Fiery Pen

I watched the first Creep the night before driving out to the Telluride Horror Show. To be honest, I fell asleep. Not that this was any fault of the movie. I tend to pass out near instantaneously if I hold still at home. I set the laptop down, and I was a goner.

Either way, my defect leaves me slightly disadvantaged when it comes to reviewing Creep 2. Or it allows me to give a view unbiased by the previous movie. Either way.

In Creep, Josef lures a videographer to document his life as he is “dying of cancer” and then subsequently (spoiler alert!) kills the poor guy. In Creep 2, Josef now Aaron is back at it. He enlists a new videographer under new pretenses, this time an ambitious female vlogger.

From what I remember, the two movies are very similar. They follow the same formula. Introduction to the future victim. Introduction to the killer (though in the second one, we know for sure he is a killer). Killer toying with the victim. Violence. Not that the formula does not work, but it is a formula.

The main difference between the two, for me, was the dynamic between Josef/Aaron and his victims. Original Aaron is more innocent and naive. He is there for the money then seems to ultimately want to help Josef capture his life for his alleged unborn child. Sara, however, is the opposite.

Sara meets with New Aaron to exploit him. She hosts a web series about personal ads and online dating, and she seizes this opportunity to capture the perfect subject. This adds a new layer to the situation, a question of who is manipulating who.

I enjoyed both Creep movies, and I may be in the minority opinion, but I think I enjoyed Creep 2 more. The found footage approach is done very well, as it does not get too Blair Witch-y. The filming becomes a characteristic of the videographer, and that adds to the experience.

Mark Duplass is really the best part of both movies. His portrayal of Josef/Aaron is so convincing, so goofy and well executed. He honestly, so far, makes the franchise.

I will definitely be watching Creep 3 when it is released. I am curious to sew how the trilogy is wrapped up.