Review: ‘The Creep Tapes’ delivers all the chills you could want

Co-writer/director Patrick Brice and co-writer/star Mark Duplass created a cult phenomenon with their two films Creep and Creep 2. A new villainous weirdo broke through the static of found footage, endearing himself to audiences with his boyish charms and slightly aloof nature. While we wait ever so patiently for a third film installment, we’ve got The Creep Tapes TV series to tide us over. Across six episodes, the first season provides a necessary salve for these troubling times and delivers increasingly absurd scenarios in which Duplass’ manic character shifts personalities depending on the situation. Each is as wonderfully bizarre as the last.

Every episode (ripped from his shelves of VHS tapes) runs roughly 25 minutes, so the stories quickly get down to the nitty-gritty. No time is wasted in leaping into the deep end, giving you instant satisfaction. Duplass works his magic in front of the camera and offers always peculiar performances as he entices unsuspecting people into his dark and sticky web. The fatal endings are inevitable, but it’s all about the getting there that’s most entrancing. Fitted within different types of stories, the episodes feel interconnected but stand on their own two feet. Brice and Duplass craft each installment with intrigue, as you wonder what the stakes will be within the episodes.

Keeping this review shrouded in mystery, The Creep Tapes adhere to the tone and feel of the films, yet remain fresh and exciting. Brice and Duplass even expose a bit of backstory to the killer, and you begin to understand exactly why he’s such an unhinged maniac. He’s an enigma wrapped up in a riddle, and at the center, you get a chilling sense of identity and desperation. This episodic revelation opens up the door for even more character-building going forward and could lead to even more thrilling chapters in future seasons and/or full-length features. What Brice and Duplass have crafted here is nothing short of gleefully horrific, leaving you gasping for more, more, more.

The first two episodes of The Creep Tapes hit Shudder this Friday (November 15). More episodes premiere in the coming weeks.

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