Patrick Kack-Brice’s independent found-footage psychological horror, Creep (2014), is certainly a wild ride. The film’s simplicity is its gift. Give a normal, run-of-the-mill filmmaker a camera, send him on a mysterious job for a man he has never met before way out in the woods and take away his car keys. With only those these components, the film is set up for some seriously disturbing turn of events.

I knew Mark Duplass primarily from The Morning Show and his character in Creep could not be further from his role as Fox news producer… It was strangely refreshing watching a somewhat well-known celerity who is not necessarily known for playing dark, ominous roles become a deranged serial killer before your very eyes. And oh does he do it well. As Josef, Duplass nailed the ‘he’s so nice, he must be a serial killer’ vibe. He oozes sweetness and quasi-childlike innocence and joy in the first half of the film. But the genius lays in the fact that that sticky sweetness never wavers, it never recedes. His serial killer tendencies are merely intertwined with his friendliness, he will hunt his pray with a virtuous smile on his face. He will axe a man in the head but still genuinely believe that he is his best friend. He is the very definition of nuts and you both see and don’t see it coming the whole time.

Obviously the found-footage style of the film imbues it with verisimilitude and a sense of immediacy that positions the viewer right beside poor Aaron, the unwitting (yet still clever) victim. The subjective point of view shots and the jerkiness of the hand-held camera help us to fall head-first into the frenetic, confusing and anxiety-inducing situation that is being trapped in a house with a man that has some unidentified psychological condition and a very creepy relationship with a disturbing wolf mask. You embody Aaron, you embody the camera, as they first track Josef’s false journey towards the acceptance of death and then eventually run from him and his extremely subdued, murderous rage (a very intentional and an extremely effective oxymoron right there – Josef really is somehow both so calm/serene and so unhinged all at the same time).

Another enjoyable aspect of the film is the realism behind Aaron’s character. He is not a useless victim. He is actually a capable, self-sufficient, responsible guy. He knows as soon as things start to go slightly awry that he needs to do whatever he can to find his car keys and escape. Unlike many victims in horror films, Aaron doesn’t exasperatingly go towards the danger, as if gravity is pulling him towards it uncontrollably. He doesn’t try to stick around and ‘investigate’. He doesn’t break down and cry only to slow down the process of his escape. No. Instead he actively attempts to protect himself and heightens his guard almost from the get-go. He even drugs Josef in order to reclaim his keys. This is a victim that you can finally truly pity and sympathise for because he isn’t a useless deer-in-the-headlights, he’s just a normal person that is rightfully wary of strangers and who chooses flight in the fight or flight debacle. Unfortunately, he still dies despite his best efforts. But he used sense, so we can actually feel for him.

I would watch Creep over The Blair Witch Project any day, to be honest. I understand the hype around the latter was predominantly due to the marketing of the film (they advertised it initially as if it were actual, genuine footage found and then released and not as a curated production), but let’s face it: not that much happens in The Blair Witch. It’s just a lot of heavy breathing and running through the woods. Creep actually humanises the killer so thoroughly that we create a connection with Josef. He makes you laugh, he makes you smile, you actually feel weirdly comfortable and uncomfortable around him. There is a really complex duality to his character that becomes abundantly clear when he starts stalking, harassing and ultimately killing Aaron. He is anything but a black and white character and you are exposed to that throughout the entire film instead of just watching the victims run around crying because ‘there’s something in the woods’. What happens in Creep could seriously happen in real life. It is not a ridiculous concept. And that is what is so downright horrifying about it.