Creep

And so we have Creep, another film requiring Franka Potente to run, run, run. Franka, you should have run from the script.  
 
Potente plays Kate, who works for a modelling agency (thanks for the 411, cover-blurb writer), forced to take the London underground late at night like a commoner. Falling asleep on the train platform, she wakes to find herself locked in Charing Cross station all alone, or so it seems. After a nasty encounter with a male friend (Jeremy Sheffield) who has followed her ends even more nastily for him, Kate realizes that something dangerous is out and about in the tube. Her desperate escape, involving a homeless couple (Paul Rattray, Kelly Scott) and a sewer worker (Vas Blackwood), turns into a basic fight for survival. Emphasis on basic.

The movie changes track (no pun intended) halfway through, from intense focus on Kate and the horror possibilities of the subway to following the villain. The remainder of Kate's struggle is really about making her captor seem more cruel than other horror movie psychotics, with no rhyme or reason for his human butcher shop in the sewers. It's a mistake, because the cat-and-mouse angle is harder to bungle than the depths-of-depravity angle. Sean Harris plays the hideous "creep" with twitchy skill, but if you're going to show your monster early and make him an on-screen presence, you'd better earn it.
 
There is exactly one scene that succeeds in chewing what every other scene tries to bite off. Watching the creep go through a mock surgical preparation in the dirty operating room, perfectly paced, creates a special kind of dread. Here, the film transcends the threat of violence. Otherwise, Creep's gruesomeness is mildly compelling, but real horror fanatics won't find this stuff shocking.
 
It isn't so much that the "trapped + pursued + unstoppable maniac" combo is so played, it's that every attempt to freshen the theme is abandoned. The venue is a smart choice, a maze of tunnels that no one knows completely. So why pick the most obvious of unlimited possibilities? The script hints at a backstory involving medical experiments, which director Christopher Smith claims he left purposely vague. Why even bring up the monster's origins when they have no bearing on his motivations, those of other characters, or the film's outcome?
 
The answer is: just bask in the visceral fun and shut up. The gore is gorgeous, and giving in to the chase scenes will provide some thrills for a mindless night at home. Naturally, indie darling Franka can sell terror. During the Fright Fest 2004 clip, she admits she thought Creep would be a lark and implies she treated it as such; clearly, everyone interviewed had a blast making the film. Smith, however, sounds deluded when he talks about his "complex" choices. Every explanation he gives, especially for the alternate ending (shown in storyboard), just raises more questions. Still, these are packed features with substantial inside access.

The 5.1 digital sound is impressive; kudos to the crew for creating a sound design that turns the subway into a living organism. More kudos to the effects team and makeup artists, most of whom get to speak on the DVD. And good for Lion's Gate, adding so many features to a film that saw limited or no theatrical release in North America. If only that film warranted all the hard work.