Creep

As this film opens two workers are walking through a London sewer; one of them discovers a collapsed wall. Behind it there is a tunnel he has never seen before... it soon becomes apparent that there is something there. The action then cuts to an office party where Kate, a German woman, rejects the advances of a man named Guy before leaving. She head to Charing Cross tube station but fall asleep on the platform and misses the last train. She is now locked in the apparently empty station. When a train stops she boards. Shortly after it pulls out of the station it stops again. It soon emerges that she is not alone; Guy is on board the train and he attempts to rape her... someone, or something, pulls Guy off her; there is clearly something more dangerous down there. While trying to escape she encounters others in the station... not many of them will survive to the morning.

This is an effective low budget horror movie. The setting is great; both the closes tube station and the sewer tunnels are naturally creepy locations without the added menace of an unknown being that is attacking people. The earlier parts of the film, before we actually see what or who is killing people are perhaps better as what we don't see is usually scarier than what we do. Once we do see the attacker the scares still come, with several quite gory attacks. The explanation as to his origins are perhaps unnecessary but don't detract from the story. Horror fans should certainly enjoy this as once the danger to Kate becomes apparent the tension rarely drops. The cast is solid; most notably Franka Polente, who impresses as Kate. Overall I wouldn't say this is a must see but I'd still say it is well worth watching if you are a horror fan.

"Creep" is a new horror film that, without a doubt, will please many genre fans simply because it's so down to the point and unscrupulous! It has many genuine shock-moments, a whole lot of repulsive gore-sequences and a rare claustrophobic tension. What it hasn't got is logic and a solid plot but, to tell you the truth, that didn't bother me for one second. When the end-credits start to roll, there are still many unanswered questions to ponder on but director/writer Christopher Smith (in his debut) seemly preferred to fully focus on tension and adrenalin-rushing action instead of long, soporific speeches and theories that could explain the existence of the "creep" in the London subway. The story revolves on the young and haughty Kate, who leaves her own party in order to go and meet the famous actor George Clooney who's in town to present his new film. She falls asleep in the subway, misses the last train and she finds herself trapped in the underground subway network. Things really get terrifying when she encounters a mad-raving lunatic who lives in the old tunnels and kills/kidnaps people to experiment upon. Even experienced homeless people, security guards or sewer-workers can't rescue her from this ravenous monster! I really dug the creep-character! He's nauseating, hideous and primitive but in a strange way fascinating. Christopher Smith only leaves us clues and hints, and it's merely up to the viewer to guess this vile creature's origin and background. I reckon this isn't very original, and I'm sure many people won't appreciate the lack of content, but I forgive Smith and I think it's better this way than going over the top completely, "Jeepers Creepers"-style (that particular film started out great as well, but as soon as the Creeper's identity was clear it turned into a very mediocre horror effort). The obvious aspect-to-love is the outrageous gore! There's some severe butchering going on in this film and the make-up, as well as the sound effects, are very convincing. The ominous setting of the abandoned London subway during night is effectively used. There also is some acting-talent present in this film, with Franka Potenta (Run Lola Run) returning to graphic horror nearly five years after the cool German film "Anatomie". Creep is terrific entertainment when you're in an undemanding mood and Christopher Smith definitely is a director I'll keep an eye on. Make sure you don't have to take the subway right after watching this film...

Decent little British horror. Basic plot, Woman gets trapped in a subway overnight. Unfortunately for her, shes not alone. Characters are a bit stereotypical, however Sean Harris' portrayal of the antagonist will make your skin crawl. Pretty fast paced, action packed with a satisfying resolution. Give it ago if you like "The Descent" or "Wrong Turn".

Brit horror successfully marries suspense and gore to create a more than decent movie.

Franka Potente is Kate, a socialite on her way to a party in London where George Clooney (Yes really) is believed to be hanging at and where she will attempt to seduce him (Yup, I'm not kidding).

However, she falls asleep at the subway station and misses the last train, leaving her trapped inside. Jeremy Sheffield's Guy is pursuing her though, and when a train finally arrives (Yes, the logic's already disintegrating), he appears out of nowhere and tries to rape her. Unfortunately for him, there is a real killer in the underground who drags him off her and wounds him fatally.

The rest of the movie is killer-pursues-Kate.

Quite frankly the logic in this one was never meant to be particularly strong. It's not even obvious that she fell asleep while waiting for the train, and instead it could have been mindgames. And indeed, mindgames seem to be the only explanation for some of the slightly ludicrous events which occur in the first half.

Nonetheless, this movie is about running away from the bad guy, whose appearance and identity imply he's 'not normal' (Are they ever), and to this end the film does a decent enough job. Once the bizarre first half hour of silliness is past, it is simple enough fare, with more than a hint of severe gore.

There's little more that can be said, such is the basic nature of this, but if you accept the intrinsic daftness of some of it, you'll get a reasonable kick out it if you like the genre.

Seen worse.

Creep doesn't do what its title suggests, it isn't exactly creepy, but it is pretty violent and gruesome. The story is fairly linear and has no plot holes that i noticed and the acting and script are OK.

The problem with Creep is that it doesn't really do anything to set it apart from the rest of the Horror crowd, but when compared to some its not to bad.

With floods of horror movies in recent years (Toolbox Murders, Grudge, White Noise, Descent, Boogeyman to name but a few) Creep is left languishing in mediorcratity.

For horror fanatics, its worth watching and it can hold its own in the genre. For movie lovers in general there is not enough here to warrant your time.

6/10