User reviews

This found footage film follows videographer Aaron as he answers an ad to film a guy called Josef for the day. $1000. No questions asked. As Aaron spends more and more time with Josef, it becomes fairly obvious that Josef is not who he says he is, and as Josef begins to act more and more bizarre, Aaron starts to fear for his own safety.

For a low budget horror film this ticks a lot of boxes. We've all met people like this, and the way Josef is playful yet also sinister generates this uneasy vibe throughout the whole film. We are screaming for Aaron to just run and get away, and when he finally does the film descends into a pure paranoia fest. The ending was oddly interesting yet somehow unsatifying, but overall this is a great little horror that tries something new and mostly pulls it off. Give it a go.

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.

The found footage horror genre feels like a train that should have left the station a long time ago but sticks around waiting to see who else they can cram on board so they can squeeze a couple more bucks out of. Well, I'm glad that train stuck around to let "Creep" in, proving the genre isn't quite out of steam yet.

It's not so much the found footage aspect that makes "Creep" successful but the creative infusion of the mumblecore genre that breathes some life and/or scary death into the film. "Creep" is a two-hander that is co-written and co-acted by Patrick Brice (who also serves as director) and mumblecore king Mark Duplass. Brice and Duplass are able to funnel the mumblecore's priority of character development and use of a more natural dialogue, or in this case, a very naturally unnerving dialogue, into the staples of a Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) produced horror film. The combination of these three's efforts make for one, well, creepy film.

Brice plays Aaron, a normal guy looking to make a little extra cash when he answers a craigslist ad that will pay him $1,000 for a days work to videotape a day in the life of Josef, played by Duplass. The shoot has Aaron driving to Josef's family cabin at a remote mountain town where instantly both we the audience and Aaron feel things aren't right. Josef greets Aaron with a loud sneaky surprise hello, and then, foregoing a handshake, straight to a stranger hug. That last sentence pretty much captures the film experience as you go back and forth from shocking jump scares and very unsettling interactions between the vulnerable Aaron and the assertively goofy Josef.

Kudos to Mark Duplass for creating a character that is thoroughly terrifying but relatable enough and more importantly sympathetic enough to believably keep Aaron in a situation that just gets weirder and dangerously weirder. Scenes that include a naked bathing Josef giving a mimed bath to his unborn son, which he calls "tubby time", will long stay in my memory banks under the title 'frightening'. "Creep" excels by shifting gears from hilarious, to sad, to scary, to sometimes all of that at the same time. And to each their own, in the SXSW Q & A after the screening Duplass said it was great to watch as some of the audience would laugh at one part but others in the audience would wince in terror.

While Duplass and Brice heaped praises on horror guru Blum, saying they helped them achieve effectiveness in a genre they've never attempted, I still had my qualms. The jump scares become all too repetitive hitting a mathematical equation that Duplass said Blum taught them. "One jump scare every 10 minutes to keep them in the mood." Another one of my horror pet peeves is when the holder of the hand held camera in a found footage film only see's what the lense sees. So when in an open room and the camera moves left so does the character's vision which results to something surprising them by jumping out to us on screen when all that character has to do is move their own head back and forth to keep informed on what's around them (thanks for letting me rant).

The end which I won't get into has a few moments of 'you should have called the cops so much sooner', but that can't take away from intense ominous vibe that permeates. I dug "Creep", it's a film that is greatly helped by a very good actor who taps into his inner creep and gets under your skin.

"This" gets under your skin.

1 Timothy 4:1

Videographer Aaron is hired by a middle aged client called Josef in a mountain cabin, just for a single day shoot, but soon ends up regretting it. Josef displays some very unsettling behaviour which includes playing scary pranks, wearing a wolf mask, hiding Aaron's car keys and a constant need for buddy hugging, but these are harmless compared to the dark secret that he has. Not counting a phone call this rather short movie has a cast of just two but the characters bounce off each other well and form a compelling story line. Found footage has been done to death by 2014 but thankfully Creep does offer an alternative to the countless paranormal and zombie entries, though would a person be filming themselves performing such mundane tasks as opening the mail, putting an extra lock on their door, making a phone call, I think not. A lot of the running time is filmed in the great outdoors and these scenic shots are pretty good. If you are looking for multiple kills and gore go elsewhere, Creep is a chilling psychological thriller which culminates in a great ending. Well worth checking out, better than its sequel in my opinion. Part produced by Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions.

