Creep
Creep (2014)
2014 · United States · 77 min
- Director
- Patrick Brice
- Screenplay
- Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice
- Producer
- Jason Blum
- Music
- Kyle Field
- Editing
- Christopher Donlon
- Production company
- Blumhouse Productions, Duplass Brothers Productions
What the critics say
91 % Rotten Tomatoes positive reviewsCast
What it is about
Strapped for cash, videographer Aaron takes an online job: travel to a remote cabin and record a day in the life of Josef, a man who says he is dying and wants a video diary for his unborn child. The day grows steadily more uncomfortable as Josef's eccentric behavior and the stories he tells about himself refuse to add up.
How it was made
The project grew out of conversations between Brice and Mark Duplass, who co-stars, and from Duplass's strange experiences on Craigslist, as well as films like My Dinner with Andre, Misery and Fatal Attraction. It was first developed under the working title Peachfuzz, after the wolf mask owned by Duplass's character, but the name was changed because the mask's significance only emerges later. The pair refined the script during shooting, screening footage to see what worked on camera, which produced many versions of each scene and several alternate endings. Brice plays the videographer while directing his first feature, and Duplass builds a deliberately ambiguous character whose psychology drives the story.
Reception and legacy
The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 8, 2014, and reached audiences through video on demand and Netflix in 2015. Critics were largely positive, and it holds an approval rating of about 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers praised its inventiveness within the found-footage form, though some felt Duplass's performance could have kept more doubt alive. Its reception led to a 2017 sequel, also directed by Brice, and the spin-off series The Creep Tapes.
Stills
Trailer
Clicking loads the video from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode). Open on YouTube
Trivia
A working title
Before becoming Creep, the project was known as Peachfuzz. The makers changed the name so viewers would not get stuck on a reference that only gains meaning later.
Dozens of variants
Duplass estimated there were 10 to 12 permutations of each scene, which left several alternate endings shot during production.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.