When I first saw the trailer for Creep, I was hooked. Blumhouse Productions is basically a god when it comes to indie horror, and the multi-talented Mark Duplass is well known for his low-budget films. Seeing the two of them come together in a trailer that sends shivers down your spine made me seek out "Creep" right away. The really cool thing about "Creep" is that it is the first film to be released on Blumhouse Tilt – a new branch of Blumhouse Productions that focuses on multi-platform releases. This means, you guessed it – Netflix.
(Photo via IMDB)
So if knowing that you can go watch "Creep" right now isn’t enough, here’s why you should be watching it. A videographer, Aaron, greets us on his way to a video gig he found on Craigslist. The ad asks for video services for a day for $1,000. Aaron takes the bait and heads out to a cabin in the woods to film Josef, a man dying of brain cancer, for the day. Things are pretty unsettling from the get-go, but not in the typical cheesy horror film style. We meet Josef, follow him for the morning, and aside from him being a creepy guy with some odd characteristics, nothing frightening happens. At lunch, Josef brings up how he was embarrassed to meet Aaron that morning and did something he was ashamed of. The film takes a turn for the creepy and doesn’t look back.
(Photo via SF Weekly)
If you saw the trailer and thought, this looks like a typical found footage film, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Yes, director Patrick Brice uses the typical tropes of found footage to enhance his first feature film, but through clever visual storytelling and character development, Brice takes a step away from found footage in the right direction. Don’t expect "Creep" to be a run-of-the-mill horror film. It is an unsettling, nerve-wracking ride through the lens of a handy-cam that will have you screaming at the naive videographer in one scene, and cringing from the creepiness the next.
After the credits, I gave it five stars on Netflix. Do yourself a favor and check out "Creep." These filmmakers are stepping up their game, and you don’t want to miss out on this truly creepy film.
