Caemeron Crain
Fans of the Creep films, rejoice! Seven years after the release of Creep 2, we’ve finally gotten another installment (or six) in the series, with the release of The Creep Tapes on Shudder. Apparently, Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice struggled to land on an idea for Creep 3 that felt right, so they’ve instead produced an anthology TV series, which is, in my mind, even better.
In this piece, I’ll be reviewing the first two episodes of The Creep Tapes (both written by Duplass & Brice and directed by Brice) since they are being released together for the premiere. The decision to begin each episode with a full minute of the Emergency Broadcast System—complete with colored bars and a distressing tone—strikes me as almost mean, but in a way that makes me chuckle. And, insofar as Mark Duplass’s character tends to also distress me while making me chuckle at the same time, I think it fits the vibe.
I’ll take the episodes one at a time, since each basically amounts to a short Creep film. We begin with “Mike.” Spoilers ahead!
“Mike”
The Creep Tapes S1E1 begins with Mike (Mike Luciano) arriving to a cabin in the woods in the winter. This sets a similar tone to the beginning of the first Creep film, which feels fitting.
There is a note that tells Mike to be sure that he is already filming before he enters the cabin, and then another note reiterating that request before he gets to the door. Once he’s inside, there is yet another note about how he should already be filming, along with a script on the table.
Mark Duplass’s character appears at the top of the stairs and is playing a vampire. The dialogue is incredibly overwrought. But then, after a jump scare, he breaks from the vampire character to talk to Mike as himself.
Or… I wasn’t quite sure how to put that. You’ll recall that in Creep this character goes by the name Josef, while in Creep 2 he goes by Aaron. In The Creep Tapes S1E1, he’ll ultimately say that his name is Jeff Daniels, while clarifying that he isn’t that Jeff Daniels (he could only hope to be as great of an actor as to play two different characters named Harry), so there’s always a question about who this guy is, and that’s part of the fun.
As in the films, he’s at turns charming and creepy. He seems to be after a kind of artistic authenticity, and he becomes disappointed with Mike in ways that resonate with his apparent disappointment in Aaron (Patrick Brice) in the first film.
“Jeff Daniels” has hired Mike to help him make an application video for an acting academy. They do a number of takes, and it becomes apparent that Mike just wants the job to be over. He wants to take his payment and go. But, Jeff doesn’t believe Mike when Mike says the footage is good. Jeff knows it isn’t good enough, so he storms off into the bathroom.
Mike follows, and after another jump scare (this time with Duplass in that good ol’ wolf mask), Jeff convinces Mike to do another shoot, for more money. He wants to reenact a scene from Misery, but Mike is woefully bad at it, which is frustrating.
Meanwhile, a snowstorm has been picking up, and it becomes clear that Mike isn’t really equipped to leave. He doesn’t have four-wheel drive or snow chains. It’s one of those moments where Duplass’s character seems almost disappointed that his prey isn’t more competent.
But, so, Jeff suggests the pair make a film together. He’s seen Mike’s short film and thought it was good. Not great, but good. With the offer of more money, Mike agrees.
When Mike asks what kind of film they are going to make, Jeff suggests they play versions of themselves and enters into a monologue that brilliantly plays on the line between fiction and reality. Also, he has an ax, which he insists is a rubber ax. He even offers it to Mike to test, but Mike doesn’t really test it, and all of this leads to precisely the climax you would expect.
Mike runs and tries to get to his car, but the door is locked. Jeff watches and has a little laugh before he saunters up behind Mike and hits him with the ax.
The end.
“Elliot”
The Creep Tapes S1E2 kicks off with Elliot (David Nordstrom) doing some birding. He’s seeking out a particular kind of bird, which someone called Skyshark Mark has told him he can find at the specific coordinates to which he’s travelled. I think it’s clear that this Mark is the character played by Mark Duplass, so I’ll call him Mark for this one.
Elliot is disappointed in not finding the bird that he was after when he notices a shoe sticking out from a white parachute. Upon investigation, it seems to just be a shoe, until he’s accosted by the man who seems to have used that parachute (Mark Duplass).
In the first instance, Mark sounds like The Man from Another Place in Twin Peaks as he wails and moans chaotically. He yells for a bag, and it becomes clear that he means a plastic bag, which he breathes into to stop hyperventilating.
How much of this is an act? I think all of it. Mark will basically admit as much to Elliot later in the episode.
Regardless, Mark notices Elliot’s camera and offers him some money if he’ll help Mark make a video to document what’s happened to him, so that he can sue the skydiving company that’s wronged him (which does not exist). Then, he starts asking Elliot about his birds, and when Elliot describes the particular bird he’s looking for, Mark insists that he just saw a bunch of them down the road. So off they go, with Mark driving Elliot’s car.
This leads to the most interesting part of the episode. Mark asks Elliot why he enjoys birding, and as the latter explains the thrill he gets in sneaking up on the bird to spend some time with it before the bird even knows he’s there, we can feel a resonance with the thrill Mark gets as he pursues his victims—particularly with Elliot’s remark about how he likes to film the birds and watch the footage back over and over again. But, when Mark asks if Elliot ever baits the birds, Elliot lies and says no. I have to figure that Mark was going to kill him anyway, but one wonders if there was a chance for a connection here that could have gotten Elliot off the hook, if only he’d been honest.
Instead, we get psychodrama, with Mark talking about American Beauty while insisting that Elliot understand what Mark’s trying to say about the regular bird right in front him. And, of course, Elliot does not understand. He does, however, get to see his special bird before Mark sneaks up behind him and suffocates him with a plastic bag.
I am not quite sure if others feel the way that I do, but I find Mark Duplass’s character in the Creep franchise to be utterly fascinating. There’s a way in which he does seem obsessed with the truth, with authenticity, and artistry, and consistently disheartened by how others don’t care enough about those things. Of course, at the same time, he’s a creep and a serial killer.
There are four more installments in this season of The Creep Tapes, and I’ll be back to cover them one at a time.
See you next week.
