Days of Halloween Redux: Creep

2004, Christopher Smith (Triangle, Black Death) -- download

I am not sure why but this season's collection was not all  that good. I want to suggest it is because last year we were able to collect the best of a wide range of movies from the past decade or so. Basically, if we heard it was good, we had downloaded it.  This season, with most of those that came out this year already seen and not able to afford as many cinema movies as we would like, the downloads and Netflix pickings were slim.  Most of what we have watched has been just OK at best; very few were good.  Unfortunately this goes into the "just OK" category.

Franka Potente plays a London party girl, no real background is given but she is shallow and focused on herself.  In just the few interactions she has with the people around her, as she tries to get to a party where George Clooney might make an appearance, we learn she is pretty much a dick.  We don't have much sympathy when she falls asleep, after having one too mini bottles of vodka in the tube, and wakes up in an empty subway car.  She soon finds herself trapped in the subway system with someone or something that is killing people.

I rather liked Smith's Triangle, a time travel slasher movie on a boat.  But this cannibal in the sewers movie just lacked... well, most things.  It had many chances to excel but never really chose them and was pretty much without any distinctive character.  The monster, who we will call Craig, is well designed and something about him rung as extremely familiar.  But other than the Elephant Man,  I have not been able to place it... him... whatever.  He screams like a bat, sniffs the air like a dog and doesn't seem to mind the open sores and infection he must be suffering from living in the sewers.  And he eats rats and people.

Potente's Kate waffles between capable & courageous and scared witless.  If she gains anything from us, it is a grudging respect as she desires to rise above her own self concern and help those trapped down there with her.  But the story arc doesn't really use this growing redemption. It is just one of multitude of meh in this movie. Incidental characters play even a lesser role.  Nothing really contributes to anything and I ended up bored.