History YMMV / Creepshow

** After watching Henry be verbally abused and belittled by Billie (not to mention her showing [[LackOfEmpathy delight]] at another girl being allegedly attacked by his friend Dexter), it's very refreshing to know she gets her just desserts at the hands of the yeti.

** "[[Recap/CreepshowS1E12TimesIsToughInMuskyHoller Times is Tough in Musky Holler]]": [[CorruptPolitician Lester M. Barclay]] is the former [[MayorPain mayor]] of the titular Musky Holler city. After a ZombieApocalypse plagued the world, Lester came into Musky Holler offering his aide to the townsfolk. As soon as he was elected mayor, he used his power in office to overthrow and kill his predecessor, along with anyone else who challenged him. During his time as mayor, Lester had his followers spread propaganda about his laws, sanctioned his police force to rape and murder as they pleased, and imprisoned anyone who spoke out against him. Lester also created a sadistic, publicized game called "Live Pie", where a group of civilians would slowly be swarmed by zombies headfirst with no way of defending themselves.

** Although he was an asshole in life that deserved what happened to him, Nathan Grantham's RoaringRampageOfRevenge in "Father's Day." Even after seven years of rotting in the ground, he still has the strength to strangle and decapitate the long-suffering members of his family, not to mention he apparently gained telekinesis too.

** Nathan Grantham's RoaringRampageOfRevenge in "Father's Day." Even after seven years of rotting in the ground, he still has the strength to strangle and decapitate the long-suffering members of his family, not to mention he apparently gained telekinesis too.

!!Film

!! Comic Book:

!!Series

* NauseaFuel: The GrossUpCloseup of Nathan Graham's face, which shows his skull is full of maggots

* IdiotPlot: A fine example of this trope not being bad is "The Lonely Death of Jordy Verril." Everything that goes wrong in that segment is a direct consequence of Jordy being an ignorant idiot, which is how he's characterized from the first frame.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Granthams from the first story. They're not good people, but when you see the lengths that Nathan will go to get his "cake" and remember why he was murdered in the first place, you begin to wonder who's the real villain in the story.

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: One of these moments occurs at the end of "Skincrawlers", after the solar eclipse [[spoiler: makes all the weight-loss leeches explode and kill everyone who had the procedure]]. After dropping a vending machine on one of the leeches, Henry, [[spoiler: covered in blood]], picks up a candy bar off the ground, takes in all the carnage surrounding him, and happily takes a bite. Considering that Henry is no more than {{Hollywood Pudgy}}, and how he mentions his lifelong struggles with body image and self-confidence, the moment is oddly triumphant, despite the gore.

** The little boy in the framing story who gets slapped by his father just for reading a comic book. Luckily, his dad gets his...

* WTHCastingAgency: A cartoonishly goofy hick played by the author and non-actor Creator/StephenKing. Apparently Kind stepped in because no one else would ham it up enough.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Jordy plunge into the extra-alluring bathtub water because the itching finally got to him... or were the alien plants already taking over his mind and he was seeing the water through their perspective and was thus driven to dive in?

** There's also the payback that [[spoiler: Billy (the boy from the framing story manages to get on his abusive father via voodoo doll.]]

** The comic book loving boy in the FramingDevice that is punished for having a horror comic is played by Creator/JoeHill, who grew up to write some [[ComicBook/LockeAndKey creepy comics]] of his own, and once said in an interview that he doesn't allow his kid to read his comics.
** The film's [[ComicBook/TalesFromTheCrypt Cryptkeeper]] {{Expy}}, the Creep, is portrayed as a decaying corpse, as opposed to the Cryptkeeper of the comics who was just a somewhat ugly though living human. When ''Tales from the Crypt'' was made into a [[Series/TalesFromTheCrypt TV series]] at the end of the 80s, the Cryptkeeper would in fact be redesigned as an undead corpse similar to how the Creep looked.
** Now hold on: a movie directed by Creator/GeorgeARomero that features a man by the name of Henry in a dreadful marriage who murders his wife? Is this ''Creepshow'' or is it ''Film/{{Bruiser}}?''
* HoYay: Dexter and Henry, according to the documentary ''Just Desserts''

* InferredHolocaust: The ending of "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill".
* JerkassWoobie: Bedelia may not be the nicest person in the world, but if you lived under the monster that was Nathan Grantham, you'd be a bit of a jerk, too.

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Each story has their own:
** Nathan Grantham's RoaringRampageOfRevenge in "Father's Day". Even after seven years of rotting in the ground, he still has the strength to strangle and decapitate the long suffering members of his family, not to mention he apparently gained telekinesis too.
** Jordy's death in a sad sense. Realizing he would soon be in an AndIMustScream situation due to the alien growth spreading all over his body and property, he decides to go out on his own terms via Shotgun. And for once in his life, his luck was in.

