‘The Creep Tapes’ Recap: ‘Mike’ & ‘Elliot’

11/18/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Mark Duplass as ‘Josef’ in Episode 101 of ‘The Creep Tapes’ – ‘Mike’. (Photo Courtesy of Shudder.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Premiere of ‘The Creep Tapes’.

Truly one of the most captivating horror franchises of the past decade, is the Creep franchise. Simply because, this particular saga offered up a supremely original idea. Wherein we were treated twice over to captivating and horrifying stories about a serial killer who may or may not be named Josef that loved to appear on camera and slowly torture his victims with psychological warfare before unleashing his bloodlust and his fury upon them. And well, we simply haven’t ever seen that kind of concept before, nor how those stories played out, and it also doesn’t hurt that A-lister Mark Duplass brought this monster to life in a captivating manner, that kept us guessing and has kept us wanting more from this saga.

For Creep and Creep 2 rightfully posed a lot of questions about how long Josef has been at this, especially when one considers the vast collection, he revealed in the second film of tapes that should bear more awful evidence of his crimes, and of course… the morbid curiosity within all of us wanted to know what happened to the people on those tapes. Specifically, how Josef handled them and what he did to bring about their end and well… at long last, we are finally getting more of Josef and good ol’ Peachfuzz, and knowledge about what is on those tapes, courtesy of the new Shudder series, The Creep Tapes. Which offers us a new angle regarding Josef's maddening and bloodthirsty rampage and well, that leads to a stunning series premiere storytelling wise.

In large part, because the band is back together since Mark Duplass reprises the role of Josef and Patrick Brice is back to direct and write with Mark and what they have assembled, is chilling and hopeless. Since ‘Mike’ and ‘Elliot’ are a pair of stories that inform us that Josef has been perfecting his craft and his mind games for some time now. Since we watch two horribly elaborate schemes play out in this premiere. The first one involves some serious enticement, since Josef is eager to lure a filmmaker out to a remote cabin to film Josef’s acting audition tape before an untimely end comes into play, and the second story sees Josef pretend to be a lost skydiver who uses that random element of surprise to slaughter another innocent.

Mark Duplass as ‘Josef’ in Episode 102 of ‘The Creep Tapes’ – ‘Elliot’. (Photo Courtesy of Shudder.)

But it is what happens during both of these stories that makes this premiere so stunning in nature. In large part, because we get some unique insight into Josef’s style of hunting. Granted, we know he uses deception and promises and every trick in the book to fool and distract but what is on display here… makes Josef a far more terrifying a killer. Because here, we see him work to sell trust to his new victims. Even going so far as to prepare skits and sketches for the unfortunate filmmaker in his stead, to really make it seem as though this is legit and totally not a murder in the making. Plus, as that skydiver, he is so incredibly sincere and confused and scared, a move that truly lowers his victim’s guard so that the unthinkable can happen and this is just terrifying when all is said and done.

Because he is that eager to have to what he wants and while there is some measure of comedy to these moments, since a re-enactment of Misery, some vampire fangs, and a desperate, nasty letter to a fake skydiving company are chuckle worthy… they are part of a master plan, of a need that only one thing can fulfill and once Josef moves in for the kill, are we left uncomfortable and helpless as he does what he does best. In fact, his ‘monologue’ for the short film in the first story, is unbelievably chilling and scary, since we know its sincere, and the final kill in the second story is just so heartbreaking and ugly, and that adds stunning nature of this premiere, and of course reminds us… that we are in the presence of outright storytelling brilliance.

For this is just… amazing horror. Plain and simple. Courtesy of magnificent stories that find new ways to keep this franchise fresh and well, it all works here. Because you don’t walk away from this premiere feeling good, you’re disturbed, and you’re frightened, thanks in large part to Mark Duplass, who adds refreshed zeal to this already horrifying character. But above all, it finally does give us great insight into the monster, and how he’s operated for years and how perhaps he’s evaded the authorities for so long. Since he is a chameleon clearly, and well, in the end, this magnificent premiere simply leaves us eager for more. More of Mister Duplass’ stunning performance and more from his morbid mine of murder as season one of this refreshing new horror series continues along. Until next time.

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