Connect with us

News

Greg Nicotero Takes Us Behind the Curtain of ‘Creepshow’ on Shudder

Published

on

Greg Nicotero Creepshow

Showrunner Greg Nicotero could not be more pleased with the reception of the hit series Creepshow since its debut on Shudder last year. Fans and critics alike loved the show, and in a surprise move, Shudder’s parent company AMC decided to broadcast the series on its regular network, as well.

Now, with the DVD/Blu Ray looming, Nicotero sees an even wider audience ready to watch a show that’s been a real labor of love since its inception.

In anticipation of that release this week, the multi-hyphenate creator sat down with iHorror to discuss how the show came to be, and what he sees as the future of Creepshow.

It all began on a publicity tour for The Walking Dead in Australia, or rather on the flight home. Nicotero had packed plenty of reading material to keep himself occupied white traveling and one of the stories he was reading sparked his imagination.

Upon returning home, Nicotero reached out to the author and was surprised when he got a call back from their agent who explained that they were trying to secure the rights for Creepshow and were looking for a creative partner for the endeavor.

“I was like,’Wait, my Creepshow?'” Nicotero said. “Creepshow, in my head, is always mine. I was very close with George [Romero] and I had visited the set for the film when I was a kid.”

So, instead of finalizing the rights to one short story, Nicotero joined forces on the project. The idea excited the showrunner for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the chance to finally work with some of the brilliant authors whose work he’d admired for years.

He admits, however, that some stories were more elusive than others when he began looking for them.

“Times is Tough in Musky Holler,” which would appear in episode five for example, was a story he had read years before, but he could not remember the title or author. He ended up finally emailing friends asking if they remembered a story about a zombie pie-eating contest, which led him ultimately to John Skipp and Dori Miller’s rather outrageous tale.

A scene from “Times is Tough in Musky Holler” based on a story by John Skipp and Dori Miller

“I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of great writers over the years,” Nicotero explained. “David J. Schow, Josh Malerman, Joe Hill, John Esposito, and Joe Lansdale. Creepshow gave me the opportunity to call them up and say, ‘Hey guys, you know how we always talked about how we wanted to do something together? Well, I think I found something.’ Then the floodgates opened.”

Nicotero soon had stories from all those authors and more to comb through, including “Gray Matter,” a story by Stephen King, who wrote the screenplay for the original 80s film, which in a way completed the circle for Nicotero.

He managed to create a series that honored the original film in its visuals and themes, but at the same time could appeal to audiences who perhaps had never seen Creepshow before its new incarnation. It also allowed him to pay tribute to Romero’s original vision.

Creepshow, the movie, was George’s love letter to comics,” he said. “My Creepshow was a love letter to his film and to the horror genre in general.”

Nicotero wanted to pay tribute to George Romero, shown here on set of the original Creepshow Film with Stephen King

Nicotero’s tribute was ultimately successful, but even with the show’s success, he was a bit shocked when AMC decided to bring the show from Shudder to its regular network programming schedule calling it a “huge compliment” to what they had created.

And, with that success, he’s looking forward to working on season two, which he says was one day away from principal photography when everything began to shutdown due to Covid-19.

“We had locations, sets, and literally I was supposed to start shooting on March 16th,” he explained. “Then on March 13th they pushed the big pause button and I flew back to Los Angeles on the 15th. So, we’re ready to go. I think the stories are bigger and more ambitious and more outrageous and fun. I’m taking what I learned from season one and I’m really pushing it. I love the scripts from season two.”

We’re certainly ready to see what Greg Nicotero and the creative team at Creepshow have in store for us.

Season one is streaming on Shudder in its entirety, and for those of us who love physical media, Creepshow will be available on DVD and Blu Ray on June 2, 2020!

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

on

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

News

Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

Published

on

Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading