The year of Creepshow continues! After a five-episode second season this past spring, Shudder’s Creepshow returns with its third season – six episodes stretching from now until the end of October. That’s a total of twelve new short horror stories to scratch every horror fan’s itch this Halloween season. And this week’s season premiere debuted the first two of them. In one, a young boy puts himself back together after the disappearance of his mother. In the other, a group of teenagers finds more than they bargained for after following their favorite pop star to a local hospital. The two stories vary in quality, offering a somewhat uneven start to this new season. But the performances, atmosphere, and visual effects make the episode largely successful anyway.
Note: Slight spoilers for Episode 3×01 of Creepshow follow.
“Mums”
Jack’s life is upended when his mother is taken from him, but her garden leaves him more to remember her by than he first thought.
Based on a short story by Joe Hill, “Mums” (written by Greg Nicotero & David J. Schow, directed by Rusty Cundieff) is a bit of a mixed bag. At its simplest, it could probably be best described as “an abusive parent gets what’s coming to them.” And, somehow, the resulting story is even less subtle. In fairness, subtlety has never been Creepshow‘s cup of tea. And this episode certainly doesn’t do anything to change that. Both Jack (Brayden Benson) and his father, Hank (Ethan Embry), come across as stock characters. Hank is the stereotypical abusive parent – with a severely underexplored white supremacist/secessionist subplot to boot. And Jack just doesn’t get the kind of development needed to fully sell his arc. But both actors do their best with what they’re given, despite the lack of subtlety or dimension.
And the same is true for the plot. Most of the reveals are painfully obvious. But when viewed as a whole, the story mostly works. The pacing is slow, but deliberately so. Everything neatly builds up to the big climax and eventual “creature” reveal (there is a reason why “creature” is in quotes). And that reveal works pretty well, even if the writing surrounding it isn’t stellar. Visually, things remain fairly reserved until this moment, which does help sell the shock and horror of it all. The atmosphere of the whole episode is thick and tense, and the creature design is quite impressive. So, even though the story itself isn’t great, there’s still a lot about “Mums” to enjoy. It’s not a perfect story by any means, but it’s respectable. And there are a few excellent moments, too.
“Queen Bee”
Trenice and her friends are obsessed with pop star Regina. When they hear she has been admitted to a local hospital, they take the chance to try to meet Regina in person… but she’s even more larger-than-life than they imagined.
If “Mums” was a more restrained segment, then “Queen Bee” leans hard in the opposite direction. Written by Erik Sandoval & Michael Rousselet and directed by Greg Nicotero, “Queen Bee” is an absolutely nuts critique on celebrity fan culture done in a way only Creepshow could do. Sure, the main characters aren’t necessarily the most inherently likable crew. Debra (Hannah Kepple) and Trenice (Olivia Hawthorne) spend too much of the setup arguing over who’s the bigger Regina fan. And Carlos (Nico Gomez) just wants to grab a picture of Regina’s baby. But they do feel and sound authentic, and each actor delivers a good performance. Plus, it’s always fun watching flawed characters thrust into a bonkers story that preys on their biggest flaws. And that’s exactly what happens once the group arrives at the hospital.
What starts as an ill-conceived bit of excessive fandom quickly becomes a dangerous fight for their lives. It’s such a quintessential bit of “be careful what you wish for,” and the way it’s executed is endlessly fun. I also love how heavily the second half of the story leans into directly addressing each of the characters’ biggest flaws. Each of these flaws causes some aspect of the story to happen, and it gives the whole narrative some excellent payoff. Given how short the runtime is, I’m not sure the story quite sticks the landing on its critique on celebrity fan culture. But it’s so much fun that I don’t really care. The atmosphere is perfectly creepy, the visual effects are eye-popping, and the creature design is so cool that I don’t want to spoil any part of it here.
Final Thoughts
Each Creepshow story always varies in quality. That’s both the joy and the curse of a show like this. You’re never far away from a good story, but you’re also never far away from a less good one. And the season 3 premiere perfectly encapsulates this dynamic. “Mums” is a bit of a disappointing opener. The performances are solid, and the creature effects are pretty cool. But the overall story feels too underexplored and surface level to properly hit the nail on the head. On the flipside, “Queen Bee” is an enormously fun romp that just keeps going and going until it hits an ending that’s both unpredictable and delightful. Its central idea is better explored, though still suffers from the short run time.
The first episode of Creepshow‘s third season is a perfect example of the show as a whole. There are good parts and less good parts, but the gamble is part of the fun. And there’s a good chance of liking at least one of the stories in each episode. Anthology shows like Creepshow are in short supply, and I’m already loving what season three has to offer. If you’re looking for a good, quick horror fix, definitely give this first episode of Creepshow season 3 a shot.
Rating: 3.5/5
New episodes of Creepshow premiere Thursdays on Shudder.
Part-time writer, part-time theatre nerd, full-time dork.
