Creeps (1956)

metaldams · **on:** July 15, 2016, 07:16:48 PM

http://www.threestooges.net/filmography/episode/167
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049104/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0s6x4WySJE0

Watch CREEPS in the link above

Not much to say here. Basically we have wraparound footage of the boys acting as babies with their fathers, also played by The Three Stooges, reading them a bed time story. The bedtime story happens to be stock footage from THE GHOST TALKS. We get one new insert in the middle that changes the plot. Notice how in the new insert, the boys are smoking, while in the old footage they are not. Nice lack of continuity, I'm sure no one cared at this point.

Towards the end, we get footage of the boys in the room with a guillotine. This is where it's obvious the budget lessens. Old footage is a cool looking haunted castle set, new footage is a room with a few props to attempt to add atmosphere, which is barely passable. The scene once the knight comes in ends mid stream so we can get back to baby Stooges, and bonk on the head knock out ending number fifty. Really, it's obvious contracts need to be fulfilled, budgets are low, and everyone involved is there for a paycheck. I can't get mad at anyone for making a living, but it lacks excitement. Oh, and I found myself missing Lady Godiva! There, I said it. Also, check out how energetic Shemp is in the old footage, especially when he scares himself in the mirror. Been a long time since Shemp had that energy.

4/10

Next week, we start the final run of footage ever shot with Shemp. An interesting fact about FLAGPOLE JITTERS we'll discuss for those of you who don't already know.

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #1 on:** July 15, 2016, 11:21:31 PM

Luckily, this is 90% The Ghost Talks, which I liked. As far as the new footage, the guillotine stuff is O K, it's fairly well-made, but the baby footage again makes me think that there was a certain amount of footage that they had to replace to release it as a "new" short, because that's all you can say for it: it's not funny, it's just new.

Shemp_Diesel · **Reply #2 on:** July 15, 2016, 11:56:27 PM

Well--as far as recycles go--I guess this could be another one best described as "nondescript." Very light on new footage again, but the little bit there is here isn't all bad. The stooges as their own children again, but fortunately--unlike Self-Made Maids--the camera doesn't hang on the boys for about 10 minutes as they drink milk.

Looking ahead, the rehashes don't really get any better--I guess For Crimim' Out Loud is passable, but then we get to "the back of Joe Palma's head" and things really go to hell...

3 out of 10....

Paul Pain · **Reply #3 on:** July 16, 2016, 06:39:12 AM

Required reading: THE GHOST TALKS thread

It's not the worst thing in the world, that's for sure, but it's far good as well. On the most part, I agree with Shemp_Diesel. It's almost always a bad thing when the Stooges are portraying children. The next couple of remakes won't be all that great either. At least the stock footage is worked nicely into this one. With Jules White asking for these crapfests to be made and Harry Cohn as the top boss, is it any wonder Clyde Bruckman committed suicide in 1955? The new footage with the guillotine would have been great in TRICKY DICKS, but here it just seems forced.

Another Shemp remake, another short that can...

BURN IN HELL^TM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3/10

And remember, kids, I gave HOT ICE a 1/10, so I think you can guess that we're getting a 0/10 BEFORE we get to Besser!

Paul Pain · **Reply #4 on:** July 16, 2016, 07:25:03 PM

It's a sad state when we can't get anyone to reply anymore... then again SHIVERING SHERLOCKS only got 8 replies, with half of those being a conversation between Dr. Hugo and Signor Spumoni.

Shemp_Diesel · **Reply #5 on:** July 16, 2016, 08:08:49 PM

Quote from: Paul Pain on July 16, 2016, 07:25:03 PM

It's a sad state when we can't get anyone to reply anymore... then again SHIVERING SHERLOCKS only got 8 replies, with half of those being a conversation between Dr. Hugo and Signor Spumoni.

Well, we are in what is arguably the least interesting point of the boys' careers--but who knows, maybe when we get to Joe Palma and the back of his head, the conversation might get heated up again. And Joe Besser--for better or worse--should be interesting as well...

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #6 on:** July 16, 2016, 11:01:54 PM

Quote from: Paul Pain on July 16, 2016, 07:25:03 PM

It's a sad state when we can't get anyone to reply anymore... then again SHIVERING SHERLOCKS only got 8 replies, with half of those being a conversation between Dr. Hugo and Signor Spumoni.

I enjoy reading these reviews of Stooges' shorts. I don't have as much time as I used to have, and haven't had that time for awhile. I am hopeful of having enough time to spare soon so that I can chuck in my two cents' worth more often. I haven't been doing my part to keep things going.

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #7 on:** July 16, 2016, 11:05:43 PM

For what it's worth, I find the baby Stooges in this one disturbing. I think I prefer them as the "three little refugees" in "All The World's a Stooge."

metaldams · **Reply #8 on:** July 17, 2016, 07:29:07 AM

The bottom line is we are in the middle of the most boring era of Stoogedom. Curious to see how things pick up with Besser.

