Creep (I) (2014)

Cash-strapped videographer Aaron (played by the film's director Patrick Brice) is offered $1000 for a day of filming, discretion appreciated. Travelling to a remote property in the mountains, Aaron meets his client Josef, who explains his requirements: as a cancer sufferer, Josef would like to create a video diary for his unborn son (who he has already named Buddy), and would like Aaron to document his every move during the day.

Things start off strangely, Josef immediately stripping off to share a bath with an imaginary Buddy, but his behaviour becomes even more erratic and suspicious as the day goes on, with some particularly strange stuff involving a wolf mask. Having already accepted payment for the day, Aaron takes things in his stride, but alarm bells really start ringing when the time comes for him to go home and he cannot find his car keys…

I'm not the biggest fan of found footage horror, but was surprised to find myself drawn in by the unusual nature of Creep's antagonist Josef, who is, without a doubt, a very disturbing (and disturbed) individual. Although it's obvious from the outset that he's full of crap, blatantly lying about his illness, his bizarre behaviour and the mystery surrounding his real motives kept me watching.

What a shame, then, that the film fails to live up to its early promise, any hope for a truly demented denouement dashed as Josef is revealed to be nothing more than your average common or garden obsessive homicidal nut-job.

Aaron's actions throughout the film also undermine its effectiveness: I could get past the dubious notion that he would accept a job without any prior details, but his decision making skills thereafter prove increasingly questionable, the character failing to react in a logical fashion (only one call to the police, even with all that evidence—gimme a break!). There are also numerous scenes that will have the viewer questioning why Aaron would continue filming given the situation (a common complaint about found footage films).

An over reliance on very silly jump scares (one of Josef's strange traits is to hide from Aaron and then jump out on him) soon gets tiresome, and a daft ending where Aaron makes one last really, really, really bad decision is the final nail in the coffin.