Creep (2005)

Director: Christopher Smith
Format: DVD
DVD Features: alternate beginning and ending, making of, operation scene
Starring: Franka Potente, Vas Blackwood, Paul Rattray
Trailer

What elements do I find in foreign horror films that make them more frightening than their American counterparts? It’s not a language barrier, because British and Australian horror films have the same effect on me. Maybe it’s the fact that the surroundings are similar, but just a touch different. Is it the minor differences that make me feel less secure and therefore more easily startled when something jumps out of the shadows? Whatever it may be, it’s true for most foreign horror – except those from Japan. While I’ve seen some very disturbing horror films from Japan, they weren’t really scary in the same sense. But, I digress…

Creep was made in the UK. Since it takes place in The Underground, that fact should become apparent immediately. Kate (Franka Potente) misses the last train out of the station one night and finds herself locked in the subway. She soon discovers that the railway is home to more than just homeless junkies and that lecherous men are the least of her problems. With the help of Jimmy (Paul Rattray), one of the subterranean residents and George (Vas Blackwood), an ex-con sewer worker, she tries to stay alive through the night. Rats, raw sewage, and an abandoned medical facility don’t make her struggle any simpler.

As I mentioned earlier in this review, the fact that the movie has that special foreign flavor gave it more of an edge in the terror department. The dark passages of the London Underground were an excellent setting for this type of film. It was actually filmed in unused portions of The Underground, which makes the film that much more realistic. In the opening scenes of Creep, two sewage workers are trudging through slime and entrails, their cockney slang echoing off the walls. The older man is describing how the odors vary from district to district.

There’s only one monster in the movie (although Guy is one in a different sense), but he’s just as grotesque and twisted on the inside as he is on the outside. The director, in his commentary on the DVD, said that he wanted the audience to feel a degree of sympathy for the antagonist. However, I didn’t see any reason to pity him, especially after the “operation” scene. (Trust me; you don’t want to play doctor with this guy.) I did find it eerie when it becomes clear that the creature does have some intelligence, even though that scene isn’t particularly scary.

Although I usually enjoy Franka Potente’s acting, I don’t think she gave her best performance in this movie. There’s no point at which she seems really terrified, just frustrated and inconvenienced. However, no single member of the cast in Creep stood out as being particularly awful or spectacular. When that’s the case in movies, I imagine that it’s a fault in the directing or the script, rather than the cast members. There are a few aspects of the plot that seem unnecessary or not properly supported.

Overall Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Hottie Rating: 0

Alternate viewing: Resident Evil
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