There are times when I don't think about Creepshow. Then I think about Creepshow, and I think, "Creepshow. Creepshow is so fucking good!" I think that because it is true. Creepshow is so fucking good. I know I've mentioned this before, but perhaps I've never talked about one particular scene I love- the scene in "Father's Day" where Nathan Grantham busts out of the ground and puts the kill on his daughter Bedelia.Or maybe I have spoken of it, in which case I will reiterate: that scene is boss!
It's just perfect. Director George Romero lulls you with a lengthy quiet passage as Bedelia vents her frustrations to her father's tombstone. It's calm, serene, and Bedelia is a bit buzzed on Jim Beam. Then a hand bursts through the dirt right in front of her- it's a terrific terrific unbelievably wonderful jump scare- and then a rotten corpse claws its way out of the Earth. How terrifying is that?
It's very terrifying, that's how terrifying! It's one of my favorite aspects of zombie films, and one that's used way too infrequently- seeing the dead return to life and rise from their graves. In most instances the zombies are just there, no matter how recently they've turned. They're shambling (or...sigh...running) around, or maybe someone dies and subsequently gets their undead on. But breaking through their coffins and coming out of the ground? It's rare- even Romero, who's perhaps the Zombie King, hasn't featured it since Creepshow. So, I turn to "Father's Day" and Zombi and Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror and hell, even Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to get my fix.
Yeah, I know that "Father's Day", like all the other stories in Creepshow, is at least partially meant for laughs- I mean, the first thing Zombie Nathan does upon his return is ask for his damn cake...and yeah, he chokes Bedelia to death rather than eating her. But man, I saw this as a kid and let me tell you- dead people unexpectedly rising from the ground, dripping worms and making with the murder? That shit ain't funny. It is, however, most awesome.
