'Creepshow' Season 3: Greg Nicotero and James Remar Praise Working Together on 'Skeletons in the Closet' Episode (Exclusive)

By Stephen Andrew

Creepshow Season 3 is scaring up TVs on Shudder, and Episode 2 of the horror anthology reunites the show's executive producer Greg Nicotero with his old friend, actor James Remar. Many may be familiar with Remar from his work on iconic shows like Dexter and Sex in the City, but he's also well-known for starring in movies such as The Warriors, 48hrs., and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, where he and movie-make-up legend Nicotero first met. Now, the two friends have made a Creepshow segment titled "Skeletons in the Closet" — that Nicotero wrote with John Esposito — which finds Nicotero directing Remar as Bateman, a memorabilia collecter with a shark-like streak.

"When this part came up, I wanted him immediately. And he came in," Nicotero exclusively told PopCulture.com. The filmmaker explained that Remar "was perfect" for the role because "he's a fan" of horror. "We did all his scenes in one [day]," Nicotero revealed. "We shot that entire episode in three days." As for what it was like for Remar to work with Nicotero as a director, he told us via email, "Working with Greg was very comfortable and also creatively very stimulating. Greg is a terrific director who creates a very energetic and yet relaxed atmosphere which allows for me to do my best work. It's very obviously a passion project and those are always great to be a part of."

In "Skeletons in the Closet," actors Victor Rivera and Valerie LeBlanc play a couple who run a horror memorabilia museum that features several iconic props from films such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Phantasm. The prized display, however, is a collection of skeletons that were used in movies like Army of Darkness and the original Creepshow film. Remar's Bateman turns up one evening, intent on acquiring something that Rivera's Lampini has no desire to part with, and all hell breaks loose. In a manner of speaking. By the end of the episodes, its tough to really know who is most in the wrong, but if you ask Remar his take on it, he'll tell you that "everybody in the piece is a villain." 

Interestingly, there is a story told in the episode, about a skeleton movie prop from Dawn of the Dead that was found out to have been a real human skeleton and given a burial, that Nicotero revealed was taken directly from the headlines. "That really happened," he shared. "That's what makes it so crazy. In Pittsburgh when the movie was over, the skeleton went to a costume shop and a cop walked in one day and saw it and went, 'That's a real dead body.' So they had to research it, and they realized that the skeleton was real and they actually gave it a burial in Pittsburgh." Creepshow Season 3, Episode 2 — which also features a second segment title "Familiar" — is now streaming on Shudder.

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