Creep – Second Sight Films

Director: Patrick Brice
Screenplay: Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice
Starring: Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice
Country: United States
Running Time: 78 min
Year: 2014

Despite the fact that I previously started my review for The Blair Witch Project expressing my mixed feelings on the found footage sub-genre, I find myself compelled to check out as many of these films as I can. Even though the hit rate isn’t great, when you find a truly great found footage film, the feeling is incomparable. Back in 2015, when Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass’ Creep hit Netflix over here in the UK, I was shocked and blown away by the film. I was completely unfamiliar with Duplass’ work, but found the film terrifying, uncomfortable and unforgettable. 

Almost a decade on from that, my opinion on the film started to shift, mostly because it’d been so long and I was nervous that revisiting the film, especially after discovering so many other incredible found footage films would leave a sour taste in my mouth. However, when Second Sight announced that they were giving the film its worldwide Blu-ray debut, I decided that it was finally time to revisit the film and see if it was as great as teenage me thought it was.

Creep, originally titled Peachfuzz, didn’t start out as a horror film. In fact, it was designed to work as an awkward, uncomfortable comedy film with the strange dynamic of the two leads, Aaron and Josef. However, when people close to filmmakers Brice and Duplass saw a rough cut of the film, they all commented on how unnerving Duplass was as Josef, a man who wants Aaron, a total stranger to document his final two months. So Brice and Duplass went back to film additional scenes and with the help of horror-producer behemoth Jason Blum, they turned it into a full-fledged horror film.

In the film, Josef (Mark Duplass) has a brain tumour that’s incurable and he wants to leave behind a video diary for his unborn son. Unfortunately, for Aaron (Patrick Brice), Josef is… unusual. Whether it’s immediately going in for a hug when he first meets him, asking him to record him in the tub, butt-naked for the video diary or telling uncomfortable stories about activities between him and his wife, Josef is an unnerving person to be around. Aaron tries his best to deal with the situation and for a horror film protagonist, mostly makes the right decisions when it comes to being trapped in the presence of a real creep (ba-dum-tss). 

The thing that I really love about Creep is Mark Duplass, hands down. If you come away from the film thinking about anything, it’ll be his performance. Josef is a deeply disturbing individual, but not in the traditional film sense where there’s a big exposition dump about his tragic past, or you see him committing horrendous crimes that cement his evil nature. It’s his mannerisms, it’s his ability to almost lie on command, recounting stories that could be true, but could be complete bullshit. It’s a phenomenal performance that shocked viewers and impressed critics worldwide, and for good reason. Brice’s performance as Aaron is solid too, no shade to him whatsoever, but Duplass is owning every second he’s on screen, which is great as he’s on screen for 80% of the runtime. 

On a filmmaking level, the film’s alright. It’s your typical found footage film from the 2010s without anything remarkable about the production, which will be fine for most viewers given the format’s limitations, and it definitely adds a level of realism that works well for most people. I found it a little underwhelming on the technical side and my biggest issue, without a doubt, is the obnoxious and cheap jump-scares littered throughout the film. Given that Jason Blum, the man known for Paranormal Activity, Sinister, Oculus and the Insidious films came on board late into production, it’s no surprise that the film incorporates these more traditional scares for audience members, but it results in the film being more formulaic which is massively disappointing. There’s such an incredible level of tension throughout the entire film, purely based on the performances, the dialogue and the uncomfortable levels of silence in some key scenes, all of which get undercut by a loud noise that gets a quick jolt out of the audience. 

Still, I enjoy Creep for what it is. It’s not perfect and again, feels like a bit of missed potential with how insistent it is on resorting to bog-standard horror tropes in the latter half of the film, but when it’s good, it’s great. If it sounds interesting to you and you haven’t checked this one out, there’s never been a better time. A couple of years after the film’s release, a sequel Creep 2 released and three weeks back (at the time of writing), a Shudder original series titled The Creep Tapes was released, reuniting Brice and Duplass once again. Creep fans are eating good right now.

