Considering how bad the actual Creepshow 3 is its little wonder fans consider Tales From The Darkside: The Movie the true third entry. The original Creepshow was a collaboration between filmmaker George A. Romero (Night Of The Living Dead) and Stephen King, and was a loving tribute to the gruesome EC horror comics they both grew up with. Creepshow was an anthology that told five tales of horror and has since become a cult classic.
Both Romero and King took a backseat for Creepshow 2 which was released in 1987. Creepshow 2's script was written by Romero and based off of King short stories, but the project was instead directed by Michael Gornick. The sequel was originally intended to include five stories like the first movie, though the segments "Pinfall" and "Cat From Hell" were cut due to budget concerns. While Creepshow 2's middle story "The Raft" is considered a genuinely creepy little horror tale, the follow-up is regarded as inferior to the original.
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This is where the line between Creepshow 3 and Tales From The Darkside: The Movie get a little blurry. The success of the original Creepshow briefly led to conversations about adapting it into a TV series, but since George Romero didn't have complete ownership of the property, he created TV show Tales From The Darkside instead. Like Creepshow, the series was a horror anthology and would end up running for four seasons between 1984 to 1988.
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie arrived in 1990, directed by John Harrison. The movie includes three stories and a wraparound tale and also features an impressive cast, including Julianne Moore (Kingsman: The Golden Circle), Christian Slater and Steve Buscemi. The movie also has "Cat From Hell," the King story previously cut from Creepshow 2. While Tales From The Darkside: The Movie wasn't a huge hit, it was an effective, entertaining anthology. A Tales From The Darkside sequel was discussed that would have included King's stories "Pinfall" and "Rainy Season," but the project was eventually canceled.
Fans got briefly excited when Creepshow III was announced but the project quickly shaped up to be a huge disappointment. Neither George Romero nor Stephen King had any involvement with the eventual 2006 movie, and none of King's material was adapted for it. Like the first two movies, Creepshow III is an anthology with a comic book wraparound tale, but the film's low-budget, poor screenplay and bad acting make it something of a chore and the film is often ignored by fans of the franchise.
This has also led to Tales From The Darkside: The Movie being christened the "real" Creepshow 3. It retains the tone and feel of the first two movies and the close production ties between Tales and Creepshow further link them. Even Tom Savini, who provided effects for the franchise and played The Creep in the second movie, labeled Tales From The Darkside: The Movie the true Creepshow 3. While a big budget Creepshow 3 isn't likely to happen, the franchise is being resurrected in the form of a new TV series from horror streaming service Shudder. Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead) will produce and each episode will contain two stories; the show will also adapt King's disturbing short story "Survivor Type."