C R E E P
SYNOPSIS
A broke videographer takes a gig to record a day with a dying man, for his unborn son. Except the client's not really dying, there is no unborn son, and everything else is a lie, too.
OPINION
At no point during my first viewing of Creep did I know what I was in for next. Being shot in a cinéma vérité style (except, being fictional, il n'y a pas du vérité ici), on inexpensive digital video, and having the director also act as the in-film videographer character creates a weird hyperreal tension. Mark Duplass's naturalistic, friendly, easy-going character acting weaves this tension into a kind of natural territory for Josef - who is also, of course, acting within the context of the film. You feel like Josef is lying to you, personally, and his weird mannerisms and asides never quite rise to the level of the sinister, until, of course, they do.
CAST + CREW
Director: Patrick Brice (The Overnight, Corporate Animals)
Cast: Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair, Humpday)
Patrick Brice (Creep 2)
CONTENT (spoilered; highlight for warnings)
sociopathy, charm, gaslighting, stalking, obsession, betrayal
CAREER STATS [on a scale from 1 (least) to 10 (most)]
FUN: 6
Depends on your definition - but Duplass's Josef is a joy.
SCARINESS: 6
It's not "scary", I suppose, but something VERY real is here.
INTENSITY: 9
There's a breath-holding, what's-next quality to much of it.
RECOMMENDABILITY: 7
A little harder to get into than the sequel, maybe.
