October 5: A 2D Horror Film (Up to interpretation!)

The Creeps was shot for 3D and I probably would have loved it more had I seen it popping out all over the screen. That said, it’s a Charles Band movie, so I already have some level of affection for it.

Dr. Winston Berber (Bill Moynihan) has been stealing famous manuscripts and first editions of horror classics, including a copy of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley that gets stolen from the rare book room of a library run by Anna Quarrels (Rhonda Griffin, Hideous!). She hires a detective named David Raleigh (Justin Lauer) to track him down.

Soon enough, Berber has Guy Endore’s The Werewolf of Paris, James Putnam’s Mummy and only needs Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) to have everything he needs to start his Archetype Inducer, which will bring them all to life.

As for David, he’s behind on the case because he also runs a video store. Anna is the one who catches Berber but she gets knocked out and captured. She’s the last thing he needs. A virgin to be sacrificed to bring the monsters to life. Somehow, even though she isn’t killed, they do arise. Except that they’re half the size they should be. Dracula is quite cross, but is told if he gets Anna, he’ll be back to his normal self.

Dracula figures that he can get any virgin and brings back lesbian librarian Miss Christina (Kristin Norton) who is in love with Anna. Only Anna can unlock the creature’s full powers except, well, she’s not a virgin. But David is…

I love the ending of this movie. The monsters decide that in our world, they will eventually die. But in the pages they came from, they can live forever.

In payment, Anna gives David the first English language edition of Venus in Furs, who replies that he likes the Jess Franco movie with Klaus Kinski, as well as the one directed by Larry Buchanan. She shuts him up with a kiss.

Writer Neal Marshall Stevens also was behind Head of the Family, Curse of the Puppet Master, Thir13en Ghosts, Hellraiser: Deader and many more. He also directed Stitches and Possessed.

Come for the mini-monsters, stay for the many posters and VHS box art in the video store.

You can watch this on Tubi.