Tags:
Film: Creep II
Year: 2017
Director: Patrick Brice
Writer: Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass
Starring: Karan Soni, Mark Duplass and Desiree Akhavan
Review:
This film begins with a man getting a box. He is Karan Soni. He opens it and pulls something out that has a camera in it. This freaks Soni out. There is then a knock at his door and Koni lets someone in. This man is Mark Duplass, reprising his role from the previous film. They talk about what is happening and Soni gets a drink for Duplass. Duplass then asks if Soni realizes that all of these weird things started to happen after he met him. Koni then realizes what is happening. His throat is then slit.
We then shift to a woman who runs a show on the web. She is Desiree Akhavan. She answers odd Craigslist ads and then films it. We see her have a breakdown when her show is failing and no one is interested in seeing it. The following morning she has gotten over how dramatic she acted the previous night and decides to answer a similar ad to the one that was answered in the previous film.
She goes out and meets with Duplass. He asks her a few questions and then puts it all out before her. He informs her that he is a serial killer, probably the most prolific in the history of the United States. He wants her interview him. She lies to him about what she does and not telling them about the show she has on the web. To ensure that there is no walls between them, Duplass reveals himself naked in front of her. She then does the same in front of him. Duplass wants to be interviewed out in nature. Before they go, Akhavan goes into the bathroom and hides a knife in her boot.
The interview doesn’t go as planned. The river has dried up to almost non-existent. Then they can’t get it right due to airplane noise, a bird and shadows. We then cut back to the house and Duplass is in a hot tub. He is listening to a song and wants Akhavan to leave. She won’t have any part of it. She gets in with him and helps to show him that he needs to finish what they’ve started.
This turns his mood around and he is back interested in tell his story. He also reveals to her what he really wants to be the end of the interview, informing her that he knows about the show she has on the internet.
Will he keep his promise to not murder her during these 24 hours? What is his final plan?
I was turned on to this as a film that was on some people’s top 10 lists for 2017. I watched the original and this one in back to back nights. I have to say that I’m really glad that I did. I really enjoyed this film. The concept to this one is better than the original, as this one really expands on what was done in the previous. This one feels like they knew what they wanted to do with it coming in and that made me enjoy it more. We know who Duplass is and what he did in the previous film. He is as creepy as ever. This one is interesting too because Duplass and Akhavan’s back and forth was much better. There are points where one wants to cut this short and the other prevents it. It ends up as a deadly game of cat and mouse, where most of it Akhavan doesn’t believe or realize what Duplass is capable of. I liked the ending as well, it is pretty unsettling and leaves it to continue to build on the story.
The acting in this film I felt was much better. Duplass is as good as he was in the previous one. He plays this character so well and he really is so creepy. I think that casting Akhavan across from him was great as well. She really can go toe-to-toe with him, even when she doesn’t realize he is serious. It was enjoyable to see them play off each other. We also get to see Akhavan topless and that was a nice touch as well. Soni was fine in the little bit of the film he was in as well.
There isn’t much in the way of effects for this film, but the ones that we get are fine. The blood looked good. Much of the other stuff was done off camera, which I really don’t have much issue with. This one is also found-footage and they keep the realism by a fake documentary/interview of Duplass as the reason why everything is being filmed. The editing was solid as well. The film turns in at about 90 minutes and despite a good section of it are the two actors going back and forth, it never lagged for me. I was curious to see what would happen and it built tension until the end. There isn’t a soundtrack outside of when Duplass plays a song he really likes. I think it is a good touch to not have music unless the scene actually has it play.
Now with that said, I really liked this film. I personally felt this one was stronger than the previous one as this one knew what it wanted to do coming in. I felt the concept was good. The ending was solid. The acting of the film was really good. This one had Duplass and Akhavan going back and forth for most of it which I really enjoyed. There weren’t a lot of effects used, but the ones that were looked good. The found footage aspect of the film makes sense. I thought the editing was well done. There isn’t much in the way of score, but that adds to the realism of the film. I feel that is a good film. If you liked the original, definitely give this one a viewing. This could also be viewed on its own as well, it does fill in many of the parts you’d need to know from the previous one.
My Rating: 8 out of 10