Time: 80 Minutes
Cast:
Mark Duplass as Aaron
Desiree Akhavan as Sara
Karan Soni as Dave
Director: Patrick Brice

A video artist who craves shocking stories realises she has made a mistake when she meets a serial killer in a cabin.

The first Creep was decent, an effective found footage horror movie that managed to be unsettling yet darkly funny, boosted by a great performance from Mark Duplass. It was successful enough that it ended up getting a sequel, which I personally prefer over the original.

The premise is very similar to the first movie, in fact its just about the same. A videographer accepts an online ad and is lured by a serial killer played by Mark Duplass. However, it certainly delivers on the previous movie’s strengths. It’s a creative, funny and unnerving movie which balances horror and comedy, and is wonderfully offbeat at times. Much of it is the two main characters interacting in front of or with the camera and I found it very compelling. They do a good enough job at making it not feel like a retread of the first movie and changes things up (notably the protagonist), and also leans further into psychological scares instead of the jumpscares. In terms of notable issues, I’m not certain about the final scene of the film.

A notable improvement in the sequel is the audience surrogate, played this time by Desiree Akhavan. In the first movie, the character played by Patrick Brice constantly got jumpscared by Mark Duplass, and was scared all the time. However, the dynamic is completely different here. Akhavan’s character of Sara is smart, engaging, matches all of Duplass’s moves and holds her own against him. It is also more riveting seeing what makes this videographer stay despite him being openly creepy and even saying that he’s a serial killer. As usual, Mark Duplass is great as his serial killer character and continues to be excellent. He delivers another committed performance which is enthralling to watch. Character-wise he is an even more compelling character here than before, and it also helps that these two have a great dynamic with good chemistry.

Patrick Brice returns from the first Creep to direct the sequel and you definitely notice an improvement, with the sharper direction, and the larger production and budget. Compared to the original, its not as much of a horror movie and lacks the big jumpscares, but I think it really benefits from that. Once again, Brice utilises the found footage approach in a way that makes sense for the film, and helps add to the tension and atmosphere, especially with the long takes.

Creep 2 is around the same level of the first movie but has enough changes to not only make it stand out and not feel like a rehash, but also make it better. It’s effectively creepy and uses the found footage aspect well, it’s interesting to watch, and the performances by Desiree Akhavan and Mark Duplass are great. Worth checking out if you liked the first movie.