by: -RoG-

It still boggles my mind to this day when I learn that someone hasn't seen Creepshow. We're talking about a movie that gave fans not one, but five stories, and it marked the teaming up of two horror titans: George A. Romero and Stephen King. It also has a fantastic cast along with a wonderful hand-drawn comic book theme to frame each story, giving the film a truly unique look that made it all the more visually dazzling when I was a kid.

Now anybody who has seen it will surely have their favorite story of the bunch; mine is "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" which actually stars Stephen King in a seriously goofy role. That said, there's no denying what's probably the most memorable scene from Creepshow for horror fans, and it comes from the very first story in the anthology, "Father's Day".

It all begins with the miserable old patriarch of the family, Nathan Grantham, incessantly shouting and slamming his cane on his chair about how he wants his Father's Day cake. If patience is a virtue, I'm pretty damn sure nobody told Nathan about it. While his extremely stressed out daughter Bedelia slaves away in the kitchen, trying to put the finishing touches on the cake icing, he continues to shout "I want my cake!" over and over again. Bedelia gets so angry that she ends up squeezing a huge glob of icing all over the cake, ruining her nice design.

Well, you can only push a person so far...

Instead of getting the cake he asked for, Nathan gets an ashtray. Bedelia couldn't take his verbal abuse any longer, so she walked right up to him and bashed in his skull with a heavy marble ashtray. That's a quick way to get yourself written right out of his will, missy!

(side note: The ashtray used to kill Nathan makes appearances in other Creepshow stories, so keep an eye out for it)

Anyway, it turns out that killing the insufferable ol' geezer wasn't the end of Bedelia's problems, because murdering her father turned her into quite the alcoholic. Murdering your father leading to mental distress and alcoholism? Who could've possibly seen that coming? Seven years later, Bedelia shows up at the cemetery behind the family house where Nathan was buried. In her inebriated state, she spills some booze onto his grave and...

Yep, you guessed it... he comes crawling out. I'm not sure what alcohol she was drinking, but the proof had to be through the roof if it was strong enough to reanimate Nathan like that. He quickly strangles her to death and then, after another graveyard kill, moves inside to surprise the rest of his descendants who are gathering in the house for an annual dinner.

He finds his granddaughter Sylvia in the kitchen, and immediately twists her head all the way around with virtually no effort. Shortly after, his great-grandchild Cass, and her husband Hank, come looking around to see why everybody is missing. It gets real quiet, and then look who comes bursting through the kitchen door with glee!

Nathan's zombie corpse strolls through the doors to present Cass and Hank with a very special Father's Day cake - the severed head of Sylvia. It's covered in icing and candles. Sounds tasty, but I'll stick with Carvel. While the other two appear to be having a heart attack right where they stand upon seeing the dessert, Nathan proudly states in an incredibly raspy, guttural voice, "It's Father's Day, and I got my cake! Happy Father's Day!" just before the scene is shown immortalized in comic book style art.

It's a horror movie moment I never forgot as a kid, and a lot of it is due to Tom Savini's fantastic work on the zombie sfx. To this day, it's seriously one of the greatest looking zombies I've ever scene on film.... covered in dirt, a partially exposed skull, and even some maggots crawling on his face. Add in some absolutely perfect red and blue lighting, and a pinch of morbid humor, and you not only have yourself a memorable cake, but one hell of a memorable scene.

If for some insane reason you're one of those people who has yet to watch Creepshow, be sure to do yourself a favor this Halloween season and add it to your must-see list. It's an absolute classic, and all five stories are sure to entertain. I mean, just look how much fun Nathan is having...

I rest my case.

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