** Henry's plan to kill his wife goes off without a hitch, and he somehow subdues and recaptures Fluffy afterwards, locking the crate and throwing it in a lake to be rid of it. And unlike any of the other murderers in the film (besides Nathan, and even he died before the start of the movie), Henry never gets caught. If it weren't for the twist ending of the creature escaping (which wasn't in the original short story), this would be a straight case of EarnYourHappyEnding.
** And lastly, Upson Pratt's KarmicDeath via cockroaches. After spending the whole film comparing minorities to them and belittling a grieving widow, seeing the insects swarm his body in the end is a true spectacle to behold.
** The wraparound story ends on one of these as well, as Billy uses a voodoo doll to presumably kill his father as revenge for the abuse he inflicted on him.

** The scene at the end of ''Something To Tide You Over'' is actually genuinely unnerving, with Leslie Nielsen still remaining scary even when being threatened. [[spoiler:And then you see him buried in the sand, and... well, see the above NarmCharm quote.]]

** And eventually, ''Creepshow's'' [[ComicBook/TalesFromTheCrypt chief inspiration]] was revived [[Series/TalesFromTheCrypt as a TV series]], maybe even thanks to this movie. And now there's a ''Series/{{Creepshow}}'' series...
* {{Sequelitis}}: Downplayed with the second movie. It was criticized for only having three arguably less interesting stories, but is still seen as a solid horror anthology overall.
** The 2006 unofficial threequel, however, plays it straight. It didn't involve King or Romero whatsoever. Rumours are flying around that there's going to be another ''Creepshow'', but only time will tell.
** As of 2019, there is a ''Series/{{Creepshow}}'' series, set to stream on ''Shudder''. It was released, and is pretty well-regarded.

* CatharsisFactor: After watching Henry be verbally abused and belittled by Billie (not to mention her showing [[LackOfEmpathy delight]] at another girl being allegedly attacked by his friend Dexter), it's very refreshing to know she gets her just desserts at the hands of the yeti.

*** Even funnier is when you realize that not only did the Cryptkeeper get changed to being a corpse similar to the Creep in the film, but the fact that the Creep himself gets changed from being a corpse-like creature to a human being that has a dungeon-like home (seen in one of the animated sequences in the film) in the film's sequel. So, the Cryptkeeper started off human as seen in the [[Film/TalesFromTheCrypt 1972 British anthology adaptation from Amicus Studios]] and then became a corpse, while the Creep started off as a corpse and became a human. And even more ironic is the fact that for the upcoming TV series, the Creep has been reverted back to being a corpse-like creature.

*** Also a Meta SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: all of the cockroaches used were real. It cost a lot of money, so much so that the story almost wasn't used, but in the end it was worth every penny.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/StephenKing as a goofy farmer. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools And it works]].
** King supposedly played the role because nobody could both nail the requisite amount of goofiness and actually also play a convincing enough hick.
** Anyone who remembers Creator/LeslieNielsen from his comedy work would be surprised at how chilling [[PlayingAgainstType his character]] in ''Something To Tide You Over'' is.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The show being very campy from time to time and having a MonsterOfTheWeek premise makes it a lot like the 80s series Series/Monsters.

* Rose in "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain", who lives with a monstrous stepfather and whose late father was mocked relentlessly and thought to be a lunatic. Nearly every one of her lines sounds like she's on the verge of tears.

** "[[Recap/CreepshowS1E9TheManInTheSuitcase Man In The Suitcase]]": The titular man in the suitcase appears to be a helpless businessman painfully folded into a suitcase who somehow produces gold whenever he is harmed. In truth, the man is a powerful djinn, far more cunning and in control than he lets on. Seeking out corrupt souls, the djinn feigns at helplessness to see who will try to harm a helpless man for money, even while being unable to repress a dry sense of sarcastic humor. After the segment's hero Justin is upset at the prospect of harming him for wealth, Justin's girlfriend Carla and best friend Alex betray and nearly kill him, whereupon the djinn gleefully takes the chance to present to them their own suitcases, saving Justin and taking the two off for a most unpleasant fate.

* Rose in "By The Silver Waters of Lake Champlain", who lives with a monstrous stepfather and whose late father was mocked relentlessly and thought to be a lunatic. Nearly every one of her lines sounds like she's on the verge of tears.

