“What happened? Oh. That’s just Peach Fuzz!” – Josef (Creep, 2014)
It’s been ten years since the wholly original, shockingly inexpensive and surprise hit, Creep, was unleashed onto the movie-going public. Creep is the brainchild of filmmakers Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass, who sought out to make a black comedy of sorts about the awkwardness of being stuck with a single person, not knowing what to say, for an extended period of time. But, Brice and Duplass stumbled onto a story, and a character in particular, that ended up being one of the most grisly yet entertaining creations of the 2010s. Like I had just mentioned, Creep was cheap to make. The filmmaking duo are also tasked with carrying the movie on the screen as well, with both being the stars of the movie. Brice’s character, Aaron, is a videographer who takes on a freelance gig where he has to go to the customer, Josef, played by Mark Duplass, and film Josef’s dying message to his unborn son. What unfolds after is pure nightmare fuel in regards to being stuck with not just an awkward stranger in a remote location, but learning the hard way that this person could potentially be a sociopath and violent serial killer. After receiving the newest Blu-ray edition of Creep from the good folks over at Second Sight Films, I have so many new thoughts on Creep both on the screen with this new print, and its legacy off the screen. So, let’s get into it…
To start, it goes without saying that the lasting legacy of Creep is the powerhouse performance by Mark Duplass as Josef. I’d imagine most people would be familiar with Duplass as Pete from the hit FX sitcom The League, which ran from 2009-2015. Duplass thrived in that show as the affably normal, yet still uniquely hilarious member of the cast. Outside of The League, Duplass is also a well-known filmmaker in the independent film scene. Mark, along with his brother Jay, have written and directed quite a few indie hits like Jeff, Who Lives at Home and Cyrus. The brothers have also ventured into television, with shows like Togetherness and Room 104. In my opinion though, Duplass’ performance in Creep, as the maniacal Josef, is the best of his career. Josef is about as bad as it gets in terms of having a violent and insidious nature, but Duplass inherently brings such a bombastic and fun energy to the role. I remember being so caught off guard by the performance on the first watch, initially not totally getting it, but now after revisiting, I have much more of an appreciation for how colored-in the Josef character is, and how Duplass is a real showstopper in that role. Duplass’ Josef is just as fun in Creep 2, as well as the new Shudder Original series, The Creep Tapes. So, it’s not just a flash in the pan type performance. I don’t know if it’s a compliment or an insult, but Duplass was born to play the Josef part. Even though I’m a real sucker for The Lazarus Effect, I can’t imagine Duplass ever being better in a horror film…
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Most found footage horror that has hit with audiences has been rooted in the supernatural, and sometimes extra-terrestrial. The visual style of the found footage sub-genre lends itself perfectly to supernatural storytelling because the presentation leans so heavily on “did you see that” type moments and situations where the audience POV is pretty much, if not exactly, the same as the characters’ POV. When done right, this visual presentation leads to complete immersion for the audience, and can be very effective. Creep, on the other hand, isn’t rooted in the supernatural, extra-terrestrial or anything unrealistic.
Creep is wholly raw, and way too realistic for anyone to feel comfortable with. The entirety of Creep plays like the famous basement scene in Zodiac, where Jake Gyllenhaal’s character, Graysmith, is led into the basement of a person of interest in the case, Vaughn, played by Charles Fleischer, in a moment that begins as an innocent(ish) meeting and painstakingly evolves into a claustrophobic nightmare where the Vaughn character flipped from seemingly awkward and innocent, to deeply insidious and bone-chilling. The best part of this sequence is that Vaughn doesn’t actually break bad at any point, but the situation itself is so obviously dangerous that it gets under the audience’s skin. In Creep, the situation Aaron finds himself in right from the jump, a stranger in a strange man’s house, in the middle of nowhere, where the man, Josef, has clearly brought you here under false pretenses. And the worst of it all, this Josef character is out of his tree. Not only is Aaron trapped with Josef, the audience is as well…
From the special features on this disc, in an in-depth interview with Brice, he reveals he and Duplass had known each other for years prior to Creep, and set out to make a black comedy of sorts, and not a horror movie, called Peach Fuzz. Yes, Peach Fuzz is a funny name, I just chuckled too, but thank god that was changed to Creep. Creep is the perfect title for this movie, for so many reasons. One, because it works as a franchise title. But mostly because the audience is spending an hour and twenty minutes with a real creep.
