# Creep (2014 film)
**Creep** is a 2014 American found-footage horror film directed by Patrick Brice, in which a videographer named Aaron (played by Brice) answers a [Craigslist](https://www.edgepedia.org/craigslist) ad offering $1,000 for a day of filming and travels to a remote cabin, where his client Josef ([Mark Duplass](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-duplass)) claims to be terminally ill and wants to record a video message for his unborn son[1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article) • [2](https://time.com/6837569/best-horror-movies-blumhouse-ranked/). The film premiered at SXSW in March 2014 and reached a wide audience through a Netflix streaming release on July 14, 2015[3](https://time.com/20133/sxsw-film-best-movies-top-10/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Patrick Brice; written by Brice and Mark Duplass, who also star as Aaron and Josef[1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article) |
| Genre and format | Found-footage horror, built almost entirely from two performers and the diegetic camera[1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article) |
| Premiere and release | SXSW premiere March 2014; Netflix streaming release July 14, 2015[3](https://time.com/20133/sxsw-film-best-movies-top-10/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014) |
| Production | Blumhouse Productions and Duplass Brothers Productions; produced by Jason Blum, Christopher Donlon, and Mark Duplass[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014) |
| Runtime and rating | 82 minutes (Screen Daily); rated R for language and brief violence[1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014) |
| Critical reception | 92% Tomatometer from 36 reviews and 66% Popcornmeter from more than 10,000 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014) |
| Franchise | Sequel Creep 2 (2017); series The Creep Tapes (2024) on Shudder and AMC+; a third film in development[5](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2024/09/12/shudder-to-debut-next-installment-of-iconic-creep-film-franchise-a-new-original-series-the-creep-tapes-from-writers-and-executive-producers-mark-duplass-and-patrick-brice/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Aaron, a cash-strapped videographer, responds to a cryptic online ad: "$1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated." He drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town, in the [San Bernardino Mountains](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-bernardino-mountains) of southern California, where he meets Josef. Josef says he has an inoperable brain tumor and wants to record a video diary for his son, who will be born after Josef's death, a scheme Aaron recognizes as inspired by the film *My Life*[2](https://time.com/6837569/best-horror-movies-blumhouse-ranked/) • [1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/creep).
As the day of filming continues, Josef's requests grow more bizarre and his behavior increasingly erratic, and it becomes clear that he is not who he claims to be[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/creep). Kim Newman, writing in *Screen Daily*, noted that the film keeps taking unexpected turns that ease the tension with bizarre comedy or shifts of location, and that it is a rare found-footage horror film that considers who might keep a record of such unpleasant events[1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article).
### Franchise
The film spawned a direct sequel, *[Creep](https://www.edgepedia.org/creep-franchise) 2* (2017), in which Duplass reprises his role as the serial killer, now going by the name Aaron, with [Desiree Akhavan](https://www.edgepedia.org/desiree-akhavan) as his latest target[2](https://time.com/6837569/best-horror-movies-blumhouse-ranked/). At the time of the first film's release, Brice and Duplass had announced that *Creep 2* and *Creep 3* were in the works[1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article).
In September 2024, Shudder announced *The Creep Tapes*, a six-episode series from writers and executive producers Duplass and Brice, premiering November 15, 2024 on Shudder and AMC+, in which Duplass reprises his role as a secluded serial killer who lures videographers with the promise of a paid job[5](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2024/09/12/shudder-to-debut-next-installment-of-iconic-creep-film-franchise-a-new-original-series-the-creep-tapes-from-writers-and-executive-producers-mark-duplass-and-patrick-brice/). Speaking at [Fantastic Fest](https://www.edgepedia.org/fantastic-fest) 2025, Duplass said of the long-gestating third film: "We will make a Creep 3. But we want Creep 3 to kind of be a defining, sort of, end of a sentence... Like, it should be something that closes things up"[7](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/mark-duplass-gives-update-creep-3-thatll-please-horror-fans).
## Production
**Improvisation from a short treatment.** Duplass and Brice developed the film from an eight-page treatment, piecing it together over more than a year through improvisation and multiple takes[3](https://time.com/20133/sxsw-film-best-movies-top-10/). *Screen Daily* described it as a two-hander "scripted (and seemingly improvised) by its stars"[1](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article). The first film was reportedly shot for about $500 with a three-person crew and only two actors[7](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/mark-duplass-gives-update-creep-3-thatll-please-horror-fans).
