Creepshow – Season 4 Episode 4 “Meet the Belaskos; Cheat Code” Recap & Review

Meet the Belaskos

In Creepshow Season 4 Episode 4, the Belaskos are a family of vampires living in a world where the undead have become integrated into society. However, in this world, they must deal with the issue of prejudice against them. Moving to a different area, the Belaskos–Chuck, his wife Helena, and their daughter Anna–meet their next-door neighbour, Doug, who has a deep-seated hate for vampires.

When Doug’s son Alex, falls for Anna, Doug warns his son to stay away from her, telling him that vampires are dangerous and giving him a stake to protect himself. Doug reveals that Alex’s mother was attacked and turned into a vampire. He had to kill her, believing that returning from the dead is unnatural. Alex, angered by the news, refuses to turn his back on Anna, as they both have fallen in love with each other and made plans to run away together.

Doug calls his old vampire-hunting gang and plans to kill Anna and her family. Alex overhears his plans and tells Anna to meet him at their secret spot. However, when Anna arrives, Doug and his vampire-hunting gang attack the duo and seriously injure Alex.

Angered, Anna attacks and butchers the vampire hunters and bites Doug. With the sun rising, Anna has to choose between saving herself or Alex. Anna chooses Alex, getting him to the hospital just in time before she dies.

The segment ends with Doug waking up in a coffin, now transformed into a vampire, with Chuck, Helena and a now-recovered Alex standing over him, holding a stake.

The Episode Review

This was a charming romance. A great segment and a great story that has many layers to it. It’s always great when Creepshow tackles issues such as discrimination, and Meet the Belasko‘s did a fine job of doing that. Making it a vampire romance just adds to the charm.  

The cinematography was great, and the writing was fantastic. The last time we had a vampire segment was season three’s Sibling Rivalry, but this was just as gory as we come to expect from a Creepshow segment. Definitely worth watching if you like a wholesome romance with more romance than scares.

Cheat Code

Jeff finds an old game from his childhood named Weird Wednesday and decides to share it with his son Dave as a way for them to bond. However, Dave is more interested in playing Weird Wednesday with his friends Spencer and Reina.

When Reina gets her own copy of the game online, she notes that it comes with a cheat code and comments that the seller told her that the game killed her children. Ignoring the warning, Spencer borrows the game.

Dave becomes obsessed with beating Jeff’s high score and finally does it, but when Jeff makes a deal with him to see who can beat the game, Dave turns to Reina for help. While playing the game, they realise there is a new character and it looks like Spencer. Believing it’s an unlocked new character, they play until they run out of lives.

However, Spencer hasn’t returned her console yet and isn’t answering their calls. Dave and Reina go to Spencer’s house to see him but are told by his mother that she hasn’t seen him. They enter Spencer’s room to pick up the console only to find the game running a “game over” screen. Unplugging the console, they leave. On the way to Reina’s house, they pass an ice cream truck accident.

At Reina’s, Dave becomes increasingly frustrated that he can’t beat the level. He decides to use the cheat code, only to find himself being controlled by the game. He goes through the same obstacles in the game and begins to die. Respawning at Reina’s, the duo quickly realise the reason for Spencer’s disappearance. Reina turns off the game, but it causes Dave to disappear, so she quickly turns it on. Reina, not knowing what to do, runs to Dave’s house to get Jeff’s help.

Dave is down to one life when Reina reaches Jeff and tells him what’s happening. Jeff puts himself in the game to help his son. Together they defeat the final boss and are released from the game. The segment ends with them burying the game, but the ground begins to glow.

The Episode Review

It was the acting that got us in this one. While the story was okay, the acting made this a little painful to watch. With veteran actor Lachlan Monroe playing the dad in this segment, even his acting chops took a beating.

What about the story? It was simply OK. There have been so many stories over the years about haunted video games that kill you or pull you into the game. It kind of reminded us of those Sonic Exe creepypastas that are online, but just as rubbish. This one was just a little below average.

The logic of the video game made no sense. How could they get back to the main menu to put in the cheat code when Dave only had one life? Wouldn’t it have reset the game and killed him anyway? Did that mean that his life bar returned? If Jeff is now in the game, who is playing his character? There are so many questions left unanswered. The most esteemed actor in the entire segment was hidden in makeup and had no speaking lines. Kyle Straut played the final boss.

This had the writing, acting, theme and feel of a really bad old episode of Goosebumps. And not in a so-bad-it’s-good kind of way.