‘Creepshow’ Recap: ‘The Last Tsuburaya’ / ‘Ok I’ll Bite’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘The Last Tsuburaya’

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 303 of ‘Creepshow’.
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If there is one particular question that has haunted modern mankind, it would have to be… why are we cruel to one another? After all, the people we see today, are an evolved species. One that no longer has to forage and hunt and indulge in dark acts out of survival. But despite not living in fear from being eaten by a wooly mammoth or killing for a better cave, since our world provides us with comfort and great peace, we still ponder upon how we can hurt one another emotionally and physically and do when the opportunity arises, lending doubt to our evolved sensibilities and confusing us as well. Because it simply shouldn’t happen and our desire to know why, has brought forth endless study, to the point where even fiction gets in on the game and thankfully, the horror genre is a perfect place to explore the origin of our cruelty.

Since this dark universe can ponder upon such matters without moral restrictions or implications, evil can just be put on display in a logical and frightening fashion and those origins of our cruelty are top of mind today, largely because the next episode of the Shudder series, Creepshow, takes the time to explore them in a manner that outright gives us pause since its observations… are quite honest and raw in nature. Take for instance ‘The Last Tsuburaya’, a story that introduces us to a wealthy and arrogant art collector named Wade Cruise and when we catch up with dear Wade here… he’s quite eager to buy a rare piece of art from the last heir of a legendary artist known as Tsuburaya. But not because he believes this art should preserved by his hands, far from it. No instead, he believes this is a grand opportunity to destroy it and shock the art world in doing so.

Which is of course, an act that brings forth vengeance from the remnant of the painting to the point where Wade is pursued and eventually killed by the creature featured in the artwork he destroyed since it carried with it, a curse he did not understand. But what matters more about this vignette… is that it really does help us to understand that sometimes, people impart cruelty upon one another, because it gives the wrong person a sense of absolute power. The kind where they can genuinely manipulate the moment and emotions and being in charge of that, is apparently quite the rush since it motivated Wade to take part in such cruelty on a regular basis, leaving one to wonder exactly how we stop that in the world. Since it isn’t motivated by any external factors, just opportunity… and choice. 

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‘Ok I’ll Bite’

However, what made this episode even more fascinating, is that offered up a more amicable and less infuriating examination as to why we impart cruelty upon one another in its second vignette. For ‘Ok I’ll Bite’ introduces us to a character that is vastly different than Wade, for Elmer is a gentle convict. One that breaks every prison stereotype out there since he keeps to himself and his spiders in his cell and is trying to be the model prisoner so he can be released from jail for taking part in a crime that he felt, was born out of kindness. For Elmer euthanized his mother in a state where that is frowned upon and to make matters worse, it doesn’t appear he will be getting out of jail anytime soon. For his medical prowess is loved by a corrupt guard since it can make this slimy dude some money and he is ensuring that Elmer won’t see the light of day.
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A fate he seemingly resigns himself to, until greed from some of the guard’s lackeys, motivates him to invoke the true power of spiders, the kind that the Egyptians once cherished in an ending that is not safe in the slightest for arachnophobes for obvious reasons. But all of that aside, in this instance the lesson is clear. In that, sometimes when people are subjected to the cruelty we question and are put in a corner, they will in turn partake in that same cruelty. Creating a devastating moment that only one will emerge from and really, that lesson and the one that came before it made for one fascinating episode. One that more or less makes it clear that there are no easy answers as to why we are cruel to one another since it is often up to the situation and what choices an individual makes in the moment.

Which means that in order to quash it, incredible changes will have to come to our world and our society, and it will likely be long after we are gone, that such changes take place. A harsh reality… that makes this episode bleak as well since there isn’t any hope to the lesson, but that’s okay. Because that’s what great horror does. It presents a reality in a raw an impactful manner that leaves the audience in silent thought, so they can ponder upon solutions. But while we wait for answers, all we can do is offer up a round of applause for one brilliant episode. One that genuinely did a phenomenal job of providing us with some fascinating commentary on our world while scaring us by playing to some primal fears, and it also deserves credit for once again focusing upon the greatest monster the world has ever known… humanity. Until next time, kiddies.

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