Netflix's Most Underrated Found-Footage Thriller is Back — With a Twist
A creep since the day he was born.
Ever since The Blair Witch Project popularized the found-footage horror, the format has been a go-to for movies on a budget. However, fans can only watch so many spooky tales of “real” abandoned cameras and missing persons before the shtick gets old.
In 2014, however, a duology used the technique to make a smart, intimate horror movie that’s equally terrifying and goofy. Now, a decade later, the series is returning in a new form that’s perfect for its story.
According to Variety, Duplass Brothers Productions has wrapped filming on The Creep Tapes, a TV series continuation of Creep and Creep 2, which were directed by Patrick Brice and co-written by Brice and star Mark Duplass. A brief teaser was also posted on Instagram.
The first Creep follows Aaron (director Patrick Brice), a videographer hired by the personable Josef (Mark Duplass) to create a tape for his unborn son to watch after he succumbs to cancer. However, as Aaron films Josef in his remote cabin, it’s revealed that Josef is a serial killer who uses this cover story to lure in his victims, and Aaron’s footage is added to a collection of others.
Mark Duplass plays the disarming but disturbed killer.
With that context, it’s clear The Creep Tapes will consist of the other tapes in Josef’s collection, each following a videographer hired for the day by, per the series’ official description, “the world’s deadliest and most socially uncomfortable serial killer.” The anthology-style format echoes another Duplass Brothers production, the underrated HBO drama Room 104.
The Creep Tapes doesn’t have a streaming home yet, as the series has been independently produced and will now be shopped to distributors, but the TV format is perfect for Creep’s found-footage gimmick. The films were fascinating because of their slow transition from a wholesome character portrait to a terrifying mortal struggle, a transition that could be amplified and riffed on in a shorter-form TV series.
While the new show’s future is unclear, now’s the perfect time to catch up on this underrated little series. Creep and its sequel are the perfect example of small-scale horror: there are only a handful of characters, the situation is unique, and the performances are strong. And while Josef may be a monster, you’ll understand his love of the camera.
