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| Images courtesy of Shudder |
Back in 2014, mumblecore poster child filmmaker Mark Duplass
and his brother Jay Duplass directed a number of talky independent character
driven dramas throughout the early 2000s.
Over time, the character actor and writer-director-musician Mark Duplass
and his minimalist stripped-down quasi-New Hollywood style of filmmaking and
understated performances in romantic comedies cemented him as a kind of
neo-Woody Allen type focusing on interpersonal relationships between
characters. But around 2012, Duplass tried
his hand at writing a horror film with Black Rock and two years later
the actor crossed paths with then-newcomer Patrick Brice for his directorial
debut film Creep in 2014. Little
did either of them know they were about to crack open and unveil a new kind of
mumblecore horror icon showing you don’t need tons of money and effects or set
pieces to create an unnerving cinema verite portrait of a psychopath with you
the cameraman as his victim.
Based on real life experiences Patrick Brice had on
Craigslist and inspired by films like My Dinner with Andre, Misery and
Fatal Attraction, the first in what became a series of films and then
television episodes concerns down-on-his-luck videographer Aaron (Patrick
Brice) who hastily accepts an assignment far out in the Crestline mountainside
where a young man named Josef (Mark Duplass) awaits in his remote cabin. Josef explains he is dying from an inoperable
brain tumor and for Aaron to film a video diary of him so his wife Angela’s
unborn son has a record of his father’s existence. Once filming begins, however, Josef starts
exhibiting increasingly peculiar eccentricities which put Aaron on edge
including but not limited to a rape confession.
As things start to heat up, Aaron receives a phone call from Angela who
informs him Josef is actually her violently disturbed brother and he makes a
break for it. However, the real terror
is only just beginning as Aaron back at home begins receiving threatening letters
in the mail including a DVD of Josef digging a grave. Police are unable to come up with any leads
and soon Aaron finds himself under siege from a dangerous undeterred stalker.
Co-produced by Mark Duplass and Jason Blum, the handheld
digital camera film released by Mark Duplass’ production company received a
limited theatrical run before going to video-on-demand and eventually the
Netflix platform where it really caught fire.
The film was successful enough to engender a sequel film, again starring
Duplass as the nameless antagonist armed with a werewolf mask and an axe ready
to scream at you abruptly, stalk and terrorize you before taking said axe to
your head. Shot by Brice himself,
minimalist in terms of production value and aided by soft ambient sonics, it
has the feeling of a found footage film but with the talky smarts of Mark
Duplass funneled into the proceedings.
You also have Duplass’ personality who went from being the face of
mumblecore to a new kind of mumblecore horror icon who is crazy, unpredictable
and kind of a cult antihero.
Circa 2017, after the success of the first movie made on a
dime, it was inevitable Duplass and Brice would come back for more. In ostensibly Creep 2, Duplass’ killer
assumes the name of the victim of the previous film Aaron. Finding himself in midlife crisis, bored with
the usual routine of killings, he uses his powers to lure out YouTuber Sara (Persian
actress Desiree Akhavan) to his cabin.
Unlike before where the killer lures his victim into a ruse and then
reveals his intentions, this time around using the name Aaron he tells Sara out
of the gate he is a serial killer who will let her live for the next 24 hours
provided she films his exploits.
Unfazed, she agrees and over the course of the day it becomes apparent
the killer has met his match, trying and failing repeatedly to scare or
intimidate her. Soon he reveals he
intends for her to kill him on camera but to his (and our) surprise she kisses
him. The unlikely romance is short lived
however when he intends they commit suicide together for her camera.
One of the key factors in this second iteration is how much
harder Duplass’ character has to work uphill to try and get a reaction of any
kind from this tough cookie female videographer (and perhaps girlfriend?). Where the first one was all about the terror
of being victimized by the killer, in Creep 2 the tables are turned with
all the tricks of the trade in the first film intentionally falling flat before
Sara’s eyes and ears. There’s also a
snarky comic attitude towards the idea of a serial killer becoming apathetic to
his routine of bloodletting and slaying.
The film gives Mark Duplass a chance to explore another untapped facet
of the character and for a little while even earns the viewers’ sympathies. Much like the first film, it was a critical
success and turned a profit against a tight microbudget. Minimalist, shy on production values of any
kind and heavy on dialogue, these found footage first-person POV movies kind of
make you the viewer the victim as Duplass talks to you, warming up to you and sneaking
up on you when you least expect it.
While there is talk of a third official feature film being
developed by Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass, circa 2024 ten years after the
first movie the filmmaking duo paired up with the streaming services Shudder
and AMC+ for an altogether new unheard of approach to delivering a sequel of
sorts: the television series The Creep Tapes. Comprised of six episodes running about half
an hour each, it was inevitable that the found-footage microbudget franchise
would make its way to the small screen series format while giving actor-writer
Duplass a chance to play multiple characters ala Peter Sellers in Dr.
Strangelove. Starting off in the
winter, a new approach to the series, Mark Duplass returns using the name Josef
and as with the previous two films we are given a glimpse of Josef’s video
closet full of tapes of countless victims as each episode is dedicated to the
name of his next target. Changing
nothing except for the length of each encounter, Duplass cranks up the insanity
in his performances and we find ourselves heralding Josef as a kind of cult
hero wanting badly to see his frankly self-serving unlikable YouTubers and
videographers their just desserts.
Then the series starts to take an unexpected turn with the
character either turning inward on himself or in a vulnerable state. While the first few episodes represented the
character in control, as the series goes on we start to see him lose his grip
on reality, himself and the situations at hand.
What began as a continuation of the first two films soon becomes a deep
dive into Duplass’ character and acting range with the performer going further
and further out on a limb with each passing episode including some brief but
frank nudity. The wolf masked Peachfuzz
character who speaks for the first time in the whole series is also at his
creepiest, most threatening and at times even his funniest. The pacing of the episodes is faster than the
feature films given the running time and format, making it a brisk and easy
binge watch for those wanting to wade right through it. Still, it is ill advised to jump into this
series without familiarizing yourself with the films and its central sociopath
first.
Looking at the whole saga now with two features and a six-episode
series on Shudder and AMC+, the character of Josef/Peachfuzz and Mark Duplass’
commanding performance which ushers the mumblecore hero in as a new kind of horror
icon who can mess with you and prey on your insecurities and vulnerabilities
without the need for too much window and set dressing. Duplass and writer-director-cinematographer
Patrick Brice have created a wholly original spin on the otherwise vastly
overplayed and burnt out found-footage subgenre. In a format and medium that’s been run into
the ground, Duplass and Brice have infused it with new blood, piss and vinegar
without the need to go over the top in terms of violence or gore. With so many horror icons continuing to get
ever more outlandish and unbelievable, you could see yourself running into and
soon away from this guy.
--Andrew Kotwicki
