Creepshow – Season 2 (2021) (Blu-ray)

SYNOPSIS

The Creeper (sorta) returns with 12 new tales of terror in Season Two of Shudder’s Creepshow.

CRITIQUE

Once again from showrunner Greg Nicotero, season two of Shudder’s Creepshow is a general improvement over the already solid first installment in the horror anthology program. Production values appear to be somewhat higher, and the overall Twilight Zone meets The Outer Limits vibe mixed with the requisite monster-of-the-week format adds a layer of consistency between episodes that’s rather nice.

Episodes for season two include:

Episode 1 – Model Kid / Public Television of the Dead
Episode 2 – Dead and Breakfast / Pesticide
Episode 3 – The Right Snuff / Sibling Rivalry
Episode 4 – Pipe Screams / Within the Walls of Madness
Episode 5 – Night of the Living Late Show
Animated Special – Survivor Type / Twittering from the Circus of the Dead
Holiday Special – Shapeshifters Anonymous

There are five episodes this time around, four of them with two stories and each, while the last one features the 41-minute Night of the Living Late Show. Also included are the incredibly entertaining animated special (The Twittering from the Circus of the Dead is particularly fun) and the absolutely superb holiday special Shapeshifters Anonymous, directed by Nicotero and starring a sublime Anna Camp in a story about a werewolf support group that has to ward off Kris Kringle and his horde of lycanthrope assassins.

Notable guest stars this season include Kevin Dillon, C Thomas Howell, Ali Larter, Ashley Laurence, Keith David, Barbara Crampton, Joey King, Molly Ringwald, Justin Long and a pitch-perfect Ted Raimi. As already stated, Night of the Living Late Show is terrific, but Public Television of the Living Dead also rules pretty hard. Got a great kick out of Dead and Breakfast as well.

Not much of The Creeper in this season for some reason, but I liked how this whole season seemed to utilize the old “be careful what you wish for” axiom as its general through line. Heck, all that’s missing for some of these episodes is a Rod Sterling summation putting everything that’s transpired into ghoulishly astute context.

This show just keeps getting better and better. Bring on season three.

THE VIDEO

Creepshow – Season 2 is presented on two 50GB Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video with a 1.78:1 1080p transfers.

THE AUDIO

These Blu-rays feature an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and includes options English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Sadly, this two-disc set does not came with the same sort of plethora of bonus features that were included with season one. The absence of all those lovely audio commentaries is the most glaring omission. Still, there’s some terrific stuff here, almost of it worthy of a look. Extras include:

Wondercon @ Home 2021 Interview with Greg Nicotero (38:00)
How It Was Made: Night of the Living Late Show (7:40)
Behind the Sound with Bare Knuckles Creative (4:08)
Behind the Scenes Raw Footage (4:56)
Creepshow Season 2 Photo Gallery (00:50)
A Creepshow Holiday Special Photo Gallery
A Creepshow Animated Speical Photo Gallery
Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery
Fully Illustrated Comic Art Booklet

FINAL THOUGHTS

More hit than miss, season two of Creepshow is an enjoyably wicked and gorily goofy hoot. Miss the audio commentaries, but appreciate the love and care that’s gone into each episode. Also love the inclusion of the animated and holiday specials. For fans of the series, this set is definitely worth picking up.