Creep (Part 1): He Thought He Was Taking a High-Paying Gig — Turns Out He Was Handing Over His Life Too… Movie Recommendation: Creep 1
Intro
Meow meow, hello everyone and welcome back! It’s me, Mydondon, who has a final exam tomorrow but really, really wants to write an article instead. Today we’re going to watch the horror film Creep~ But honestly, this movie isn’t actually all that scary. Still, everyone files it under “thriller / horror.” Why is that? Because as you slowly piece together the full picture of the story, you start to realize a terrifying truth. And what made my hair stand on end is that the whole thing could very plausibly happen in your life or mine.
Alright then, let the story begin.
The Plot
… … … (spoilers ahead) … … …
The story takes place in the present, set roughly 15 to 20 years ago. Aaron is a videographer, and one day he spots a classified ad in the newspaper posted by a man named Joseph. Joseph wants to hire Aaron to film a documentary about himself. The location is a very remote mountain area, the whole thing sounds extremely strange, there’s barely any information given, and yet the pay is sky-high. (Basically, it reeks of a setup to lure in someone who loves money, and then do, ahem ahem, things to them :>) And just like every other horror-movie protagonist, Aaron ends up taking the gig anyway. Maybe because the pay was so good and he needed the money? Maybe because videographers are broke? Either way, he shows up at the meeting spot as agreed, and there he meets Joseph.
The first time I laid eyes on Joseph — and I know this is super stereotyping of gay men, but as a straight guy my honest impression was that he came across like a kind of odd gay man, a little too touchy-feely for someone who’d just met him. And this is exactly where the director quietly starts building that creepy atmosphere. Joseph reveals that he and his wife are about to have a baby, but he’s been diagnosed with cancer and only has a short time left to live. So he wants to film a documentary about himself, so that his child can grow up knowing who his dad was.
However… those chilling truths slowly begin to surface…
… … … (end of spoilers) … … …
My Takeaway
To me, this movie doesn’t feel like your typical horror film. The story doesn’t unfold in a remote little town, an abandoned mansion, or a dark, damp basement. Instead, it takes place in a perfectly ordinary American-style vacation cabin. And the way it’s told is really unusual too — it feels just like a YouTuber recording a vlog. Every now and then you get a little monologue from Aaron himself, which gives it this everyday, lived-in feeling rather than the polished sheen of a Hollywood movie. The director even deliberately throws in shaky-cam moments when characters go up and down the stairs. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but it pulls me deeper into the characters’ emotions. It’s like watching a lifestyle influencer I’m a fan of.
And it’s precisely that sense of intimacy that pushes the whole movie’s scariness up a level. Like I said earlier, it’s because it feels so real — as if it could happen right in your own surroundings — that this film becomes genuinely frightening. At the same time, the director leans on the idea of “compassion”: it’s out of compassion that the protagonist decides to honor the agreement and show up for that final meeting. But because he has such a kind heart, he’s foolish enough to be taken advantage of, and in the end he even loses his life. If you’re someone who loves horror movies, then this clever, out-of-the-box one is absolutely not to be missed.
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