2014’s Creep was for me one of the most believable found footage films I’ve ever seen, and whilst I definitely had issues with how the film presented some of its underwhelming jump scares, overall I found the film to be quite morbidly captivating. So, with the knowledge that it had a sequel I was intrigued to check it out and see whether it managed to improve upon the original. To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement.
Sara (Desiree Akhavan) is a YouTube vlogger who has come to realise that her channel (the content of which sees her meeting up with weird people who put up Craigslist ads) is a failure. However, she decides to record one final episode before retiring the gig altogether. After responding to an alluring ad post, she meets Aaron (Mark Duplass). Aaron introduces himself as a serial killer who has lost his appetite for killing and wants to psychoanalyse himself with the help of Sara’s recording and interviewing skills.
Sara (Desiree Akhavan) is a YouTube vlogger who has come to realise that her channel (the content of which sees her meeting up with weird people who put up Craigslist ads) is a failure. However, she decides to record one final episode before retiring the gig altogether. After responding to an alluring ad post, she meets Aaron (Mark Duplass). Aaron introduces himself as a serial killer who has lost his appetite for killing and wants to psychoanalyse himself with the help of Sara’s recording and interviewing skills.
Creep 2 immediately subverts your expectations for what you would expect out of a sequel by having Aaron (formerly known as Josef in the first film) openly admit that he is a serial killer in the first few minutes of the film, and that Sara won’t be his next victim so long as she agrees to do this documentary with him. So rather than Creep 2 falling into the usual traps of the found footage genre, the reason why Sara is recording everything is because if she stops, she will die. Interestingly enough Sara doesn’t believe that Aaron actually is a serial killer and wants to strip back his layers to find out what kind of person he really is. This provides a great dynamic that is entirely unique to this film, wherein the viewer is fully aware of the fact that Aaron is indeed a murderer, (even if he is lying about who he is), and we aren’t sure whether to believe whether he will keep his promise not to kill Sara; all whilst Sara is under the impression that he’s just some deeply troubled man who she can help uncover some hidden trauma.
Creep 2 isn’t exactly scary, but it’s definitely unnerving. Director Patrick Bryce really leans into the whole documentary style for this film with various sections of interviews being repeated several times either because of line mishaps, lighting problems, or just not getting the right feel for the moment. This can feel reminiscent of the conversations that never led anywhere from the original film, however because these conversations are almost always instigated by Sara and not Aaron they are almost always important to unravelling Aaron’s complex persona.
I think that’s really the factor that makes Creep 2 so much more enjoyable for me than the first film, it’s because Sara is a well written character that is intelligent enough to counter Aaron’s desire to be in control of the situation. Where the original film’s protagonist Aaron (not to be confused with Duplass’ killer who has stolen his name in this film) was quite meek and allowed Duplass’ Josef to be in control all the time, Sara never gives him that luxury and so the predator/prey dynamic is always switching between the two characters.
Creep 2 is, I daresay, the perfect sequel. It is the quintessential companion piece to the original film that takes all of your expectations and twists them into something delightfully exciting without straying from the original’s ingenious setup. Whilst Creep 2 may lack genuine scares, it doesn’t mean it should be avoided by horror aficionados. A delightful oddity in a genre that so often will just push out garish jump scare laden drivel, Creep 2 is most definitely a must watch.
Creep 2 isn’t exactly scary, but it’s definitely unnerving. Director Patrick Bryce really leans into the whole documentary style for this film with various sections of interviews being repeated several times either because of line mishaps, lighting problems, or just not getting the right feel for the moment. This can feel reminiscent of the conversations that never led anywhere from the original film, however because these conversations are almost always instigated by Sara and not Aaron they are almost always important to unravelling Aaron’s complex persona.
I think that’s really the factor that makes Creep 2 so much more enjoyable for me than the first film, it’s because Sara is a well written character that is intelligent enough to counter Aaron’s desire to be in control of the situation. Where the original film’s protagonist Aaron (not to be confused with Duplass’ killer who has stolen his name in this film) was quite meek and allowed Duplass’ Josef to be in control all the time, Sara never gives him that luxury and so the predator/prey dynamic is always switching between the two characters.
Creep 2 is, I daresay, the perfect sequel. It is the quintessential companion piece to the original film that takes all of your expectations and twists them into something delightfully exciting without straying from the original’s ingenious setup. Whilst Creep 2 may lack genuine scares, it doesn’t mean it should be avoided by horror aficionados. A delightful oddity in a genre that so often will just push out garish jump scare laden drivel, Creep 2 is most definitely a must watch.