FILM: Creep

Kate (Franka Potente) brushes off the advances of Guy (Jeremy Sheffield) at a fashion event and heads into London's West End to a more upmarket party, determined to meet George Clooney. Unable to find a taxi she takes the tube instead, only to fall asleep and find herself locked in the station...


With today's post-modern twists, teamed-up evil franchises and gory comedies, you might not expect to see a standard horror flick anymore. Creep takes things back to the days when the heroine was blonde, dressed inappropriately for a chase scene and had no idea how to get away from a monster. While some people may find this a refreshing return to simpler times, it does make for a formulaic and uninspired movie.

The basic chase plot makes up most of the movie, with a few other characters thrown in along the way. A homeless couple living in the station (Paul Rattray and Kelly Scott), an imprisoned sewage worker (Vas Blackwood) and Guy all find themselves stalked by the same unseen terror. Low-budget horror usually relies on frequent shocks to make the audience jump or psychological tricks to set the tone, but this movie lacks both. It's also hard to suspend disbelief when you keep asking yourself, why doesn't she try the internal phone or pull the fire alarm switch that's in shot in the background?

The performances are adequate for what the script has to offer, although Sean Harris is menacing as the Creep. Potente's best moments come when we see her frustration at being trapped in the underground station, a massive structure of tunnels that still manages to give off an eerie feeling of claustrophobia. Her inability to escape her surroundings has overtones of the trio is lost in the woods in The Blair Witch Project. Sadly this isn't enough too save Creep from being just another low-budget horror fare that isn't clever enough to punch above its weight.

Buy Creep on DVD at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com