The horror sites are all crabby today about the newly unveiled covers for the upcoming Night of the Creeps DVD. I’ve seen the story all over the place, but I’ll go ahead and point you to Horrorphilia Podcast’s link ‘cuz they’re our homies. Apparently you can vote on which cover you like best, but that’s about as meaningful a choice as sifting through the catbox and deciding which particular turd you’d like to eat.

The original Creeps poster art is great, why not use it on the DVD cover? It reminds me of how, every once in a while, you’ll see some re-release of an Elm Street movie where they use a horrible photo collage instead of the breathtaking Matthew Peak poster art. All I can guess is that some marketing expert has data that says a more contemporary cover design would sell better on store shelves.

A while ago I wrote about my evolving feelings toward physical media. Coincidentally, this 1986 Fred Dekker film is one of the few movies I do want to go buy on DVD. Would I prefer to have better cover art? Yes, of course. However, it’s the content on the disc that matters most. So long as the DVD contains a quality transfer of Creeps, then I’ll be satisfied.

You might remember that the long-awaited DVD of Dekker’s other beloved 80s genre entry, The Monster Squad, also came out with a shitty, modernized cover. The content on the 2-disc set was pretty tits, though, so I let it slide. Also, for what it’s worth, there was an insert of the original poster art inside the case.

I recommend that everyone just chill out on this one. Yeah, it’s a bummer but it’s not like you were going to hang this DVD case on your wall, right?

Filed under: Art, Commentary, DVD, Movies