Nerdly » Romford Horror Festival 2022: ‘Tales of the Creeping Death’ Review

15th Mar2022

Romford Horror Festival 2022: ‘Tales of the Creeping Death’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Michael Socha, Andrew Readman, Dean Ackerman, Ricky Tomlinson, James Whitehurst, John Solomonides, Steve Wood, Solaya Rowley, George Newton, Billy Cook, Paul J. Dove, Maggie Evans | Written and Directed by John Williams

Stoke-on-Trent filmmaker John Williams (no relation to the film composer of the same name) made his name, at least in the horror mainstream, with 2017’s Crispy’s Curse, despite having lensed The Mothertown and The Slayers before it. Now comes his latest film, Tales of the Creeping Death, a highly-anticipated low-budget horror anthology that aims to recapture the spirit of the anthologies of old from British studios such as Hammer and Amicus. Hell, the title even screams a homage to Tigon’s last British horror production The Creeping Flesh!

Like many an anthology, Tales of the Creeping Death opens with its wraparound tale, a tale that sees hitman Goose (Michael Socha) arrive at Harold’s house. Not to kill him, no. Instead, Harold (Andrew Readman) has hired him to keep Goose to keep him alive. Until 3am to be precise; and to pass the time Harold regales Goose with four scary stories…

The first story tells of some partygoers one Halloween, including Billy (Billy Cook). Dressed as a zombie, Billy cuts out on the party he was invited to with a couple of friends to gatecrash a “posh” party in the area. A black-tie event that Billy immediately feels out of place at, however the guests at this party do NOT want him to leave. And staying will have dire consequences for poor Billy – as is usual for attendees at parties they weren’t invited to in many a horror film! Story two takes things in a more comical direction as a man commits suicide at a local beauty spot, only for his body to be collected by Kev (Dean Ackerman) to become part of his “crew.” A crew consisting of dead people! The horror is thin on the ground in this tale but the story is so out there that you can’t help but be amused and the appearance of British acting legend Ricky Tomlinson only adds to proceedings.

Tales of the Creeping Death‘s third story follows a group of workmates attending a team-building exercise in Wales. Rural Wales. The kind of rural area that has no mobile reception but plenty of odd tourist attractions, including the caverns that our trio decide to explore. Again, with dire consequences for the group… This is a horror film after all. Unfortunately, this third story is easily the weakest of this film’s terror tales, mixing sci-fi and horror in a finished product that leaves a lot to be desired.

Thankfully the fourth story in this anthology manages to mix horror and comedy to perfection, in a story that follows timid bingo caller Shane (Darren McAree), whose parents are killed by ‘something’ on a camping trip, leaving Shane to fend for himself. Unfortunately for Shane it looks like whatever killed his parents is still on the loose and is out for more fresh blood. But Shane still has bingo to call this evening… Whilst this film may be rather predictable if you’ve seen a myriad of other similar movies/stories, it doesn’t stop Tales of the Creeping Death‘s fourth story from being a lot of fun. Especially when director John Williams lets Gary Pollard, the film’s effects man, loose to unleash the terror at the heart of this tale’s story.

Finally, we return to the wraparound, which connects itself to one of this film’s four short films in macabre fashion. With Michael Socha’s hitman realising that he’s in more trouble than he bargained for! Speaking of which, it’s fantastic to see Michael Socha back in a genre film after his brilliant performance in 2017’s Double Date.

Whilst not all of the stories work as well as the others, with the third tale a letdown when compared to the horror of the first tale and the comedy of the second, Tales of the Creeping Death is still a fantastic example of what you can do with some imagination and a low budget and is well-worth checking out if you’re a fan of the anthology format.