It’s interesting to think of how Creep started off in the minds of the filmmakers, and then how it ended up transpiring. Brice, Duplass and Chris Donlon (the editor) really found something with this story and these characters and this setup that explored the original idea of an awkward Craigslist meetup gone horribly wrong. They also did a nice job realizing that this story makes so much sense as a true horror movie, and fully diving into that. Creep is great because it originated from a place that wasn’t horror whatsoever, which allowed for a different type of energy where in a separate interview on this disc, Duplass confirms that Creep was originally received by the audience like it was a found footage version of What About Bob?, which is such a different energy than the typical horror movie. I feel like a big reason for the success of Creep is how unique it is in that regard. In that same interview on this disc, Duplass goes into detail on how there was so much thought and backstory put into the Josef character, and the result of that is a densely rich horror villain that does the thing that all horror filmmakers strive for with their villains, creating a villain who the audience is terrified of, but also loves…
Regarding the filmmaking itself, I was pretty blown away while revisiting this movie. I wouldn’t say I was blown away with the transfer itself. That’s mostly because Creep is a found footage movie, and wasn’t really meant to be visually stylish in a way that say an old Giallo movie from the 1960s might be improved upon with a Blu-ray transfer. I was more impressed on this go around with the storytelling techniques and the depth of the characters. One thing in particular being the ax that is shown early on in the film which then obviously becomes a very important weapon later in the movie. I also found the wolf mask to look incredibly good this time around and it fits the Josef character perfectly. Every horror villain needs some kind of mask, outfit, weapon, etc. And the wolf mask, well, I should say Peach Fuzz, because that is of course what Josef calls his wolf mask, is now synonymous with this franchise for me.
I think when I first watched Creep back in 2014, I didn’t appreciate the technical brilliance and how well the filmmaking team utilized dread and tension, mixing slow-burn with occasional high energy, and holding the attention of the audience even though majority of the action on screen is two guys sharing terribly awkward conversations.
Lastly in this regard, and I’ll try to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t seen it, I absolutely loved how the movie doesn’t take place entirely on Josef’s compound, when they could have absolutely just decided to keep it on one location to cut costs and all that. But instead, Creep concludes in one of the most deeply unsettling final scenes of the 2010s and one of the best final acts of the decade as well. As a whole, Creep is littered with excellent creative decisions, and everything just simply came together exactly how it should have…
Overall, this Blu-ray edition of Creep from Second Sight is jam-packed with so many special features that will appeal to fans of the franchise, but also those who want to learn about making low budget horror movies. This box set includes two different commentary tracks, one being the original with Duplass and Brice, and the other being a new version just for this set that includes Brice, Duplass and Donlon. Not only that, but there are sit down interviews with Brice, Duplass and Donlon individually, as well as a live Q&A after a screening of the film at Vidiots. And of course, alternate endings and deleted scenes are included as well. For fans of Creep, I highly recommend this Blu-ray edition of the movie. After digesting all of the special features, you can tell the filmmakers had and are still having so much fun in the Creep universe. I hope they continue on this venture, because they clearly found something that works. I know one thing for damn sure, I’ll be thinking twice about taking on any work from strangers on Craigslist going forward. Creep is an innovative and unique foray into the found footage horror genre, filled with angst and realistic awkwardness, to go with slow-burn doom and vicious terror. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone…
Wicked Horror Rating: 7.5/10
From Second Sight Films, this limited edition Blu-ray box set of Creep is available as of December 9th, 2024.