Big Chief Apumtagribonitz · **Reply #9 on:** July 17, 2016, 07:57:03 AM

I'm not sure I'd count on that. People loathe the Besser shorts.

Paul Pain · **Reply #10 on:** July 17, 2016, 08:50:35 AM

Quote from: Shemp_Diesel on July 16, 2016, 08:08:49 PM

Well, we are in what is arguably the least interesting point of the boys' careers--but who knows, maybe when we get to Joe Palma and the back of his head, the conversation might get heated up again. And Joe Besser--for better or worse--should be interesting as well...

I'll be going on quite the tirades with the back of Joe Palma's head, maybe more than I will on some of the Bessers. Some of the Fake Shemp's are borderline disturbing.

Quote from: metaldams on July 17, 2016, 07:29:07 AM

The bottom line is we are in the middle of the most boring era of Stoogedom. Curious to see how things pick up with Besser.

I actually am having a lot of fun with this as I watch the original and the remake back-to-back, fast forwarding through the stock parts of the latter!

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on July 16, 2016, 11:05:43 PM

For what it's worth, I find the baby Stooges in this one disturbing. I think I prefer them as the "three little refugees" in "All The World's a Stooge."

I am glad someone else feels like I do. They're a bit too sadistic and demented for my comfort level, definitely amongst the boy's worst characters.

metaldams · **Reply #11 on:** July 17, 2016, 10:59:18 AM

Quote from: Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on July 17, 2016, 07:57:03 AM

I'm not sure I'd count on that. People loathe the Besser shorts.

Loathing is more interesting than indifference. SWEET AND HOT is a more interesting film than any Shemp recycle, for example. A good film? No. Interesting? I'm going to say yes.

Shemp_Diesel · **Reply #12 on:** July 17, 2016, 03:48:35 PM

Well--as I said on another thread--hate is an easier emotion to express than love, so maybe the conversation will definitely heat up when Hoofs and Goofs arrives....

Paul Pain · **Reply #13 on:** July 17, 2016, 05:04:17 PM

Quote from: Shemp_Diesel on July 17, 2016, 03:48:35 PM

Well--as I said on another thread--hate is an easier emotion to express than love, so maybe the conversation will definitely heat up when Hoofs and Goofs arrives....

I think he means you, metaldams

metaldams · **Reply #14 on:** July 17, 2016, 07:38:08 PM

Quote from: Paul Pain on July 17, 2016, 05:04:17 PM

I think he means you, metaldams

🤓 Six more of these things to go! Yeah, you're probably right. Wait to Besser's here, reincarnated horses and Muriel Landers await, and so do opinions.

These Shemp remakes? Like eating a square meal of rice cakes.

Paul Pain · **Reply #15 on:** July 18, 2016, 07:05:51 AM

Quote from: metaldams on July 17, 2016, 07:38:08 PM

Six more of these things to go! Yeah, you're probably right. Wait to Besser's here, reincarnated horses and Muriel Landers await, and so do opinions.

These Shemp remakes? Like eating a square meal of rice cakes.

I was more suggesting that Shemp_Diesel might hate you. I wasn't very clear about that

And you don't forget the terrible co-stars we get during the Besser era... some of the co-stars are worse than the shorts, I do believe. Besser will be interesting as I've never seen some of them before.

Desmond Of The Outer Sanctorum · **Reply #16 on:** July 18, 2016, 01:18:44 PM

Like Shemp_Diesel & Metaldams I find this to be roughly the least interesting era of Stoogedom, but like Paul I have made a point to watch originals and remakes back to back for the sake of comparison.

Unlike Metaldams, I don't miss Lady Godiva in this one. She was a dull and unsatisfying character in GHOST. That's not to say that the ending of CREEPS is much better, of course.

Dr. Hugo Gansamacher · **Reply #17 on:** July 22, 2016, 08:53:50 AM

Yes, having the Stooges play babies is corny, especially when they are this old. But it also involves Moe giving Shemp and Larry Stooges a bilateral bonk in the belly (downswing) and conk in the forehead (upswing), which good for a laugh with me. As devices for splicing together old material with new go, I think it is one of the better efforts. Unfortunately, in this case, the old material is The Ghost Talks, which I have always found pretty tedious.

Kopfy2013 · **Reply #18 on:** July 25, 2016, 08:47:28 PM

Not as enjoyable as the original except for the baby part ... still not bad ... not good either ... I give it a 5 .....

Daddy Dewdrop · **Reply #19 on:** August 09, 2021, 07:40:42 AM

Here we have a Shemp short with a ton of stock footage. The original ("The Ghost Talks") is one of my Shemp favorites, so although this feels like major deja vu, the laughs still hold up (for the most part). Shemp really shines here.

#160. Creeps