*** Even funnier is when you realize that not only did the Cryptkeeper get changed to being a corpse similar to the Creep in the film, but the fact that the Creep himself gets changed from being a corpse-like creature to a human being that has a dungeon-like home (seen in one of the animated sequences in the film) in the film's sequel. So, the Cryptkeeper started human (as seen in the original film adaptation) and then became a corpse, while the Creep started off as a corpse and became a human. And even more ironic is the fact that for the upcoming TV series, the Creep has been reverted back to being a corpse-like creature.

* MagnificentBastard: "[[Recap/CreepshowS1E9TheManInTheSuitcase Man In The Suitcase]]": The titular man in the suitcase appears to be a helpless businessman painfully folded into a suitcase who somehow produces gold whenever he is harmed. In truth, the man is a powerful djinn, far more cunning and in control than he lets on. Seeking out corrupt souls, the djinn feigns at helplessness to see who will try to harm a helpless man for money, even while being unable to repress a dry sense of sarcastic humor. After the segment's hero Justin is upset at the prospect of harming him for wealth, Justin's girlfriend Carla and best friend Alex betray and nearly kill him, whereupon the djinn gleefully takes the chance to present to them their own suitcases, saving Justin and taking the two off for a most unpleasant fate.

* SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfAwesome: One of these moments occurs at the end of "Skincrawlers", after the solar eclipse [[spoiler: makes all the weight-loss leeches explode and kill everyone who had the procedure]]. After dropping a vending machine on one of the leeches, Henry, [[spoiler: covered in blood]], picks up a candy bar off the ground, takes in all the carnage surrounding him, and happily takes a bite. Considering that Henry is no more than {{Hollywood Pudgy}}, and how he mentions his lifelong struggles with body image and self-confidence, the moment is oddly triumphant, despite the gore.

** "[[Recap/CreepshowS1E12TimesIsToughInMuskyHoller Times is Tough in Musky Holler]]": [[CorruptPolitician Lester M. Barclay]] is the former [[MayorPain mayor]] of the eponymous Musky Holler city. After a ZombieApocalypse plagued the world, Lester came into Musky Holler offering his aide to the townsfolk. As soon as he was elected mayor, he used his power in office to overthrow and kill his predecessor, along with anyone else who challenged him. During his time as mayor, Lester had his followers spread propaganda about his laws, sanctioned his police force to rape and murder as they pleased, and imprisoned anyone who spoke out against him. Lester also created a sadistic, publicized game called "Live Pie", where a group of civilians would slowly be swarmed by zombies headfirst with no way of defending themselves.

* CompleteMonster: [[CorruptPolitician Lester M. Barclay]], from "[[Recap/CreepshowS1E12TimesIsToughInMuskyHoller Times is Tough in Musky Holler]]", is the former [[MayorPain mayor]] of the eponymous Musky Holler city. After a ZombieApocalypse plagued the world, Lester came into Musky Holler offering his aide to the townsfolk. As soon as he was elected mayor, he used his power in office to overthrow and kill his predecessor, along with anyone else who challenged him. During his time as mayor, Lester had his followers spread propaganda about his laws, sanctioned his police force to rape and murder as they pleased, and imprisoned anyone who spoke out against him. Lester also created a sadistic, publicized game called "Live Pie", where a group of civilians would slowly be swarmed by zombies headfirst with no way of defending themselves.

* MoralEventHorizon: Cliven Ridgeway in "A Dead Girl Named Sue" is a vile, gleefully unrepentant psychopath to begin with, but he travels well beyond the MEH when it is revealed that he kidnapped, brutally raped ([[spoiler:when he sics Sue Donovan's zombie on him, she is forced to crawl in an unnatural and jerky manner with her legs askew, indicating that he broke or dislocated them at best and paralyzed her below the waist at worst]]), and murdered a young girl. Chief Foster [[HeroicBSOD is so horrified]] when he finds [[spoiler:one of her blue scrunchies in Ridgeway's hideout]] that he goes back on his code of ethics and decides to turn Ridgeway over to the lynchmob that he had previously rebuked, and sets [[spoiler:a reanimated and zombified Sue]] on him and lets her devour him alive in front of the lynchmob.

* EmsembleDarkhorse: Jordy Verrill from the second story seems to have become one, possibly due to being the only sympathetic fatality in a film full of AssholeVictims.

** Richie Grenadine from “Gray Matter,” a man who was raised in the MenDontCry school of thought. This leads to him becoming TheAlcoholic out of guilt for unintentionally causing the death of his wife when she ran out of the house during a vicious fight and into a storm. His bottling of his emotions leads to [[spoiler: his becoming a blob monster thanks to a bad can of beer, and, as the story ends, is implied to soon cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]]