‘Creepshow’ Recap: ‘The Right Snuff’ / ‘Sibling Rivalry’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

‘The Right Snuff’

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘Creepshow’.
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For the most part, fusing genres is something that a majority of creative minds work to stay away from. In part because cross-genre storytelling can confuse an audience, but also because it is something that is frowned upon in general. After all, each genre out there, has so much to offer a reader or a viewer, that tossing a little science fiction into a family drama just seems like a silly idea. But while most creative minds ‘stay in their line’ in regard to genre-fusing, it does still happen, and it has even given life to some supremely popular stories and one such genre that indulges in genre fusion more often than any other... is horror. Simply because, scare makers know, that horror can work within the framework of any genre and for proof… then look no further than this week’s episode of Creepshow.
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Because this week’s dual tales of terror, injected terror into a pair of genres that normally don’t focus on fear, such as science fiction for instance, and putting a few scares into space, allowed for quite the poignant and brilliant tale to come to life. One that quite frankly, lulled the audience into a false sense of security. For ‘The Right Snuff’ really does feel like standard science fiction fare early on, since much of the plot here revolves around a gravity themed experiment aboard the science ship, Ocula, and getting to know the two-man crew aboard this vessel, Captain Alex Toomey and Major Ted Lockwood, And that simple setup, and a brief encounter with what turns out to be an alien vessel, leads one to believe that we’re about to dive into an homage from Alien, giving the viewer a satisfying, if not safe, sci-fi/horror hybrid.

But the realization on Toomey’s part that he will be a mere passenger for a forthcoming first contact event, brings the horror in question. For Toomey, becomes wildly jealous of Houston’s decision to have Lockwood be the one to speak with these aliens, since it will cement Ted’s name in the history books over his own. Which in turn motivates Toomey to commit murder in order to hog the glory for himself, a move that of course dooms mankind when it is revealed that Lockwood is an alien in disguise and what makes this so brilliant, is that it not only shatters the evil alien trope by making mankind the villain, but it puts the horror of humanity on display and serves to remind us that we are our own worst enemy and that our jealousy and pettiness will be our undoing. But what matters most, is that this lovely twist hammers home just how well horror works with any genre out there, since the evil that men do and the social commentary present here, blends seamlessly into this space bound tale.

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‘Sibling Rivalry’

As for the second vignette in this week’s episode, well it too manages to fool the audience in regard to what it is going to stand for. Since ‘Sibling Rivalry’ initially resembles a teen comedy drama, thanks to the introduction of the plucky and scattered Lola and a guest appearance from 80s teen movie legend, Molly Ringwald. Who plays a counselor named Miss Porter, that is dealing with quite the incredible claim when we catch up with her, here. For Lola firmly believes that a fundamental and concerning change has befallen her brother, Andrew. Since he is consistently frosty with her all of a sudden and she's seen him researching the wonder of brutal weapons. Which leads Lola to believe that her dear brother is preparing to murder her when she least expects it, a claim that Porter believes is woefully incorrect since Lola comes from a sound family environment and well, the resolution of that moment, allows for this story to take quite the surprising turn.

For it is revealed that Andrew is indeed entertaining the possibility of ending his sister’s life. But not because he’s lost his mind or has some kind of bloodlust, but because Lola is in fact… a vampiric monster. One that actually ate their parents without giving it a second thought and Andrew is eager to end her blood reign once and for all. But some pleading from Lola and some fair points, allows for her to turn Andrew to her side in every way possible. Allowing for this now shattered family line to continue and for revenge to be exacted on the vampire that turned Lola and well, that transforms this teenage dramedy into a supremely satisfying teenage horror dramedy when all is said and done. One that integrates the horror themes flawlessly into its story, once again reinforcing the fact that horror fits into every concept out there, and all it takes to make that work, is a little bit of storytelling care.

Because in reality, it takes quality writing to make this work right and that’s precisely what we get here. For both of these scripts use surprise and humor and commentary and deflection to sneak the horror into classic genres in a seamless manner and that just speaks to the talent that Greg Nicotero has assembled for this series and the writers of these two tales; Paul Dini, Stephen Langford, Greg and Melanie Dale deserve a round of applause for proving once again to the world, that horror is the most versatile genre out there. Since it can find its way into any story at any time and well, now that this adventure through terror has come to a close, we’re back to counting down the minutes until next week’s ghoulish delight, so we can once again see what kind brilliance the finest horror series on television, is going to bring to the autopsy table. Until next time, kiddies.

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