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.

Creep starts promising, but ends up being another half baked found footage movie but with good intentions. Mark Duplass is a blast to watch, playing so perfectly the charismatic psycho, making you keep till the end. The weirdness of his character helped to create some tense moments throught the film, especially those with Peachfuzz. But, as almost any other films of the genre, Creep falls in the obvious clichés: stupid jumpscares (they seriously don't make any sense), the character keeps filming when he shouldn't, etc. And my complaints don't end there. Unlike Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice (also the director) just can't act, his character is extremely unbelievable because he makes the most odd decisions. But still, Creep manages to be not a total waste because of Mark Duplass and some great tension scenes. Also the movie is very short, so you may want to give it a try, but you most likely be letdown.

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.

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

I've never been a fan of documentary style movies, but this is probably one of the better ones I've seen. Like the title, it will definitely creep you out. The movie is filled with uncomfortable and awkward moments that will creep you out in a psychological way, and I guarantee you'll groan at the main character's stupidity on more than one occasion. If you like horror/thriller movies and you can't decide what to watch, I'd recommend giving it a shot.

When i first watched this back in 2022, right when i kicked off my Letterboxd account, i hated this movie completely. I got zero enjoyment out of it. On rewatch i liked it a little bit more, but i still didn't love my time with it. My first nitpick is the pacing of the film. It's very slow even for a found footage flick, and it felt like a slog to get through very quickly. The acting performances also didn't sell me. I guess the actings fine. But there are scenes where it's apparent that Patrick Brice is not an experienced actor.

The movie holds creepy moments but fails to lift off the ground for me. It felt like it was leading up to something super impactful, which it did someone. That axe scene is so creepy and unsettling, and is easily the best thing about this movie. Honestly the whole second half of the film is pretty solid. But again i'm still not completely on board with this movie and i'm honestly surprised it's as highly regarded as it is. It's not a bad movie by any means.

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.

The movie is shot entirely from the view of Aaron's camera meaning we get plently of the handheld camera shots despite that the camera isn't too shakey and is in mostly good positions. A couple of clever editing techniques are used to get the best from film. With such a close film there is plently of time to build up character profiles. Josef's character had me feeling very cringy and unsettled. The horror does pick up later in the piece. A clever movie that builds up the tension mostly through our imaginations and other than some poor character decisions makes the story believable.

Within the first 7 minutes I had to suspend disbelief that anyone would stick around to film the creep. Plus, the unlikable wacko didn't have any proof to back up his claims. Only a complete moron would give him the benefit of the doubt after he sang and danced wearing that mask. About 15 minutes in I was replying to work emails on my phone.

If this is what's considered the future of found footage, then I will mourn its imminent death.

If we contrast this movie with its great grand-pappy, Blair Witch, we see just how far the found footage genre has come, which is surprising, considering that around the time of Blair Witch, it didn't really feel like there was a lot of mileage in that particular sub genre.

For me, Creep's greatest strength is the black humor. It's a seriously funny movie but never loses the tension that simmers under its surface. We've seen this kind of stalker idea many times before in conventional cinema of the nineties, such as Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The Fan and Cable Guy but this one really puts the viewer in the shoes of the one who is stalked.

Mark Duplass puts in a legendary performance as Josef. The first time we see him on screen, it's kind of hard to imagine him as the Creep he is meant to be but as the movie draws to its conclusion, he nails it.

It practically has "cult classic" stamped all over it.

A mild-mannered video-maker turns up in the middle of nowhere to find his mystery job is to film a memento video for a man suffering from incurable cancer. Then things get out of control.

Looks like simple found footage, but the two psychological types and their relationship ring true, so this two-hander is well played and ends up with a tight climax. I can understand people complaining about the bad decisions, but they felt right for that character.

The jump scares are just that - literal jump scares. And the actor playing the baddie varies his mood nicely. I saw him in The Lazarus Effect, but here he really shows his chops. Movies on this theme I usually find depressing, but this has clarity to it and, although the pace drags a little, it's enjoyable to watch. Add on a well wrapped up ending and it deserves a recommend.

Overall, tight and simple, with a good performance. 7/10.

Love found footage style films!Creep is by any means is not the best one,but pretty close to it)!Very simple and very effective story,somewhat little disturbing.Overall-well done!