Everyone has their staples for Halloween watching, like John Carpenter’s “Halloween” and “Nightmare Before Christmas.” But be forewarned, gentle reader, because your master of Scarimonies (God, I sound like the Crypt Keeper), Dukey Flyswatter, will suggest some gems and themes that may have flown drastically under your radar, like a schizophrenic Vampire Bat. Week five we focus on the fun stuff.
Creep (2004)
Director: Christopher Smith. Stars: Franka Potante, Sean Harris, Vas Blackwood.
“Creep” is an interesting foray into British horror. It’s very reminiscent of the 1972 British horror movie “Raw Meat” aka “Deathline,” but without stars like Donald Pleasance and Christopher Lee to focus our attention on. In fact, most of the characters are kind of bitchy and criminal, and the actors are unknown to most Americans..
A boozy bimbo at an office party gets wind of a celebrity at another party just a subway ride away on the tube. She then realizes that one of her work mates has slipped away to get to the party ahead of her to seduce said movie star before she can get there. Her plans are thwarted by a male colleague. He figures the dark subway tunnels are perfectly suited for rape. But before said violation can be completed, the assailant is dragged off by an unseen thing. Unfortunately, the office worker gets trapped in the tube and pursued by the title horror and imprisoned in a watery trap to be saved for torture and faux medical experiments.
Creep isn’t very original in it’s concept, but it does have the distinction of using flawed characters as its main course for the creature that haunts the undiscovered parts of the train tunnels. Where it does excel is in its direction, its monster, its cinematography and its jump scares. If you’re looking for something a bit weird, but easy to follow, “Creep” may be the thing. “Creep can be found on Netflix, but there are other films also using that title, so look for the 2004 film.
