Creep

Introduction

Well, if this is what`s happening to the Underground then Ken Livingstone`s got a few more worries than just signal failures to contend with.

Kate the German (Franka Potente) is off to the VIP Rooms to meet, and hopefully get off with George Clooney but gets herself stuck in Charing Cross station after falling asleep and missing the last train (why no-one noticed her there is never explained and is just one of the many unsatisfactory plot holes that litter this film). A completely unscheduled train conveniently pulls up and opens its doors. Kate gets on, and eight rather nasty and bloody deaths ensue, although to be fair, two of them happen at the start of the film.

Video

The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1, and the picture quality is absolutely fine, commendably so considering much of the film is set underground and so everything is naturally very dark.

Audio

The film`s soundtrack is a mix of screams and a suitably atmospheric electronic score by The Insects. The 5.1 surround mode is perfectly clear, but has moments of silliness, especially in the party scene towards the start when Kate is approached by a friend whose voice floated in from the far right of my room even though she only had to move a couple of feet to get to her. This little grumble aside, there are plenty of Underground noises to get your teeth into. One to listen out for is the familiar `track rattle` - a familiar and welcome sound when you`re on the platform and a train`s approaching but probably quite bowel-loosening when you`re walking down a tunnel with the train behind you.

Features

The extras are all fairly standard, but we have quite an entertaining commentary from the director Christopher Smith (though it`s a shame none of the cast were involved), who tries hard to explain why much of the film is...unexplained. Even though he doesn`t admit it, I bet budget and shooting time had something to do with it. He also mentions that he hadn`t heard of `Deathline` until he had written his script…no marks at all for subject matter knowledge Mr. Smith!

Additionally, there is a rather disappointing Q&A session at something called `Frightfest` (probably a name coined to describe the geeks who turn up), three quite interesting featurettes and the usual trailers, `TV spots` and storyboarded alternative beginning and ending.

Apparently there is also an Easter Egg, but I haven`t found this yet.

Conclusion

So..is it worth watching? I think the answer is going to be `probably`. I found it all quite entertaining, and it`s certainly a great coup for Christopher Smith to nab someone as great as Franka Potente to star in his first feature length film, and in general he does a fine job. Keeping everything nicely tucked into 90 minutes or so makes a refreshing change, but there are too many unanswered questions which make it all an ultimately unsatisfactory story - the origins of `the creep` for starters! We are left to wonder about all this ourselves, which is a little cheeky considering all the blood and guts we want to see. Philosophising can wait.

Another problem popped up half-way through when it dawned on me that I didn`t really care about what happened to any of the characters (apart from perhaps Mandy, who dies in a particularly gruesome fashion, poor girl). Kate is shallow, George (Vas Blackwood) is just annoyingly `geezerish`, and noone else really has any chance to develop before they`re mercilessly killed.although judging by some of the acting, it would have been a mercy for us if George had been bumped off in the sewers at the start…but then we wouldn`t have had the corny line about Kate going to meet `a George`, but wasn`t expecting this one. The `ironic` ending is also a bit preachy, but the Ray the dog comes out of it all smelling of roses…or whatever it is dogs smell of.

Oh yes.if you`re scared of rats.don`t watch!