12 of 12 viewers "Liked" "Creep" (USA, 2014)
Here's what the citizens of the Overlook Theatre had to say:
Huntress - "Finally, found footage done right! Creep was an unapologetically slow burn, full of thought out shots as well as camera jolts. It wasn't just an hour of static and rapid fire cuts; Creep added something new and worth talking about to the genre. Absolutely worth re-watching!" - 5 Stars
Ice Giant - "Creep does a lot with a little. I watched this one after watching a string of horrible found footage and it was very refreshing to finally have one that wasn't about ghosts or demons. It further emphasized a point I made in my short video post. Humans don't need any demons or monsters... We're scary enough on our own." - 4.5 Stars
KillDozer - "Never before has a title matched a film so well! With only 2 characters sharing screen time, it's hard to tell who the real creep is. Nothing we haven't seen before, this one trick pony is still incredibly engrossing and fun to watch. Not a fan of the "found footage" genre I was happily surprised to see something new and actually creepy as the title would suggest." - 4 Stars (collection worthy)
Math Mage - "This felt like an episode of Scare Tactics except that it was both terrifying and funny. I'm very glad that there was no Radiohead as that is my least favorite song by them. "Peachfuzz" was not much of an improvement however. And unlike our protagonist I refuse to enjoy things ironically. Is this film a critique of the narcissism and naivete of hipsters or do those traits merely make our protagonist ideal prey for our antagonist? Maybe I'm reading to much into it." - 4 Stars
The Impostor - "Found footage is hit or miss. I enjoy watching this genre of horror good or bad. Most found footage films have not been great, especially as of late. Creep for me changed that and it left me wanting more. Simple yet frighteningly probable. The suspense, tension and buildup worked well and kept me guessing what will happen next. Writer/director/co-star Patrick Brice is a filmmaker I will definitely keep an eye on. By the way Peachfuzz is creepily awesome, I'd love to see more of him. Overall I highly recommend this horror gem." - 4.5 Stars
Johnny Ocelot - "Creep seems to always have an uncomfortable air that never dissipates." - 3 Stars
Lord Battle - "Strategically framed thoughtful shots, combined with some awesome acting puts Creep within the top 10 found footage films." - 5 Stars
The Berkeley Blazer - " A well-crafted effective high-tension humor hi-jinks that has no shortage of good jumps, but also can be incredibly annoying due to laziness in creating a plausible situation. Never mind though, the film achieves its goal with panache." - 4 Stars
The Overlook Theatre Final Rating*
(Below is for after you've seen the film)
The film opens on a serene hillside, lightly dotted with trees. From up the hill comes a man dragging a shovel and some garbage bags. He places the garbage bags to the side of the camera frame and begins digging a hole. The camera lingers here for awhile and lets our imagination take us to darker places. The hole is now a grave and the bags are of course filled with limbs of this mans victims. This of course is not how the movie Creep opens but it is the opening to his first DVD sent by Josef. This scene is a perfect example of the magic within Creep. Strategically framed thoughtful shots combined with some awesome acting put Creep in the top 10 best found footage films.
Creep actually opens like many other found footage films, introducing us to our guide and allowing them to set the scene. From the moment Aaron (Patrick Brice also the Director/Writer) pulls up to the house, we are now in Josef's film.
As you know, Josef was in the bushes taking pictures of Aaron at this time. I believe this is part of a ritual that Josef goes through every time he takes up an ad. He takes this time to see what kind of car they drive, if they arrive alone or not, and how they react to being stood-up (And if they film any of it).
Once we are in Josef's house, we get some exposition as he runs through his motivations for his ad. As he speaks he stands in front of a cubby (on his left), that's lit by an exposed light bulb fixed into the wall. And to his right, lies a dark stair case leading up. This shot is framed perfectly to display a warning created by the yin-yang of light, but this is a horror film and the dark stairs are where we all know Aaron is going. The interesting thing about this shot is trying to decide how to think about it. What I mean is we could look at the picture the light paints us and think Patrick Brice did a good job framing the shot or we can stay in character and see it as something Josef wanted in his film. After all he is a huge horror fan as is evident by the end of the film...
