George Romero, collaborating with writer Stephen King, again proves his adeptness at combining thrills with tongue-in-cheek humor. He links five tales with animated bridges in the style of the comics.
The gimmick is used with reserve and the segments work fine on their own merits. The first Father’s Day, is a shaggy dog tale of a despised patriarch who returns from the grave to collect his holiday cake.
In The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, author King takes on the title role. He’s a dull hillbilly who sees dollar signs when a meteor falls on his property. However, his fate is to turn into a plant.
In Something to Tide You Over, Leslie Nielsen plans a slow watery death for his wife and her lover. This is followed by The Crate, about a malevolent creature in a box from an Arctic expedition and the program finishes off with They’re Creeping Up on You, in which millionaire E.G. Marshall is literally bugged to death by his phobia of insects.
