Seven years after the release of “Creep 2,” Mark Duplass is ready to return to his dryly comedic found footage horror franchise.
The multi-hyphenate has announced that he completed production on “The Creep Tapes,” an episodic series that promises to introduce horror fans to a new collection of victims from the vault of Duplass’ nameless killer. The series, co-created by Duplass and “Creep” director Patrick Brice (who also directed every episode), is currently being shopped to buyers.
The first “Creep” film released in 2014 at the tail end of the found footage horror renaissance launched by “Paranormal Activity” in 2007. It starred Duplass as a killer who hired a filmmaker to document his actions for a day as a ploy to lure him into a dark trap. 2017’s “Creep 2” used a similar formula, with Duplass’ character taking a different name and working with a different filmmaker. The series will take fans through the killer’s vault to reveal the stories of other filmmakers who fell for his bloody scheme.
“The series is based on a collection of video tapes in the secret vault of the world’s deadliest and most socially uncomfortable serial killer, who hires his victims to film him for the day under false pretenses,” Duplass said in a statement announcing the news. “Each episode exposes a new victim from one of the fabled ‘Creep Tapes.’”
Duplass has openly flirted with the prospect of making a third “Creep” film in recent years, but said that his disappointment with the second film made him hesitate to proceed with future projects unless he was completely confident in their artistic value.
“We decided to make ‘Creep 2.’ We had to almost kill ourselves to make that movie as good as it was. I appreciate how many people liked it but I do feel like it wasn’t as good as it could have been, if I’m being perfectly honest,” Duplass said in a 2020 conversation with IndieWire. “If we’re going to make a third one, it’d better be super inspired. We are trying and we are putting effort into it, but we are not good enough yet to make it worthwhile, so we are struggling. That’s really it.”
Watch a teaser for “The Creep Tapes” below.
