Found footage films fall into one of three categories. When done right, they are some of the most fascinating and satisfying films out there. When done wrong, the motion of the camera makes the audience nauseas and the plot relies on jump scares instead of storytelling. “Creep” lands in the third category. It develops an interesting story and catches us off guard with good twists but moves so slow that it is more fun to think about the film afterward than to actually watch it. I found that the first half hour dragged on, which is an issue in a 77-minute film. It is worth pushing through for the second half but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people give up on this film before it gets good. The slow development is necessary to the tone of the film as it progresses from slightly odd to completely creepy, and then keeps progressing beyond where you think it will! I appreciate that the film doesn’t end where we would expect and then elevates the story to a new level. I also appreciate the clever use of “found footage-ception” (you’ll get the “Inception” reference once you watch the film) to help the found footage plot device to make sense in every piece of the story. I know that I am being vague but I would hate to spoil the cleverness of Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass (the writers and stars of the film). When writing the script, you know that these two brainstormed the most uncomfortable situations that they could imagine and then improvised each scene. The characters are played well by both actors and Duplass taps into a very interesting psychological profile for Josef. I also think that it is genius for the director of the film to play the character that is behind the camera in the story. “Creep” isn’t the best found footage film that I have seen but between the tubby time, Peachfuzz, and the well-developed ending, it certainly delivers on the promise of its title.
[Pictured: This is one of the more unsettling films that you will watch]
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