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CIFF 2014: Creep Review

by Taylor Sinople on October 20, 2014

“Creep” finds Mark Duplass (“Safety Not Guaranteed,” “The One I Love”) and buddy Patrick Brice with a spare weekend, a digital camera, and a scary premise. Okay, it wasn’t nearly that simple – Brice and Duplass worked on the film for over a year – but this fusion of found footage horror and mumblecore dialogue is as close as we could hope to get to seeing what a few talented filmmakers would cook up with a few weeks to spare between projects.

Duplass hooked up with Brice after seeing his short doc “Maurice” which examined the last operating porno theater in Paris. Together, the two wrote a ten-page outline on the story of Aaron (played by Brice), a videographer who agrees to shoot a vague, one-day project in a remote town for a welcoming but off-putting man (played by Duplass). They began shooting a few scenes at a time to test in front of audiences and found as they assembled the project that they were building a horror film.

And as a piece of found footage horror, “Creep” is refreshingly logical and features some of the most organic jump scares and sound logic since “The Blair Witch Project.” The title of the film puts a presumption in the audience’s head before they even buy their ticket. As the film is presented from the point of view of Aaron’s camera, we’re tightly linked to his emotional point of view. And with that title in the back of our heads, we question with Aaron whether entering a strange man’s cabin in the woods is a very good idea.

Before things get creepy, though, and even after they do, this thing is hilarious. This is my favorite Duplass performance yet and it’ll probably be yours, too. We meet his character as someone we’re familiar with – someone that makes sense for his real-life personality and look – and slowly teases whether everything he says and does is authentic. There’s just no looking at him the same way again.

Duplass worked in this space with 2008’s “Baghead,” but Brice, the film’s director, adds a more conventional momentum to the film and lends it broad appeal. Blumhouse Productions (“Paranormal Activity”) picked up “Creep” for U.S. distribution, but according to Duplass, by the time you see the first film, a full trilogy will be shot with all three films releasing in 2015.

The story could ultimately go to more interesting places in its final act, but if this is the new standard for found footage we’re in a far better place than we were this time last year. Stick around during the credits for an original song that sums up the mood of the whole film, and bring on “Creep 2.”

7 out of 10 points

Return to CIFF 2014 Coverage
Language

English

Runtime

82 minutes

Genre

Horror, Comedy

Director

Patrick Brice

Cast

Patrick Brice, Mark Duplass

(All Reviews), Horror, Issue #25 - Horror Week, Reviews
ciff 2014CreepFound FootageMark DuplassPatrick Brice
ciff 2014, Creep, Found Footage, Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice
About the Author
Taylor Sinople
Taylor Sinople
Taylor is a Chicago-based writer and aspiring film historian. He is the editor here at TFP, and has contributed to a number of international publications such as Cinema Scandinavia, PopMatters, and Room 101 Magazine. He can also be found listening to podcasts, researching topics he has little use for, or running after a city bus.
You might also like
ciff 2014Found FootageMark Duplass
 

CIFF 2014: Fair Play Review

by Taylor Sinople on October 27, 2014
When a young athlete reaches a certain skill level in a sport, their talent becomes their obligation in the eyes of others. Suddenly there’s money and awards and honor at stake and a good thing becomes an angle to be manipulated. Anna (Judit Bárdos), a rising track star, faces an ethical dilemma when she’s selected […]
 

CIFF 2014: Summer Review

by Taylor Sinople on October 19, 2014
Living in Chicago, it’s easy to take for granted the social benefits of a metropolis. A first thought is that you’re able to pull from a larger pool of possible friendships, relationships, colleagues, and mentors. But the inverse is also true in that you’re able to choose who you don’t want to know, and what […]
 

CIFF 2014: Ablations Review

by Taylor Sinople on October 19, 2014
“Ablations” is a black comedy full of surrealistic departures and stunning art direction unmotivated by its plot, begging the question “but why?” to which director Arnold de Parscau seems to shrug, “why not?” Benoît Delépine (“Avida,” “Aaltra”) wrote the screenplay and builds a navigable mystery in the first act. We’ve got an event that can’t […]
 

CIFF 2014: The Owners Review

by Taylor Sinople on October 19, 2014
Say goodbye to law and order when you make trouble with the police chief’s brother in a remote village in Kazakhstan. 25-year-old John (Aidyn Sakhaman) runs into money trouble living in a big city and is forced to retreat to a shack his mother used to live in ten years ago. He takes his teenaged […]
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