Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Movie Review: "Creep" (2014)

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Movie"Creep"
Director: Patrick Brice
Year: 2014
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 22 minutes

Josef (Mark Duplass) puts an add on Craigslist saying he needs a cameraman for a discrete project. A videographer named Aaron (Patrick Brice) answers the add and takes the job. Josef tells Aaron that he has an inoperable brain tumor and is shooting a "day in the life of dad" video for his unborn son. As the day moves on, it becomes clear to Aaron that Josef isn't exactly right in the head and may not be telling the truth. Josef may also have some ulterior motives and is a bit of a creep. 

Written by and starring both Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice (who also directed the film), "Creep" is a low budget, small scale found footage horror/dramedy with a mild amount of buzz from social media. Duplass plays Josef, a man who claims to be dying. He took an add out on Craigslist to hire a videographer to film a day in his life for his unborn son since he won't be around to see him grow up. Aaron, played by Patrick Brice, is the cameraman who accepts the job and goes to Josef's remote cabin to shoot this footage. At first, Aaron feels bad for Josef because he had no clue he was dying. They travel around to all of Josef's favorite places, remote woods, a small restaurant he said was his favorite place to eat, a hidden heart-shaped pool of water with rumored "healing powers." After some unsettling remarks and some uncertain claims by Josef, things spiral out of control for the two men irreparably.

Josef and Aaron are the only two characters to ever appear on camera throughout the duration of the movie which gives it the feel of a student-made film, or perhaps something you'd make with your friends. This also makes it much more sinister as no one else knows about their meeting with one another. Even though found footage is not our favorite sub-genre and type of film making, the found footage style works in this circumstance. The fact that it is limited to just two characters really does add the movie's overall creepiness factor. There is a really eerie, great mood throughout the film, and much of the time, you'll feel very unsettled while watching it. Mark Duplass does such a good job of being just weird enough as Josef. He walks a very thin line between goofiness and insanity. While we watched, we had to ask ourselves, "Is this a guy who is simply trying to make the most of what little life he has left, or is he really more maniacal with an ulterior motive to this little job he's hired Aaron to do?" As a character, Josef certainly does and says some weird things, but he always seems to have an excuse or an explanation as to why he does and say what he does and says. There is something behind his smile that is quite unnerving, and Duplass is unsuspecting enough to pull it off with flying colors. Though we don't see or hear much of Aaron until the end of the movie, as with any movie of the horror genre, the audience will yell at the screen when we know he's doing something stupid. Here, the things Aaron does eventually have a purpose, but we still can't help but be angry by his stupidity.

"Creep" isn't the type of horror film that relies on blood or gore to scare its audience, and though it does have the occasional jump scare, it doesn't overdo it and everything here work together very well to create a wonderful little film. It's the psychological aspect, the setting of the film, and the fact that it's a scenario that could happen in real life which makes this an effective horror and a thrilling movie. We weren't expecting much, and I was blown away to say the least. I was creeped out all night and for an entire day about this film, so we urge you to watch it to see if you want to feel the same way.

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 95%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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Two years ago, we were watching: "Halloween"

One year ago, we were watching: "Black Sheep"

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