Creep 2 Takes the Micro-Franchise In a Fascinatingly Satirical, Meta Direction
In a development that amuses me, and only me, in the marvelously meta 2015 mumblecore mind-fuck Uncle Kent 2, Mark Duplass appears as a fictionalized version of himself.
Duplass also directed the film’s prologue, which finds star/screenwriter Kent Osborne trying to convince him to direct a sequel to their 2011 non-hit Uncle Kent. The film’s version of Duplass declines because he hates sequels.
Osborne tries to convince Duplass that not all sequels are bad or unnecessary. The desperate actor-writer-animator cites The Godfather Part 2 as a follow so objectively brilliant that it all but single-handedly justifies sequels as an entity.
Duplass is unmoved, yet Osborne goes ahead with his sequel plans, with Todd Rohal rather than Duplass in the director’s chair.
Two years after Mark Duplass played himself as a man who hates sequels in a wonderfully unnecessary sequel that he directed in part, he reprised his role as a serial killer who finds his victims through the internet in the clever sequel Creep 2. On an even more obscurely meta note, his character derives inspiration from The Godfather Part 2 director Francis Ford Coppola’s eagerness to push himself and his art.
When horror movie series progress, they tend to get wackier and more self-referential. Though Creep is the most modest of franchises, that proves true here as well.
Creep 2 is markedly different in tone and substance from its predecessor. Where Creep was a scary and effective horror movie with elements of dark comedy, Creep 2 is a dark comedy with elements of horror.
Desiree Akhavan, an acclaimed filmmaker in her own right, replaces Creep (and Creep 2) stars as Sarah, a desperate YouTube creator who answers an ad offering to pay one thousand dollars for a day of filming.
Sarah has been making a YouTube series where she explores the wacky world of online personal ads that has been a creative and commercial failure. She’s damn near lost faith in herself and her dreams, so when a sketchy stranger offers her a grand for one day’s work, she unwisely accepts.
In Creep, Duplass’ villain hid his homicidal nature and history of violence from the protagonist as long as possible. However, in Creep 2, he tells Sara that he is not just a killer or a murderer but rather the most prolific serial killer in the world.
callback!
Duplass’ creep makes Sara an offer she definitely should refuse. He promises not to kill her for twenty-four hours so that she can use that time to make the most realistic documentary about serial killing of all time. He’s offering her artistic mortality while still asserting that he will murder her when the time is right.
Aaron, the cursed protagonist of Creep, was an affable young man and an effective audience surrogate. Sara, in sharp contrast, gives as good as she gets. Sara simply does not give a fuck. Life has taken all of the fucks she might have given. She’s not a victim; she’s a formidable adversary.
Sara also, understandably, does not initially believe that her eccentric client is a serial killer. She thinks that she’s encountered the perfect subject for her web series: a charismatic lunatic convinced that he’s a mass murderer.
In a glorious omen of what’s to come, the titular creep tries to freak Sara out by insisting, mere minutes after meeting her, that she sees him naked as a means of alleviating sexual tension.
He stands there with his dick out for a solid minute. In a portion of the film that will undoubtedly end up in the pages of Celebrity Skin we get a long, hard look at Duplass’ flaccid dong.
I know what you’re probably thinking. You’re wondering how big Mark Duplass’ penis is. That is sick. You people are deranged. He’s a human being with dignity, not a sex object for you to ogle, you sick fuck.
He expects Sara to be shocked and disturbed by his conspicuous display of exhibitionism. Instead, she’s thoroughly nonplussed. She even volunteers to reciprocate by getting naked in front of him. Judging by his response, that’s something he neither expected nor wanted.
Like the demented, overgrown child he is, Duplass’ sociopath tries to scare Sara by leaping out from the darkness, but she’s as unimpressed by his jump scares as she is by every other aspect of his personality.
The creep’s tricks don’t work on Sara. Duplass’s murderous maniac had all the power in the first film, but he’s mortified to find himself locked in a power struggle with Sara here.
The serial killer fancies himself an artist. Murder is his art form of choice, but he is also enthusiastic about creating snuff films, which he collects on videocassettes and keeps in a neat little closet.
He also considers himself an auteur. He has strong ideas about framing and direction and is palpably annoyed when Sara does not seem interested.
There is an art to being a great documentary subject. Troy Duffy and Mark Borchardt are good examples. “Aaron” understandably thinks that he makes for a great subject for cinema.
He’s excited about Sara filming his grand finale, the final murder orgy. He may not be the director but he’s all about controlling the narrative.
In a neat reversal, Sara invades Aaron’s personal space and makes him uncomfortable. There’s a great scene where Aaron is listening to a favorite song on repeat while hot tubbing (as the first film indelibly established, this creep really enjoys being in water) and Sara comes in and fucks with him the same way that he fucks with his victims.
Creep 2 is a fascinating departure from the first film that’s not as scary or as tense as the original because it could be argued that it’s not really a horror film but rather a self-referential dark comedy about a serial killer who thinks of himself as an artiste of lethal cinema and a gutsy broad who isn’t taking any of his shit.
Unlike her tormentor, Sara doesn’t want to kill, but she will if pushed far enough. The very long day and night finds him pushing as far as humanly possible, with all sorts of resistance.
Creep 2 has a feminist subtext so pronounced it borders on text. It’s a compelling, darkly funny exploration of the ultimate exemplar of toxic masculinity.
The movie ends on an intriguingly enigmatic note that leaves the door open for a third film.
That may never happen, but Shudder will release a TV spin-off called The Creep Tapes in late November. So, while I’d love to binge it so that I can say that I have experienced the Creep saga in its entirety, it looks like I’ll have to wait along with everyone else.
Nathan had life-changing but expensive dental implants, and his dental plan doesn’t cover them, so he started a GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-nathans-journey-to-dental-implants. Give if you can!
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