CREEP (2014) Review by Steve Kirkham

CREEP (2014)

3 stars
Second Sight Films. Limited Edition and Standard Blu Ray. 9th December

Aaron (Patrick Brice) is a videographer, who gets a new job to go out to a remote location – one proviso for the gig is “discretion is appreciated”. Arriving at the cabin, he knocks but there is no response, which seems a bit odd but he decides to wait. Next thing he knows, Josef (Mark Duplass), the guy who hired him, shocks him by banging on his car window! The first of such incidents…

His host introduces himself and says that this is a family vacation home. He tells him that he is a cancer survivor, then announces he has only a short time to live as he has a brain tumour. Add to this his wife Angela is pregnant. He wants Aaron to document what he does as a kind of video diary for his unborn son. Seems a bit strange and things are about to get weirder. Josef decides to take a bath and enacts having it with his baby son! He clearly has a warped sense of humour. Aaron discovers a werewolf mask in a cupboard which leads to an impromptu song. All very odd.

They go off for a trip in the car to a wooded area and, after stopping, Josef runs off, only to jump out and scare Aaron. Things only get more bizarre from there on. What has our cameraman got himself into? Is Josef all there? Should he get out of there post haste?

I have said it before and say it again – I am not a big fan of found footage movies and this psychological horror is in that style. This was directed by Brice, who co-wrote the film with Duplass – though I suspect much of it was improvised as they went along. It does feel like the sort of film where they came up with the ending and then worked back from there to try and build to the finale. It does create a certain sense of tension and Duplass is excellent as the bonkers Josef. Like most movies in this mode, it does step into “why would you keep filming” territory, though this is one of the better examples of the sub-genre, mainly due to the somewhat manic central performance. It does get very weird and freaky by the end.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS
Audio commentary with Director Patrick Brice, Editor Christopher Donlon and Actor Mark Duplass

Archive audio commentary with Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass

Peachfuzz: interview with Director Patrick Brice (36 mins)

Into Darker Territory: interview with Actor Mark Duplass (18 mins)

Expand the Universe: interview with Editor Christopher Donlon (16 mins)

10 Years of Creep: A live Q&A with Cast and Crew (30 mins)

Deleted Scene: Cold Opening (2 mins)

Alternative Scene: Message to Aaron (2 mins)

Alternative Endings (7 mins)

With the Limited Edition you also get a rigid slipcase with new artwork by Luke Headland; 70-page book with new essays by Sarah Appleton, Kat Ellinger, David Kittredge and Amber T and 6 collectors’ art cards