Creepshow (2019) Episode 2 (Patreon)

Spoilers, but you already knew that.

Bad Wolf Down

What can I say besides Anti-fascist Werewolves. 

The plot is simple, but with that simplicity there is total beauty. A group of allied soldiers become trapped behind enemy lines when a traitor locks them in a cell of an abandoned rural jail. Our heroes are locked in the cell with a French woman who just so happens to be a werewolf. In exchange for a silver cross which she will use to end her cursed existence, she agrees to bite the soldiers and give them a fighting chance.

Usually, when Nazis and werewolves are in the same film it’s, well, Nazi werewolves. The origin of this connection is in the late propaganda efforts of Hitler’s Germany. As the Nazis were being routed on every front, they set up a last ditch effort to create that rumor that elite guerrilla soldiers were staying behind to disrupt the Allied forces. In reality, while there were a few attacks, the Nazi Werewolves were more bark than bite. 

“Bad Wolf Down” plays with this trope by hiding the reveal of who gets to be the werewolf until about halfway through. It honestly toyed with my emotions. I was so braced to be sick of another film that awkwardly plays into the Third Reich’s propaganda efforts, but that twist on the trope was amazing. 

2019 is, sadly, another year where literal Nazis are back. “Bad Wolf Down” gives us a vision of hope. Anti-fascist werewolves. This is a positive, joyous reclaimed imaginative space hiding in an episode of Creepshow. A reclaimed monstrosity that turns against the true monsters of the narrative. To quote Ghost Mice “we’re going to have to grow some claws and grow some teeth.” 

The Finger

Jesus Christ do I ever relate. The guy from The New Kid grew up to “telecommutes” to being underemployed and has a penchant for screaming “Why don’t you just fucking die! Die, die, die you fucking vampires!” at debt collectors. What a trip.

Soaked in deliciously gooey Robitussin blood, “The Finger” is a fast moving, fourth wall breaking, meta-commentary on friendship. DJ Qualls plays Clark, a lonely and slightly unstable guy down on his luck. He has a weird habit of collecting all the little bits that people discard. A used lock here, a severed monster finger there. The titular finger quickly grows into Bob, a little monster slightly reminiscent of a Face Hugger combined with a Xenomorph. 

The puppeteering with Bob is fantastic. Bob’s interactions with DJ Qualls are so authentic. Both Qualls’ acting and the craft behind Bob mesh together so authentically that the “friendship” is easy to read. Clark and Bob’s friendship naturally forms over both of their increasing status as outside respectable culture. “The Finger” is the Creepshow equivalent of a feel good dog movie. Like My Dog Skip but with a xenomorph or a more upbeat Uberto D. but with a mini Pumpkinhead. 

A good dog will never leave your side and reciprocate an unconditional friendship. When there’s no one left to love us, the monstrous will.