Written by Old Bluffer 12th Jun 2009

Written by Kooshmeister

Appearing in the fourth segment of the film, entitled "The Crate", Charlie Gereson is a grad student at Horlicks University, who has the misfortune of being on campus the fateful night Dexter Stanley opens the titular crate. He encounters Stanley in the hallway and is disbelieving of the professor's wild tale about a monster that popped out of the crate and ate Mike the janitor.

He soon changes his mind when he and Stanley return to the classroom and find the crate gone and a trail of blood leading back underneath the staircase where Mike had found it. Grabbing a wrench from the janitor's closet, Charlie advances on the crate, intending to retrieve one of Mike's chewed-up shoes, so he can "measure the bite marks." Using his flashlight he knocks the shoe over towards Stanley, who, having actually seen the creature in the crate, remains frozen with fear against the far wall, not daring to go near the stairs.

Despite having retrieved the shoe, Charlie suddenly develops a severe case of the stupids and ventures further beneath the stairs, obviously intending to examine the crate itself. Big mistake, Charlie. The monster, known unofficially by the deceptively cutesy name of "Fluffy," leaps out from the shadows and pounces on Charlie, slashing him across the chest with its claws. A reactionary cry from Stanley gets Fluffy's attention, and the beast turns its back on Charlie, giving him an opportunity to escape. Instead, Charlie decides to whack Fluffy with the wrench.

Mistake #2. Enraged, Fluffy turns and attacks Charlie again, who somehow manages to get away and crawl out from under the stairs, reaching desperately towards the petrified Stanley. Stanley finally manages to overcome his terror and make a grab for Charlie's hand, but both men's efforts are in vain as Fluffy reclaims his victim. Charlie screams in agony as Fluffy bites into his head like a ripe peach, removing a good chunk of his cranium - along with an ear - then slams him violently into the wall.

Just for good measure, Fluffy rakes its claws across Charlie's face, leaving huge gashes in his flesh. Charlie is, suffice to say, very dead at this point. Wailing in despair, Stanley turns and runs away as quickly as possible, whilst Fluffy drags Charlie's mutilated corpse back under the stairs for a quick snack.

When Henry Northrup returns to the college later on to check on Stanley's story, all he finds of poor Charlie are his crushed eyeglasses.



Kooshmeister's Thoughts

This is an exceptional death scene. Although Charlie's demise is telegraphed a mile away, the actual attack comes so fast and hard and brutal that while it may not be the goriest mauling on film, it's still pretty shocking. The death is made all the more outstanding thanks to Fritz Weaver as Stanley, who gives a very believable performance and hits the nail on the head with his reaction of mindless horror to his student's death.

Note from OB to Koosh - what sequence number and archetype should this be? Also, another Creepshow writeup added to Drafts.