Creep (2004/I)

Director:

Christopher Smith

Writer:

Christopher Smith (written by)

Release Date:

28 January 2005 (UK)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil Dwells Underground.

Plot:

Trapped in a London subway station, a woman who's being pursued by a potential attacker heads into the unknown labyrinth of tunnels beneath the city's streets.

Plot Keywords:

Underground | Tunnel | London Underground | Subway | Acquaintance

Cast

Franka Potente	...	Kate
Vas Blackwood	...	George
Ken Campbell	...	Arthur
Jeremy Sheffield	...	Guy
Paul Rattray	...	Jimmy
Kelly Scott	...	Mandy
Sean Harris	...	Craig
Kathryn Gilfeather	...	Girl
Grant Ibbs	...	Man
Joe Anderson	...	Male Model
Sean De Vrind	...	Friend
Ian Duncan	...	Friend
Debora Weston	...	Mya
Emily Gilchrist	...	Karen
Craig Fackrell	...	Homeless Guy

Also Known As:

Creep (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, language, some drug use and sexual content.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK | Germany

Language:

German | English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | Taiwan:R-18 | USA:R (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Hong Kong:III | Argentina:16 | Norway:15 | Malaysia:18SG | Brazil:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Italy:VM18 | France:-16 | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | UK:18 | Philippines:R-13 | Finland:K-18

Filming Locations:

Aldwych Underground Station, Aldwych, Holborn, London, England, UK

Company:

UK Film Council

Trivia:

Advertising posters showing a bloody hand sliding down a London Underground train window were banned from the Underground as being in bad taste, even though scenes had been filmed with permission in disused stations on the Underground. Producer Julie Baines found this "highly amusing" and "a bit ludicrous", noting that the film is "not based on real events - if it is, we are all in trouble." The ban was later removed, although not in time for the film's British opening.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Possibly intentional as the character is German: Kate attempts to put coins in the public pay phone when the emergency services (999) can be dialed free of charge from all public pay phones in the UK.

Quotes:

Kate: [to a silent figure in the train] Excuse me, I fell asleep on the platform
Kate: [after silence] Don't you check them before you lock up?
[silence]
Kate: I mean, it sounds a little weird nobody's in charge here
Kate: [after no answer] Excuse me? Would you mind answering me? You're starting to freak me out!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Severance' (2007) (V)

Bloody Northern Line

This is good little shocker; not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but tight, competent and disturbing. An excellent example of a simple idea developed into a compelling 90 minute script.

The set up requires no bells and whistles, no lengthy exposition or wordy back story; Kate (Franka Pontente), a young German business woman living in London, drifts off whilst waiting for the last tube train. She awakens to find the place deserted, but quickly comes to realise that she is far from alone. Someone, or something, is down there with her and it's intentions are wholly malicious.

In fact she encounters several other characters in her quest to survive, including a lecherous work colleague, a homeless couple and a caged sewage worker, all of whom add pace and substance to the plot. There is a slightly awkward gear change somewhere in the middle of the film when tension thriller mutates into gore fest, but nothing so clumsy as to slow the hectic pace. For those of you with weak dispositions this is likely to be a harrowing ride; for those of you who relish a bit of well executed carnal mayhem this should press all the right buttons.

The climax of the film is perhaps less successful than the main body of the film, but it is punctuated with a nice moment of unexpected social commentary which provides a satisfying conclusion.

Some may find themselves feeling somewhat cheated of a clear explanation as to the exact nature and history of the threat encountered by Kate and her confederates, however, for me this was not the case. A horror film writer should not need feel compelled to dot every i and cross every t, in the same way a writer of political thrillers might be expected to. There are enough clues here to give you a very pretty clear idea of what brought this evil into existence, making a detailed and conclusive solution superfluous. The retention of a certain sense of mystery is to be welcomed and reminds us that in this film the ride was always going to be more important than the exact destination.

My understanding is that the budget for this film was, to say the least, minimal, in which case our applause for this British horror should be all the louder, for at no point does one have the impression of corners being cut or effects failing to deliver.

If this sounds like your kind of film then it probably is. Buy a ticket and climb aboard.