This mumble core effort from recent film school graduate Patrick Brice sees him team-up with actor, producer, writer, director Mark Duplass for a tale about a videographer, Aaron (Brice) who answers an ad on Craigslist which involves filming a guy, Josef (Duplass) for 1 day for $1,000. When Aaron turns up at the location he becomes nervous, as Josef seems a little bit strange. Things go from bad to worse as Aaron tries to work out what compulsive liar Josef’s real intentions are.
There’s been much talk about this film in the horror community since it debuted at SXSW and was snapped up by RADiUS-TWC. A planned release was abandoned after it was later dropped and then it was picked up by iTunes and Netflix.
The film is short and to the point and holds the viewers interest throughout as you try to work out exactly what’s going on. If you’re the type of person who always jumps at loud noises and people jumping out on you then there are lots of scares ahead for you. If not, then you’ll be bored.
Creep works best as an awkward comedy. I guess I was a little on edge at first, but there’s nothing to be that scared of. The film does play tricks on you and there are a couple of good moments where the filmmakers pull the wool over your eyes, but even then it’s funny.
For me personally however, I couldn’t help feeling as though I had already seen this movie before when Mark Duplass made Baghead.
It’s best to watch this knowing very little about the plot. It doesn’t outstay its welcome and there are a few giggles to be had along the way. You do feel for both characters throughout and if you already have Netflix there’s nothing to lose…except maybe 82 minutes you won’t get back.
OVERALL SUMMARY
What’s most interesting to me about this whole project is that in real-life, Mark Duplass, like his character Josef, is talking up a second and even a third film, in what he’s saying was a planned trilogy (some sources were even reporting that both films were already in the can). I’m starting to wonder if it’s a clever marketing ploy, as there’s no evidence to support his statements so far. After watching him at work here, who could blame me for not trusting him?
