DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Creep

By Andy McKeague Jun 5, 2005, 0:05 GMT

Now here’s a rare thing: a horror movie that is playing for chills rather than laughs. ‘Creep’ is an effective, low budget, little shocker that owes a huge debt to Gary Sherman’s 'Death Line' (1972). Now, basing your movie on a classic does not mean that you create one, but ‘Creep’ has enough going for it to be an enjoyable ride in its own right.

The movie starts off with a killing, or at least what we think is a killing over the title credits, and then we are introduced to two hapless sewage workers. Not before long there are bumps and squeals coming from the darkness. Sadly after a reasonable opening we are then taken to a bad, lengthy party sequence and some rather bad acting. Kate (Franka Potente) is a young socialite, sloshing back the champers amongst her yuppie friends. Guy (Jeremy Sheffield) wants to get naked with Kate and will not take no for an answer but his charms fall flat to the amusement of his friends. Will Kate get her date of choice- she knows where George Clooney will be partying away or will she have to do with the Cro-Magnon ?

Kate finds that her friend has done a bunk and left her alone at the party, and now she has no ride to the venue. So she gets down to the local subway where she falls asleep and misses the last commuter train. As fate would have it she is now locked in and the once bustling subway feels somewhat more threatening. One of the workers' trains pulls up and she boards, not realising that she is not alone. Guy is here. He took it that this has been a set-up by Kate all along, and that she was just leading him to the right place to start getting the kit off. Kate does tell him where to go, but no is not on the agenda and, wham bang, before you know it, Guy tries to force himself on the hapless Kate. However before he can get his pants off, he is dragged off screaming towards his doom. I am sure the audience will, like myself, feel like applauding here for a quick and hopefully timely death for the dreadful acting of Mr Sheffield’s character.

Now Kate is alone but with someone much more dangerous and deadly, but were they protecting her or just playing with her ?

Running through the miles of tunnels and corridors, Kate runs into some oddball characters. Homeless Jimmy (Paul Rattray) and Mandy (a debut from Kelly Scott), drugged out their skulls, try to help Kate when she forces money on them to get her out of there. The problem with Kate is that she is not a very likable girl, and despite asking for help from these two scruffy folk, she also looks disgustingly down on them. Again there are squeals, blood and murder and rats, yeah, plenty of rats. It's only a matter of time before Kate needs to confront her would-be killer or would-be saviour.

Unlike ‘Kontroll’, another recent subway movie, we are not taken to a different world here. ‘Creep’ keeps us on a well-known grounding, dirty and dark and threatening but familiar. The movie has lots going for it: the great production design work and real use of the London Underground, a fantastic score by The Insects, a great turn from Potente and Sean Harris, and some chills and hardcore gory moments. It has its problems too, including the aforementioned Mr Sheffield and a too familiar script, but thankfully, they are not enough to derail your enjoyment.

As well as an audio commentary coming from the amiable director, Christopher Smith, we have over an hour's worth of extras here. This includes some great behind-the-scenes stuff, although I would not rate Sean Harris as the UK’s answer to Bob De Niro; wishful thinking perhaps ? There are some storyboarded sequences and an alternative start and ending. These are introduced by Smith before being shown in board form and he gives a commentary throughout. The alternative start gave more character focus and a background story to the title character whereas the ending was too familiar and probably too expensive. Once viewed you do think they made the right choices. There’s a Q&A sessions at Frightfest in London, where Smith at least acknowledges his inspirations for the script, and on the whole he does seem like a guy to watch out for. Some trailers and TV spots finish things off.