One booze filled evening Kate leaves her party in the hope of getting a date with George Clooney who is apparently in the area. Unable to hail a taxi in a dress that barely covers certain assets, Kate rushes underground to catch the last train of the day. With less than 10 minutes to wait she consumes yet more alcohol and drifts off to sleep. When she wakes she has of course missed the last train and finds herself trapped underground.
Her panic is short-lived as another train comes along and Kate hops aboard and begins to settle down for the ride. This is one ride however that Kate will soon regret taking as it appears that she is not alone on the train, and is unaware of the horrors that await her.
I remember seeing the trailer for this film, and reading some promising reviews about Creep around the time of its release. I remember thinking that this film had the potential to be chilling, as many people including myself have a fear of being stuck all alone in the dark and being freaked out by sounds around you. At the beginning of this film I could sympathize with Kate and feel her fear of being all alone, and the emotions she must have felt when another train pulled into the station. So then how come a film that starts off so promisingly ended up being no more than an average low budget horror, that for the most part makes absolutely no sense whatsoever?
It’s
basically a film where you have to remove your brain, otherwise you’ll spend the whole time questioning everything that’s going on rather than sitting back and enjoying it. Right from the start where our heroine finds herself stuck underground sounds implausible as I doubt there would be no way of you getting out in such a situation. That is the first of many questionable moments during the film, which really shouldn’t have arisen if more thought had gone into the proceedings.
My other problem with the film and one that is certainly not unique to Creep, is the fact that apart from the odd moment I never felt concerned enough about Kate to care whether she made it out alive. You see we never get to find out much about Kate, only the fact that she likes a drink or six and has a hideous taste in clothes. It’s important, for me at least when watching a horror film to be able to form some sort of attachment to the character/s. Having one dimensional characters meant that I couldn’t have cared less what happened to them including the heroine. There was even a hint halfway though that there was more to the killer than meets the eye, but for some reason this was thread was just left hanging. If these characters had only been developed more, then the film would have been all the better for it.
The acting was again on the whole a disappointment, although Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity/Supremacy) did the best she could with a limited script. For the most of the film she basically just had to run around screaming and shouting f**k, so nothing too taxing, and one that won’t win her any best actress awards. The best performance actually was given by the dog that belonged to a homeless couple down below, and he was the only one who I cared about the fate of. The other characters featuring the rather ‘I fancy myself’ Jeremy Sheffield (Holby City) were instantly forgettable also, and their only real purpose was to hang around to add to the body count tally. Sean Harris (who?) was just irritating as the bad guy, and every time he screeched I just wished I had ear plugs.
Where the film did score some points was for the very realistic gore that takes places on many occasions throughout the film. I’ve lost count when watching these sort of films how many times I’ve been less than impressed with the make up used, but in this film the blood looked very realistic indeed. For those of you who can’t stand rats then I advise you to stay clear of this as there are quite a few of them gnawing away at victims flesh. It was a shame though that the make up department however failed to live up to expectations when it came to the revealing of the baddie in the film. The first initial glimpses of him made me believe that his unveiling would be truly horrifying, but alias when I did see him in the flesh so to speak I actually burst out laughing. Note to make up department, horror films aren’t scary if the killer looks so fake and silly that the audience laughs instead of shuddering with fear.
Directed by Chris Smith ( Severance) this is only the third film that he’s written and directed, and one can only hope he gets better as time goes on. With a weak script and no sense of which direction he wanted the film to take, what we’re left with is this mess. The tube station setting with its many tunnels and obvious dark corners should have made for plenty ‘jump out of your skin’ moments, but Smith fails to use this setting to its full potential.
At just over 80 minutes in length, the ending couldn't have come soon enough for me. While the running time isn’t long by any means, the fact that it still felt dragged out meant I’d had enough at the halfway mark. If Kate’s situation had been more believable from the start and the back story of the killer explained a little more, then this film could have been so much more than your average slasher films.
This film is rated 18 which I feel is justified as it does contain strong bloody violence. As I mentioned the gore is very realistic throughout and while it wasn’t enough to make me squirm, I’m sure there are many of you that may find it all too much to watch.
While Creep had so much potential it failed to deliver the goods in most areas, so therefore I don’t recommend you buy this film. If you do want to see it then I suggest you rent it out, or better still just wait until it comes on the tele and if you’ve got nothing better to do then give it a go.
Creep was released on DVD in 2004 and is available at Amazon for £5.97, or new & used from the marketplace starting at £1.99.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
I actually like this film. Personal taste I guess. I did find it scary as that creature and the noise id mate was just hurrendous! Haha. Mybe I'm just a big scaredy-beaver. Good review, Mike
law3 12.02.2008 22:00
Oh dear, one to take off my 'to watch' list!
Expired-Account 23.11.2007 21:44
Good review, don't think it's one for me though, won't be rushing out to see it
Your journey terminates here. London midnight on a cold evening. Unable to find a taxi ... more
Kate (Franka Potente) heads for the Underground. She takes a seat away from the crowd of late-night revelers and waits for the last train. Before long she drifts...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Ever missed the last train?London, midnight, on a cold evening. Unable to find a taxi, ... more
Kate (Franka Potente 'The Bourne Identity/Supremacy') heads for the Underground. She takes a seat away from the crowd of late-night revellers and waits for the last ...
Advantages: Cushing and Lee at the height of their horrific powers. Splendid story. Excellent direction. Disadvantages: The creature when fully revealed, but isn't on screen that long anyway.
paramanjara 24.07.2007 (24.07.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Creeping Flesh (DVD)
![Creep [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78882709.jpg "Creep [DVD] [2004]")
Jun 8th, 2007
very helpful by (100%):
