This low budget British horror flick pretty much flew straight under the radar upon release towards the end of 2004, and while the film doesn't deserve the status of a classic, or even a modern genre classic; Creep still offers a good, horrific eighty minutes and fans of classically plotted horror thrillers will no doubt enjoy themselves. The film is very thin on plot, and works just from a premise - the premise being that Franke Potente has found herself trapped in the subway after hours. This wouldn't be so bad, but she's got a strange mutant on her tail that seems to delight in murdering everyone around her! While this plot doesn't really allow the audience to engage with it due to the fact that it is so shallow, director Christopher Smith keeps the film ticking over with an onslaught of suspense and tension brought about by the claustrophobic landscape of the tunnels underneath London and the fairly generous helping of disgusting gore effects, which are a nice addition to any horror movie if you ask me. If the film has any sort of commentary on the state of the management of London's subways, it's muddled at best
but it doesn't matter, as nobody sees this sort of thing for social comments anyway.
The effects of the 'creep' itself are actually quite good. The monster is mutated enough to be visibly inhuman, but it retains enough of it's human form to be recognisably humane in some way. The creature effects in this film seem to have been a big influence on fellow recent Brit horror 'The Descent', as the monsters in that film very much resembles the one in this. Franke Potente knows a lot about running since her big hit was the highly acclaimed German drama 'Run Lola Run', and she gets to stretch her legs in this film more than just a bit too. The frantic pace of the film really makes it what it is, and while there's nothing in this film that you haven't seen before; the movie takes it's borrowed elements and moulds them together into a slick horror cocktail. The fact that it's only on for eighty minutes will ensure that you wont get bored in spite of it's thin premise, and if a short running time isn't good enough for you; the gritty gore certainly will be, as this film features lots of grappling, stabbing, gutting and many other such things. It would seem that the director has an eye for visuals too, as he presents a few of them - the best being the bloodied hand reaching up from under a train!
The effects of the 'creep' itself are actually quite good. The monster is mutated enough to be visibly inhuman, but it retains enough of it's human form to be recognisably humane in some way. The creature effects in this film seem to have been a big influence on fellow recent Brit horror 'The Descent', as the monsters in that film very much resembles the one in this. Franke Potente knows a lot about running since her big hit was the highly acclaimed German drama 'Run Lola Run', and she gets to stretch her legs in this film more than just a bit too. The frantic pace of the film really makes it what it is, and while there's nothing in this film that you haven't seen before; the movie takes it's borrowed elements and moulds them together into a slick horror cocktail. The fact that it's only on for eighty minutes will ensure that you wont get bored in spite of it's thin premise, and if a short running time isn't good enough for you; the gritty gore certainly will be, as this film features lots of grappling, stabbing, gutting and many other such things. It would seem that the director has an eye for visuals too, as he presents a few of them - the best being the bloodied hand reaching up from under a train!