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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 Shudder/AMC+‘s six-episode series, “The Creep Tapes.” The show, which stars Duplass and is directed by Brice, examines six tapes from serial killer Peachfuzz’s (Duplass) previous kills. While “The Creep Tapes” relies on the rawness of the found-footage technique, the rapidly-paced episodes lack the predatory undertone that makes the movies so unnerving. Instead, the series is comprised of dull fragments, acting more as a disjointed vanity project than a horror story spotlighting a homicidal maniac’s bloodlust.
The show follows the same structure as the “Creep” movies. 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 acting school audition. Mike gets an eerie feeling as he exits his car and begins walking toward the dark cabin. However, he ignores his gut instincts and focuses on recording the scene as directed. When the cameraman does encounter Peachfuzz, he’s dressed in a cheap vampire costume, spouting off gibberish. Just as quickly, things descend into madness. As he does in future installments, Peachfuzz uses random outbursts, loud sounds and outlandish 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 run under 30 minutes, character development is nonexistent. From an unsuspecting birdwatcher to a documentarian determined to take down the Catholic Church, the killer’s prey are mostly indistinguishable: middle-aged white men down on their luck. Little else is known about the men. Moreover, the storylines are painfully repetitive, because the episodes (save for Episode 2, “Elliot,” and the season finale) all follow an identical formula. The men get lured to whatever lair Peachfuzz has chosen with the promise of cash, and they ignore his unsettling behavior until it’s too late. Since the audience is privy to how each scenario will play out before the episode even begins, aspects of the narratives that are supposed to be most shocking don’t pay off. It simply becomes a waiting game for victims and viewers. After all, there is no escaping Peachfuzz’s axe.
Popular on Variety Peachfuzz remains one-dimensional until Episode 6, “Mom (and Albert).” The finale comes to a highly troubling conclusion, but aspects of Peachfuzz’s childhood and disturbing relationship with his mother (Krisha Fairchild) are revealed. Despite specific details of the serial killer’s personality, motivations and inner thoughts being highlighted, these revelations don’t make him more justified in his actions. He’s a murderer, sure, but audiences will be hard-pressed to take him seriously. At his core, Duplass’ Peachfuzz is a self-absorbed, violent mama’s boy. In the grand scheme of the television and cinema landscapes, viewers have repeatedly seen this highly unoriginal character in all forms of media.
Though it deviates from its predecessors, the final episode is not enough to bring “The Creep Tapes” back from the brink of cobbled-together chaos. The show never uses its found footage format in a unique or interesting way. Genuinely terrifying moments are few and far between. Also, rather than adding a feeling of realism, the show’s dialogue feels stilted. Since episodes never connect the information Peachfuzz has uncovered about his victims in the overall narrative of each vignette, viewers have very little to connect to.
The “Creep” films work because they are alarming and engaging. Audiences didn’t know what to expect from Peachfuzz in the first movie, which added to its frightening tone. Then, humor and plot twists helped keep the narrative afloat in the sequel. Regrettably, “The Creep Tapes” has none of those elements. Instead, these truncated versions of well-known stories feel neither psychologically gripping nor frightening.
The first two episodes of “The Creep Tapes” premiere Nov. 15 on Shudder and AMC+. New episodes drop weekly on Fridays.
