Creep
(2014) 82 Min.
Rated: R
Country: USA
Director: Patrick Brice
Starring: Patrick Brice, Mark Duplass
Links: IMDB | Wikipedia
Rating: ★★★☆☆
A videographer answers an online ad and meets a stranger at a cabin in the woods who seems a little off.
Syopsis:
Aaron (Brice) is a videographer who takes a job he found on Craigslist. According to the ad the job poster wanted someone discreet and the address is in a remote location.
Aaron arrives at a nice looking cabin and attempts to knock on the door, but no one answers. He goes back to his car and waits, suddenly a man appears and it seems that this is the man who wants to hire him named Josef (Duplass).
Josef welcomes Aaron into his home and explains that he wants Aaron to film his entire day because his wife, Angela, is pregnant and Josef has a terminal illness. Josef hopes that the film that Aaron takes will be shown to his son “Buddy” when he is born.
Josef pays Aaron upfront and Aaron agrees to film him. Josef first asks Aaron to film him taking a bath. Josef explains this as something his father would do with him while he was a child. Josef then talks to “Buddy” and mimics giving a small child a bath.
Josef invites Aaron to go on a walk with him. Aaron finds a wolf mask in a closet which Josef explains was a wolf that his father would dress up as called Peachfuzz. The pair then hike for a bit and find a hidden stream. Throughout the time Josef seems nice enough but also awkward. He scares Aaron a number of times and hugs him too.
After the hike they eat pancakes at a restaurant and Josef admits to taking photos of Aaron before he introduced himself to Aaron. Aaron is about ready to leave for the night but Josef encourages him to come in for some whiskey.
Aaron goes in for the whiskey and Josef asks Aaron to turn off the camera. He tells Aaron that one day he found tons of animal porn on his computer and figured out it was his wife’s. He told her to come to the cabin and secretly sneaked in wearing the Peachfuzz mask and raped her.
Aaron is a bit unsettled by this revelation and drugs Josef’s next whiskey. When Josef is asleep he pulls out Josef’s phone and it starts to ring. Aaron answers and it’s Angela. Angela, however, reveals that she is Josef’s sister and tells Aaron that he needs to give her the address where they are located and needs to leave as soon as possible. When he ends the call he finds that Josef is gone.
Aaron looks around and Josef jumps out at him again. Aaron confronts him and Josef runs off. Aaron attempts to leave but Josef is blocking the exit wearing the Peachfuzz mask. Aaron charges Josef and the camera shuts off.
Aaron resumes the video with information that he escaped and got home safely, but that Josef has sent him a video. The video is of Josef burying large black garbage bags and Aaron interprets it as a threat. Josef also sends Aaron another video inside a large box with a plush wolf and a knife. Inside the wolf is a heat-shaped locket that has “A + J Forever” inscribed on it with their photos inside. In the video Josef encourages Aaron to use the knife and murder.
Aaron tries to file a report but the police are of no help. Soon Aaron is woken up by strange noises outside his house. He goes outside to search and finds a trashcan tipped over. Josef is inside the house and snips off a lock of hair while Aaron is asleep. Josef later leaves a disc marked “My Last Video” for Aaron.
On the video Josef asks for Aaron to meet him at a public park. He claims that he wants to reconcile and apologize. He tells Aaron to meet him at a park bench at a certain hour.
The next day Aaron shows up at the park. He leaves the camera facing the park bench as he goes to sit on it. He also tells the camera that he has his phone’s speed dial set to call 911. As he waits silently Josef dressed as Peachfuzz comes up behind him and hits Aaron in the skull with an ax.
Josef films himself and claims that Aaron was special for his pure ability to trust Josef enough not to turn around. Josef places a disc marked “Aaron” along with a large collection of discs and vhs tapes with other names. Josef is on the phone with another man to which he offers the same job he did to Aaron but this time identifies himself as Bill.
Review:
A strange little entry into the found footage genre. I can say at least this one isn’t too unbelievable in it’s use of cameras for the most part. It’s probably going to be ranked as one of the best in the sub-genre for me.
I think that the creepiness factor is pretty evident in the character dialogue and behavior and on that front it’s entirely successful. There are somewhat tense moments created because of Josef’s unpredictable behavior. It’s certain that both of the characters were loners and odd in their own ways, but Josef would push the boundaries and Aaron seemed to be willing to tolerate much of the awkward and startling behavior.
I genuinely liked this film for that alone. I don’t think this film is filled with scary moments. There are a few tame jumpscares meant to frighten Aaron and some tense scenes, but it’s over all pretty tame for horror. The tension and awkwardness between the two characters is built upon steadily. Where do we draw the line when someone is a bit too friendly or is too close for comfort? I think Creep is an excellent film just for making the audience feel uncomfortable in this way.
Brice is a newcomer as a director and I feel like this is a good start to his planned trilogy of Creep films. I hold hope that the next ones will at least be as interesting.