‘Creepshow’ Recap: ‘Model Kid’ / ‘Public Television of the Dead’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘Model Kid’

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season two premiere of ‘Creepshow’.
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Nostalgia is a word that seems to carry with it, a negative connotation as of late. Simply because it is everywhere in popular culture right now, to the point where its saturation of the market has a great deal of fandoms longing for something different to come about. But while some lament it and some hope for its disappearance, it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. For people love to be reminded of the good old days, when life was simpler in its own right and really, when nostalgia is done correctly, it can be quite the powerful storytelling tool. In fact, to truly make a story about yesteryear, impactful and moving… all the creative mind behind it has to do, is properly strike the right emotional chords. The ones that take us back to a particular moment in time that brought us great joy and believe it or not, this is something that the season two premiere of Creepshow manages to pull off with ease.
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For its two vignettes are all about yesterday and they just so happen to strike those aforementioned chords in a powerful manner, allowing for quite the magnificent premiere to come to life, one that actually reminds horror fans everywhere of why they fell in love with the genre. Take the opening story in this premiere for instance, since ‘Model Kid’ more or less recreates the formative moments when horror fans discovered the wonder of scary stories. For young Joe Aurora goes through the motions that all of us went through when we first discovered the genre. Since he obsessively pours over his favorite scary films over and over again and collects every bit of merchandise from them, and that really does make this story quite special and quite intimate, since it immediately evokes all kinds of warm memories from our past, and the wonder of this particular tale doesn’t end there.

Because Greg Nicotero, who directed both segments in this premiere, uses that intimacy to do the impossible and make this particular vignette, a moving dramatic piece. One that reminds us of how horror can in fact heal us when the going gets tough, since it helps us to process our darkest hours. A feat the story accomplishes by having Joe use horror to deal with the fact that his mother loses her battle with cancer and that really does make this a unique horror segment for certain. One that goes to emotional places that the genre tends to overlook for the most part. But it is important to note, that while this opening story makes it seem as though the show is making a massive paradigm shift in how it tells its stories, it is still the same old Creepshow through and through. Since eventually Joe discovers how to harness a little dark magic in order to make his annoying uncle Kevin pay for constantly tormenting him, allowing for this story to end in a delightfully twisted and gory manner, while still paying tribute to the monsters of days gone by. 

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‘Public Television of the Dead’

But while that alone could have carried this entire episode for the entire hour, it just so happens that the nostalgia theme doesn’t end with young Joe’s moving and powerful journey. For ‘Public Television of the Dead’ is a story that also manages to elicit joyous, horror themed memories, in two key ways. First and foremost, by giving us that early 1980s feel that we often associate with horror stories, since a great deal of us have favorite movies from that particular era. Which is something that also appears in ‘Model Kid’. But that aside, what truly catches the viewer off guard and harkens back to the rich history of the genre, is the sheer fact that this story turns out to be a straight up homage to the Evil Dead franchise. To the point where even Ted Raimi drops by to play… Ted Raimi, and that leads to a lot of fun moments for certain. The kind that features everything we love about that magnificent series of films, with quite the twist. 

Because rather than have Ashley J. Williams come busting in with a chainsaw hand to knock some Deadite heads around, whilst spewing some delicious one-liners, we are instead introduced to different kind of hero; a relaxed and chill painter named Norm Roberts. Who just so happens to host his own Bob Ross-esque type show entitled The Love of Painting and doesn’t look like he could kick some Deadite ass in the slightest. But once the carnage gets underway and the evil begins to take over his television station, Norm uses his Army training to lay waste to every Deadite running around said station and that’s really where the fun begins. Since Norm is able to dispatch these monsters in a creative and fun manner and to top it all off, Mister Nicotero does a phenomenal job of emulating Sam Raimi’s trademark visual style, to complete the homage in question. A move that leaves the viewer hooting and hollering with delight as they watch evil take a trip to the backhand buffet in a slick and dynamic manner.

If anything, this really is quite the incredible homage to the wonderful world that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi, created for us to enjoy, and it serves as a wonderful bookend to Joe’s moving and emotional tale. But what matters most, is that this premiere as a whole, serves to inform us… that season two of Creepshow, is going to be a vastly different experience in all the right ways. For clearly, this season is going to try new things in regard to how scary stories are told, and it is going to be bigger and bolder, and it is going to have a lot more fun with its storytelling and that is going to make the wait for the next ghoulish entry in this saga, a difficult one for certain. For this perfect premiere leaves you starving for more. But the good news, is that while we count down the minutes until our next deadtime story with the Creep, we can revisit this masterpiece again and again and savor its outright celebration, of the horror genre. Until next time, kiddies.

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