Film:

Creep releases on Limited Edition Blu-ray via Second Sight Films on December 9th. It’s the first time that the film’s had a high-definition Blu-ray release after being relegated to DVD and streaming for a decade. The transfer is an interesting one, given the source limitations of being shot digitally and due to that, there’s a great deal of noise and not a whole lot of crisp visuals throughout, but regardless of that, it’s still great to see the film make the jump to Blu-ray. Audio wise, it’s a decent track too, with 2.0 PCM track. Optional English subtitles are included too. Overall, it’s a good A/V presentation. The following extras are included:

New audio commentary with Director Patrick Brice, Editor Christopher Donlon and Actor Mark Duplass

Archive audio commentary with Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass

Peachfuzz: A new interview with Director Patrick Brice

Into Darker Territory: A new interview with Actor Mark Duplass

Expand the Universe: A new interview with Editor Christopher Donlon

10 Years of Creep: A live Q&A with Cast and Crew

Deleted Scene: Cold Opening

Alternative Scene: Message to Aaron

Alternative Endings

Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Luke Headland

70-page book with new essays by Sarah Appleton, Kat Ellinger, David Kittredge and Amber T

6 collectors’ art cards 

There’s two audio commentaries, one that was on the old DVD release and one exclusive to this release. The archival track features Duplass and Brice getting ‘down and dirty’ about the production, how it was originally titled Peachfuzz before devolving into a horror film and the pair have great chemistry on the track. It’s a really fun listen that’s worth your time. The second track, new to this release isn’t quite as entertaining but features Duplass and Brice returning, alongside editor Christopher Donlon talking about their experiences making the film as well as revisiting it ten years on from its initial release. Both are solid tracks but I preferred the archival track out of the two. 

Interview-wise, Second Sight have knocked it out of the bag with a selection of three in-depth interviews with director Patrick Brice, actor Mark Duplass and editor Christopher Donlon. The interview with Brice is a fun one, running for 37 minutes and having him detail how he and Duplass came up with the concept for the film, the constraints and challenges of making a found footage horror film in the wake of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity and more. The Duplass interview is 18 minutes and a fascinating watch too. He talks about his distaste for found footage horror and how Creep wasn’t initially intended to be a pure horror film, as well as the variety of the endings and alternate scenes that didn’t make the final cut. Duplass is an extremely interesting figure and offers one of the most compelling interviews I’ve seen on a Second Sight release in quite some time. Finally, the interview with Donlon is another good one, running for 16 minutes and he discusses his early years editing with his friends before getting attached to Creep. A lot of the information told in this is similar to the prior to, in terms of the original intent of the film, but hearing some of the more technical aspects from Donlon are the highlight of this interview. A solid trio of interviews.

10 Years of Creep is a live Q&A celebrating the tenth anniversary of the film. It opens with a message highlighting potential audio or visual issues due to the fact that it’s a live recorded event, which is understandable. The Q&A runs for 30 minutes and features Duplass, Dominion and Brice (via Zoom, from the sounds of things) answering questions about the film, such as the influences on the film and more. Overall, it’s a solid Q&A that’s worth watching if you’re a fan of the film.

A series of deleted and alternate scenes are included and they’re all interesting. The Cold Opening’s solid, along with the alternate message to Aaron from Josef. Two alternate endings are also included which offer different variations on the theatrical ending. All of these are interesting watches. 

I wasn’t provided with the physical goodies or the booklet, so I’m unable to comment on those but from all accounts, they’ll be as great as Second Sight’s usual releases.

The Second Sight Films release of Creep is an important one for film preservation. Given that it’s been relegated to DVD for a decade, it’s great to see it finally make the jump to Blu-ray. The transfer looks pretty good, given the source limitations and the supplemental content is great. Fans of found footage horror with a twist to it should give this a shot. Highly recommended.

Disc/Packaging:

Where to watch Creep