Creepshow III: Tales of Murder, Mayhem and Madness

Creepshow 3 (DVD) Creepshow III consist of five vignettes of horror and humor. In "Alice", a teenage girl finds her family has changed... or maybe it's her? In "The Radio" security guard Jerry has no ambition. That is, until he buys a radio which starts dictating what he should and shouldn't do, from eating, to stealing, to murder. "Call Girl" tells the story of a young guy who hires a call girl, Rachael, who turns out to be a man-hating serial killer. It soon becomes apparent that he also keeps a deadly secret. In "The Professor's Wife", prankster Professor Dayton is finally getting married. But when two of his students meet his beautiful fiance, they become suspicious that she's another one of his inventions. Dr. Farwell is abad doctor with a bad attitude. He causes the death of a transient by giving him a tainted hot dog to eat, and the dead guy starts following the Doc everywhere. ]]> .com ---- Creepshow 3 revives the venerable horror anthology feature with a quintet of grisly stories ed at the splatter audience and those who recall the original film (which was helmed by George Romero and written by Stephen King) and its sequel with fondness. Unfortunately, neither Romero nor King are involved with this film, which was written and directed by low-budget filmmakers Anna Clavell and James Glenn Dudelson, whose previous efforts include an in-name-only sequel of Romero's Day of the Dead. Clavell and Dudelson have also jettisoned any connection to '50s horror comics like Tales from the Crypt (which lent the original Creepshow much of its ghoulish style and verve), though there are a few odd moments of CGI animation that serve as framing devices. The stories are suitably bloody--a serial-killer prostitute meets a client with a horrible secret in "Call Girl"; a pair of students takes a hands-on approach to discovering whether their former professor's new bride is human or mechanical in "The Professor's Wife"; and a new TV remote wreaks havoc on the mind and body of a bratty schoolgirl in "Alice"--but lack any sense of suspense or, in several cases, coherence (the black humor of the '50s comics is sorely missed too). And with no real name actors on hand (save Eileen Dietz, the face of Pazuzu from The Exorcist), flat, unimpressive direction, and hit-and-miss special effects, it's difficult to imagine horror fans flocking to Creepshow 3 like they did to its predecessors. -- Paul Gaita

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