Creep

I see now that critics appreciated this film just as much as I did, but I had NO IDEA what I was getting into by selecting a random horror movie I had never heard of on Netflix. Creep takes every little broken piece of horror, polishes it up, and pastes it together into a beautiful and unique masterpiece. It is extremely disturbing and unsettling without once resorting to gore, which was a breath of fresh air. Be warned that the jump scares are severe but cheesy, but for good reason. Horror fans absolutely must see Creep.

Employing found footage in a way that actually makes sense in the context of the plot, Creep is the story of an increasingly awkward relationship between two men that feels frighteningly plausible.

The film rests upon – and succeeds because of – Mark Duplass' excellent performance as the type of person we've all met at one time or another; someone a little bit too keen to be your friend, inspiring conflicting feelings of suspicion as to their motives and empathy with regard to their ill-judged attempts at social interaction. Seen through the eyes (or rather camera) of Aaron, the only other on-screen character (played by writer/director Patrick Brice), it's clear fairly early on that something isn't quite right, but should he be worried?

Despite an occasional reliance on cynical jump scares (presumably included to ensure that the tension doesn't sag – the film is dialogue-heavy) the suspense ebbs and flows nicely and keeps you guessing as to where it will end up going. Thankfully, for a film that always feels like it's building up to something, the resolution is well-judged and perfectly executed.

Overall this is a very impressive effort and marks Patrick Brice out as a filmmaker to keep an eye on.

At least for its first half, 'Creep (2014)' is essentially just a piece of mostly improvised performance art from Mark Duplass that's reacted to, in an equally improvised manner, by his co-star and director Patrick Brice, who films the affair in a distinctly documentary style. This naturally lends an air of unpredictability and believability to proceedings, as Brice reacts in a totally unbiased fashion to the often odd things that Duplass says and does. This doesn't mean that the overall film is directionless, however; it comes together as a surprisingly complete whole, with only a couple of elements getting caught on their unique execution. The second half isn't as successful as the first because it devolves into much more laboured, plot-heavy and, frankly, generic fare. Its ultimate payoff is rather disturbing, though; in that sense, it sticks the landing. In general, the movie is more intriguing than it is entertaining. Its two-half approach leads to an off-balance pacing, and its general subtlety is more disquieting than distressing and, as such, takes its time to take hold. It's straightforwardly enjoyable on a few occasions, though. Plus, a few of its sequences are, indeed, quite creepy. In general, it's an engaging experience. Even isn't quite as impactful as it perhaps could have been, it's an interesting experiment that mostly pays off. 6/10

When a videographer answers a Craigslist ad for a one-day job in a remote mountain town, he finds his client is not at all what he initially seems.

Initially, I was very skeptical that this would be very good. It seems to have a cast and crew of around ten people, which is not often enough to make a movie. And then it is found footage, which is by far the worst trend in horror today. Even more than zombies, which is hard to believe.

There are moments that make no sense, because you might wonder why a camera would be on. That is a fault most found footage has. But you sort of have to accept that aspect. And then, it sort of gets better as it goes. Not because it's brilliant, but because the performances are rather effective. Scripted dialogue comes out sounding natural and "the creep" is just weird enough to be believable and disturbing.

I didn't really know what to expect with this film as I hadn't read many reviews, but gave it a go. It's starts off innocently enough, and the plot is easy to follow. Then we meet Josef, who right away seems a little off-kilter, but I couldn't put my finger on why until later. As the plot moves on, I felt like I'd ventured into the dark side of YouTube, when you're looking for something normal and you end up stumbling upon all kinds of crazy stuff.

The tension was very well paced and really effective, I found myself shrinking further and further down the settee. The ending was also very surprising, I was kind of expecting it but at the same time not really? If that makes sense! A good watch.