After we head upstairs, Josef begins to strip for a bath scene he feels needs to be filmed. This obviously had been planned out all along and I believe the activities he and Aaron participate in throughout the day are a strategic attempt to deconstruct Aaron as an adult male.
He starts by giving him a symbolic bath (in a tub surrounded by candles...). He claims this is to share Buddy's first tubby whether he survives or not, but I think he's doing this to get Aaron used to being addressed like a child and to think of Josef as a father figure. It's no coincidence that he refers to his imaginary child as buddy. He chose Buddy so when he looked at the camera and talked in his baby voice he could be addressing anyone. This also works if you apply this theory to the follow events: the song he sings as Peachfuzz, the hike to the heart pool and the baptizim in it, the story he gets out of Aaron in the diner, and the gift wolf he sends him. And it seems to work; Aaron begins having dreams where the subliminal conditioning is literally being played out in the heart pool with a baby Peachfuzz mask on!
If all goes as planned we should be seeing two more sequels from Patrick Brice, I only hope he continues to document Mark Duplass or Peachfuzz or whatever name he's going by in the future. I seriously have seen Creep 3 times this week and each time I saw something new. Bravo Patrick Brice!
Abandoned Theory:
The hair he cut from Aaron's head was to add to Peachfuzz's mane. I abandoned this theory because I now believe that scene is just what would have happened if Aaron had stayed the night originally, thus is part of his regular ritual.
- Lord Battle
Creep actually opens like many other found footage films, introducing us to our guide and allowing them to set the scene. From the moment Aaron (Patrick Brice also the Director/Writer) pulls up to the house, we are now in Josef's film.
As you know, Josef was in the bushes taking pictures of Aaron at this time. I believe this is part of a ritual that Josef goes through every time he takes up an ad. He takes this time to see what kind of car they drive, if they arrive alone or not, and how they react to being stood-up (And if they film any of it).
Once we are in Josef's house, we get some exposition as he runs through his motivations for his ad. As he speaks he stands in front of a cubby (on his left), that's lit by an exposed light bulb fixed into the wall. And to his right, lies a dark stair case leading up. This shot is framed perfectly to display a warning created by the yin-yang of light, but this is a horror film and the dark stairs are where we all know Aaron is going. The interesting thing about this shot is trying to decide how to think about it. What I mean is we could look at the picture the light paints us and think Patrick Brice did a good job framing the shot or we can stay in character and see it as something Josef wanted in his film. After all he is a huge horror fan as is evident by the end of the film...
After we head upstairs, Josef begins to strip for a bath scene he feels needs to be filmed. This obviously had been planned out all along and I believe the activities he and Aaron participate in throughout the day are a strategic attempt to deconstruct Aaron as an adult male.
He starts by giving him a symbolic bath (in a tub surrounded by candles...). He claims this is to share Buddy's first tubby whether he survives or not, but I think he's doing this to get Aaron used to being addressed like a child and to think of Josef as a father figure. It's no coincidence that he refers to his imaginary child as buddy. He chose Buddy so when he looked at the camera and talked in his baby voice he could be addressing anyone. This also works if you apply this theory to the follow events: the song he sings as Peachfuzz, the hike to the heart pool and the baptizim in it, the story he gets out of Aaron in the diner, and the gift wolf he sends him. And it seems to work; Aaron begins having dreams where the subliminal conditioning is literally being played out in the heart pool with a baby Peachfuzz mask on!
If all goes as planned we should be seeing two more sequels from Patrick Brice, I only hope he continues to document Mark Duplass or Peachfuzz or whatever name he's going by in the future. I seriously have seen Creep 3 times this week and each time I saw something new. Bravo Patrick Brice!
Abandoned Theory:
The hair he cut from Aaron's head was to add to Peachfuzz's mane. I abandoned this theory because I now believe that scene is just what would have happened if Aaron had stayed the night originally, thus is part of his regular ritual.
*Based on the star ratings turned in by character reviewers, others viewed and got to "Dislike" or "Like" but that does not effect the rating.
No comments:
Post a Comment