Written by Myles Calvert

Contrary to the understandable assumption based on the title, CREEP is not about scouring someone’s old Facebook news feed.

Writer, director, and star Patrick Brice brings us this atmospheric tension filled drama / horror. When Aaron, a freelance videographer played by Brice, answers a job posting on Craigslist, he injects himself into the life of Josef, a seemingly eccentric family man played by Mark Duplass (The League).

Let me start off by saying that this movie won’t be for everyone. It’s not filled with gore, and it’s not a scare a minute scream ride. What CREEP does well is make the characters, and subsequently us the viewer, feel very isolated. Besides Aaron and Josef, we don’t see another person on screen throughout the 82 minute run time (and no, Angela’s voice doesn’t count!).

What this does is create a unique atmosphere in which it’s easy to feel the tension and awkwardness that Aaron must experience while he spends the day with Josef. This is never more effective as when they’re eating together in a restaurant. No other patrons are heard in the background, and we never see or hear the waitress serving them. This must have been done on purpose, and it was a great choice because it almost makes you feel like they’re completely alone in this mountain town.

Another thing I like about CREEP is the plausibility of having the camera rolling constantly to make this one of the more clever uses of found footage. In fact, only when I really sat down to analyze things did I fully realize CREEP is a found footage movie.

My biggest complaint about CREEP is the shoehorned in jump scares. This is just a personal theory of mine, but I feel like the original script and intention for this movie was not to be horror. I wouldn’t be surprised if the original goal was to be character based drama built on a foundation of dialogue between two characters (something along the lines of MY DINNER WITH ANDRE), only in this case it would have been to delve into the world of mental illness and challenge what we believe in terms of who or what is “normal”. Perhaps somewhere within the process it was decided that a horror is easier to get made, sell and digest so a few jump scares were forced in that come across as very predictable, unrealistic, and cheap. Again, this is just a theory which may be way off base but as someone who despises cheap jump scares, I guess I’m just trying to rationalize them.

CREEP is certainly worth a viewing, especially if you have Netflix. It loses a little steam around the middle of the movie when Aaron abruptly escapes Josef’s house, but it picks back up nicely and ultimately sticks with you for a while. I would personally welcome a sequel to CREEP as I feel there’s a lot more to tell about Josef and those in his life. While Patrick’s acting job isn’t all that great (perhaps he was spread too thin with directing and writing duties as well), Mark’s is quite good and he’s who we want to see more of.