Mike Duplass’ series doesn’t scare you
Following the success of their cult films ‘Creep’ and ‘Creep 2’, Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice have returned to the franchise for a third installment – this time for television – in the six-episode series from Shudder/AMC+, ‘The Creep Tapes’ . .” The show, starring Duplass and directed by Brice, examines six tapes of serial killer Peachfuzz’s (Duplass) past murders. While “The Creep Tapes” relies on the rawness of its found-footage technique, its fast-paced episodes lack the predatory undertones that make the films so unnerving. Instead, the series is made up of bland segments, functioning more as a disjointed vanity project than a horror story highlighting the bloodlust of a homicidal maniac.
The show follows the same structure as the ‘Creep’ films. In episode 1, “Mike,” Peachfuzz lures a filmmaker named Mike (Mike Luciano) to a cabin in the woods, promising to pay him $1,000 to film his audition for acting school. Mike gets an eerie feeling as he leaves his car and starts walking towards the dark cabin. However, he ignores his instincts and focuses on shooting the scene as directed. When the cameraman encounters Peachfuzz, he is dressed in a cheap vampire costume and spewing gibberish. Just as quickly, things descend into madness. As in future episodes, Peachfuzz uses random outbursts, loud noises, and bizarre behavior to confuse his victims and keep them on edge. Unfortunately, by the time the men decide to pay attention to their intuition, the crazed killer has them cornered.
Since the episodes are less than 30 minutes long, there is no character development. From an unsuspecting birdwatcher to a documentary filmmaker determined to take down the Catholic Church, the killer’s prey are usually indistinguishable: middle-aged white men down on their luck. Little else is known about the men. Furthermore, the storylines are painfully repetitive, as the episodes (except for episode 2, ‘Elliot’ and the season finale) all follow an identical formula. The men are lured to the lair that Peachfuzz has chosen with the promise of cash, and they ignore his disturbing behavior until it is too late. Because the audience is privy to how each scenario will play out before the episode even begins, aspects of the stories that should be the most shocking don’t pay off. It simply becomes a waiting game for victims and viewers. After all, there is no escape from Peachfuzz’s axe.
Peachfuzz remains one-dimensional until episode 6, “Mom (and Albert).” The finale comes to a deeply disturbing conclusion, but aspects of Peachfuzz’s childhood and disturbing relationship with his mother (Krisha Fairchild) are revealed. Despite highlighting specific details about the serial killer’s personality, motivations, and inner thoughts, these revelations do not make him any more righteous in his actions. He’s a killer for sure, but audiences will have a hard time taking him seriously. At its core, Duplass’ Peachfuzz is a self-centered, violent mama’s boy. In the grand scheme of the television and cinema landscape, viewers have seen this highly unoriginal character repeatedly in all forms of media.
While it deviates from its predecessors, the final episode isn’t enough to bring “The Creep Tapes” back from the brink of cobbled chaos. The show never uses the Found Footage format in a unique or interesting way. Truly terrifying moments are few and far between. Furthermore, instead of adding a sense of realism, the show’s dialogue feels stilted. Because episodes never connect the information Peachfuzz has discovered about his victims into the overall story of each vignette, viewers are left with very little to connect with.
The ‘Creep’ films work because they are alarming and compelling. Audiences didn’t know what to expect from Peachfuzz in the first film, which added to the terrifying tone. Subsequently, humor and plot twists helped keep the story afloat in the sequel. Unfortunately, “The Creep Tapes” contains none of these elements. Instead, these truncated versions of familiar stories feel neither psychologically gripping nor frightening.
The first two episodes of “The Creep Tapes” premieres November 15 on Shudder and AMC+. New episodes appear weekly on Fridays.
