Scary Movie Month 2015 Day 6: Creep (2014)

Creep (2014)

Josef (Mark Duplass) is not well. In fact, Josef is dying. He hires a videographer, Aaron (Patrick Brice, who also directed), to come to his remote mountain home and film him so that he can have something of himself to leave for his unborn child when he's gone. There's something odd about Josef, but is that just eccentricity or is there something more sinister at play? 

First of all, I'm a sucker for movies like this: only two speaking roles, limited to a small handful of locations (but it doesn't feel stagy, which is an accomplishment in itself), it's an intimate way to make a movie and that resonates with me and tends to make it more involving. Secondly, there is no screenplay credit, Duplass & Brice share a "story by" credit, which is fascinating to me. If this was truly improvised it's one hell of an improv. I believe there's a commentary track available on iTunes, if so I'm going to have to check it out because I'd love to know what the writing process was like. 

The performances are both solid, but Duplass in particular is excellent, making Josef likable and threatening in equal measure as more of the truth comes to light. As he's a guy who seems to have a new movie out or a new TV show airing every other week, it's doubly impressive to see someone so familiar play a character that's so enigmatic. Josef is very different from anyone I've ever seen him play and he's terrifically creepy in the role. 

I saw this one for the first time a couple of months ago and it's been in the back of my mind since. It really got under my skin and was an unexpected surprise. On this viewing, knowing the turns that it was going to take, I still found myself feeling just as nervous as the first time. For me, that's a hallmark of a particularly strong thriller, and I hope Duplass and Brice do more in this vein. As low-key horror goes, this is one of the best I've seen lately.