‘Creepshow’ Episode 5 Recap: “Night of the Paw”/”Times is Tough in Musky Holler”

Creepshow episode 5
Shudder

We are nearly at the end of Shudder’s Creepshow series, with the first season set to wrap up with the next episode. This week’s installment sees a pair of stories helmed by series veteran John Harrison. Harrison began his career working closely with the legendary George A. Romero, appearing in Dawn of the Dead and Knightriders and composing the scores for the original Creepshow and Day of the Dead. He went on to direct episodes of Tales from the Darkside and Tales from the Crypt as well as Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, the unofficial Creepshow 3. Given his history, it should come as no surprise that Harrison has helmed four segments in the series current run, which include ”House of the Head” and “All Hallow’s Eve,” as well as writing episode 4’s “Lydia Layne’s Better Half.” For episode 5, the entire show was Harrison’s showcase.  

Our first segment in episode 5 featured a new spin on an old tale, “Night of the Paw.” Based on the classic story “The Monkey’s Paw,” the tale, written by John Esposito, begins with a woman, Angela (Hannah Barefoot), on the run from authorities before rolling her car in a bad accident. She is brought to the home of a local mortician, Avery Whitlock (Bruce Davison), aka “Whitey,” who helps her out by bandaging her wounds and amputating two badly mangled fingers. Instead of being grateful for his kindness, however, Angela is quite confrontational and distrustful of Whitey. He explains to Angela that fate has brought her to him and that he has something to give her: the monkey’s paw. The paw has the ability to grant three wishes, but they often come at a steep price. “Fate rules people’s live,” Whitey remarks. “Those who interfere do so at their own peril.”

He goes on to relay the story that his wife of 47 years, Marjorie (Susannah Devereux), recently passed away. She had used the paw to wish for enough money (and then some) to save their struggling mortuary business. Her wish came true, but not in the way she had anticipated: Marjorie fell off a step-ladder while decorating their Christmas tree and died. As a result, the money came from an insurance policy payout. Distraught over her death, Whitey used the paw to wish for Marjorie to come back to life. Initially believing that the wish didn’t work, Whitey eventually realized that if Marjorie was indeed alive, she would still be trapped in her coffin, buried six feet deep. After digging her up, he finds Marjorie “alive,” but more in a “living dead” manner. He battles Marjorie and eventually has to use his second wish to reverse the first.

Devastated by what he has done, Whitey no longer wants to live, but he does not want to commit suicide either. As a compromise, he used his final wish to ask for someone to murder him. This is where Angela comes in. It turns out that she was on the run after performing a mercy kill on her terminally ill husband. Not wanting to do any more killing, she refuses his request and tosses the paw in his fireplace. Whitey retrieves the paw, but he catches fire in the process. Angela is then forced to shoot him, rather than letting him burn to death. She takes the paw and flees the funeral home, taking Whitey’s hearse, but she has to use two wishes just to get the car running. Angela then returns to the morgue, where she uses the third and final wish to bring her husband back to life. Apparently Angela has learned nothing from Whitey’s story, as the wish does in fact work, but her wording also caused all the other corpses in the morgue to re-animate as well. The story ends with her resurrected husband attacking her as the other corpses close in on her.

The second story, “Times is Tough in Musky Holler,” opens as we find a group of people locked up in an underground holding cell. We soon learn that the group, which is comprised of the town’s mayor and his loyal supporters, is being held accountable for crimes against the townspeople. The town of Musky Holler had become overrun by zombies and the current mayor, Lester M. Barkley (Dana Rhodes), performed a coup on the former mayor, killing him and assuming the leadership role. Looking to maintain his control of the town, Barkley assembled a group of cronies, which included new sheriff Deke (David Arquette), who assumed his role in a similar manner to Barkley’s, and several others, and executed anyone who challenged his authority. He also refused aid from the National Guard, preferring to handle the zombie issue on his own in the ultimate power play. Barkley and his minions are now about to answer for their crimes, not the least of which was a sadistic “game” in which any opposers to his power were held captive under the high school football field and then forced head first through holes in the field, where the zombies would attack and devour them. The tables, it seems, have turned, as Barkley and the group are placed into those same holes. The segment ends with the zombified versions of all those Barkley and his crew have wronged exacting their revenge.

“Night of the Paw” is a classic fantasy tale and is highly entertaining, if not a bit predictable. The cemetery sequence, in particular, features some magnificent set design as well as some great makeup effects with the zombie Marjorie. The performances, Davison’s in particular, elevate what would otherwise be a too-familiar story.

“Times is Tough in Musky Holler” is perhaps the weakest of the series, as well as the shortest. Much of the story is told via narration and animated/comic book style, partly to the detriment of the overall story. This segment could have definitely benefited from seeing those scenes play out via live action. As a result, the story felt rushed and not fully developed. Arquette, in particular, is not given much to do, which is a shame since it felt he had a really fun performance in him. The story is rather muddled and falls short of the standard set by the rest of the series’ segments.

Sadly, we are down to one last episode of Shudder’s Creepshow. The season finale will feature fan favorite and series regular Tom Savini directing the segment “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain,” based on the story by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son and the young boy Billy in the wraparound segments of 1982’s Creepshow. That episode drops on Shudder, appropriately enough, on Halloween.


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