scare a new generation of viewers. It's also packed with Easter eggs, which are so plentiful, not even the showrunner has been able to track them all down.
"The entire series is filled with stuff, even I haven’t found all of it," Nicotero said, explaining that he wants to do a Talking Dead-inspired commentary series where he and the stars pick apart the episode and the fun stuff hiding in the background. One common thread running through each episode is a marble ashtray from the "Father's Day" segment in the original 1982 film, which was written by author Stephen King and directed by modern zombie genre progenitor, George A. Romero.
"Creepshow is very near and dear to me. It was the first movie set I ever visited," added Nicotero recounting how Romero's daughter Tina visited the set and said that her father—who passed away in 2017—would have been so proud. “For me to be able to continue this legacy with these people…I’ll probably cry [tears of joy] later tonight.”
At the panel, Nicotero announced forthe very first time that Season 1 of Creepshow premieres on Shudder Sept. 26. Consisting of 12 episodes, the reboot (although Nicotero doesn't really like that term) features adaptations of stories from great horror scribes like Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Josh Malerman. Unlike many screening platforms these days, Season 1 will not be released all at once; instead, a single episode will drop every week.
"Sometimes, life is like a Dickens novel and it goes back to where it started," stated Hill, who appeared in the '82 movie.
Adrienne Barbeau, Giancarlo Esposito, David Arquette, Tobin Bell, Tricia Helfer and Dana Gould, Kid Cudi, Big Boi, Jeffrey Combs, DJ Qualls, and Bruce Davison all appear on the show in starring roles. Nicotero also revealed that the budget was so tight, he had to scrap an episode with Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle.
“I watched the original Creepshow and I loved it," said Esposito. "We’re able to take in the unknown and unexpected and be surprised … It takes us from one place to another ... “Your connection to this passes on a legacy," he told Greg.
“It’s funny, it’s deep, it’s chilly, it’s all [of those things] wrapped up in one," Helfer said.
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