The production came through Blumhouse, the horror studio run by [Jason Blum](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-blum), with [Duplass Brothers Productions](https://www.edgepedia.org/duplass-brothers-productions) also credited[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014) • [3](https://time.com/20133/sxsw-film-best-movies-top-10/). According to a [Bloody Disgusting](https://www.edgepedia.org/bloody-disgusting) retrospective, the film was renamed to *Creep* so that audiences would constantly question which of the two main characters is the real weirdo[8](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3794301/creep-found-footage-movie-10-years-later/).
## Style
According to the Found Footage Critic review, the film comes very close to being purely found footage, steering clear of non-diegetic music, editing that feels out of place, and obtrusive title cards or credits during most of the picture[9](https://www.foundfootagecritic.com/creep-2014-review/). Its jump scares are executed without a soundtrack, relying on the camera and the two lead performances[10](https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3305592/fantasia-14-review-creep-reminds-us-nothing-ok-fools-thinking-anything/).
An academic analysis from the University of Chicago argues that *Creep* uses found-footage horror conventions, such as glitches, technical interruptions, the diegetic presence of filming equipment, and multiple media formats, to make explicit the horror-film problem of the viewer seeing and feeling as both monster and victim[11](https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/7580/files/Ihns_uchicago_0330D_17113.pdf). The [British Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-film-institute) places the film in the found-footage tradition and notes Duplass's portrayal of Josef as grimly unhinged but sometimes pitiable, avoiding many charismatic-killer clichés[12](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-found-footage-films).
## Reception
*Creep* premiered on the festival circuit in March 2014 and was a strong performer with critics, including reviewers who usually dismissed found-footage films[8](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3794301/creep-found-footage-movie-10-years-later/). On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 92% Tomatometer from 36 reviews, with a critics consensus calling it "a smart, oddball take on found-footage horror," and a 66% audience score from more than 10,000 ratings[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014).
It was not a wide theatrical release; its reputation grew substantially through Netflix, where word of mouth made it a recommended-title staple and a reference point for unsettling streaming horror[13](https://sightlines.media/film/250574/creep-2014). Critics praised Duplass's performance in particular; the *New York Times* review called the film remarkable considering its minimal means and surprising lack of bloodshed for the genre[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014).
## Legacy
*Creep* established Josef, identifiable by his wolf mask known as Peachfuzz, as a recognizable figure in 2010s horror[5](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2024/09/12/shudder-to-debut-next-installment-of-iconic-creep-film-franchise-a-new-original-series-the-creep-tapes-from-writers-and-executive-producers-mark-duplass-and-patrick-brice/) • [13](https://sightlines.media/film/250574/creep-2014). The Sightlines analysis describes the film as a late artifact of the mumblecore (low-budget improvised dialogue-driven US indie film movement) movement's migration into genre, importing that movement's ethics of intimacy and improvisation into a horror shell, and as a proof of concept for the minimal-cast, streaming-distributed horror film[13](https://sightlines.media/film/250574/creep-2014). A decade after release, Bloody Disgusting credited the film's formula, minimal budget, two actors, and camera-as-character construction, as the foundation for the entire franchise[8](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3794301/creep-found-footage-movie-10-years-later/).
## References
1. [Creep, review by Kim Newman, Screen Daily (2014)](https://www.screendaily.com/creep/5076590.article)
2. [The Best Blumhouse Horror Movies, Ranked, Time](https://time.com/6837569/best-horror-movies-blumhouse-ranked/)
3. [SXSW 2014: Austin's Silver Screen Winners, Time](https://time.com/20133/sxsw-film-best-movies-top-10/)
4. [Creep (2014), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creep_2014)
5. [Shudder to Debut The Creep Tapes, AMC Global Media (September 12, 2024)](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2024/09/12/shudder-to-debut-next-installment-of-iconic-creep-film-franchise-a-new-original-series-the-creep-tapes-from-writers-and-executive-producers-mark-duplass-and-patrick-brice/)
6. [Creep streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/creep)
7. [Mark Duplass Gives Update About Creep 3, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/mark-duplass-gives-update-creep-3-thatll-please-horror-fans)
8. [Creep 10 Years Later: Why It Remains a Found Footage Gem, Bloody Disgusting](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3794301/creep-found-footage-movie-10-years-later/)
9. [Creep (2014) Review, Found Footage Critic](https://www.foundfootagecritic.com/creep-2014-review/)
10. [Fantasia '14 Review: Creep, Bloody Disgusting (July 29, 2014)](https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3305592/fantasia-14-review-creep-reminds-us-nothing-ok-fools-thinking-anything/)
11. [Aspect Choreography in Creep, University of Chicago dissertation](https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/7580/files/Ihns_uchicago_0330D_17113.pdf)
12. [10 great found-footage films, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-found-footage-films)
13. [Creep (2014), dir. Patrick Brice, Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/250574/creep-2014)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Found footage horror films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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