Creep

Creep is probably one of the grossest films I've seen in a while, and one of the very few that had me questioning whether I actually wanted to keep my eyes fixed in the general direction of my TV or not.

Among the reasons for this is the attempt to make Craig, the 'villain' of the piece, marginally sympathetic, even pitiful. His carefully crafted appearance is designed to make the viewer recognise that this is someone who, at least in the literal definition of the term, is human as opposed to a member of the superhuman canon comprising Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and the like. This instantly makes him far more grotesque and disturbing than any of those superstar stalk'n'slashers. It also makes him rather more threatening - this is someone you genuinely think could come after you one day (however far at the back of your mind that thought might lurk).

However, it's one particular scene that really threatens to push the film over the edge. Again, it's one that flirts uncomfortably close to reality. In many horror films - Final Destination for example - it's the imaginatively devised deaths that keep the audience thrilled. You don't normally care that a character is dying, quite often in agony, as long as it's fun to watch. In Creep there's one particular murder (anyone who's seen the film will likely know what I'm talking about) which is almost too disturbing to watch.

At the time I was thinking that the director had gone too far. On reflection, however, there is scope for arguing that horror films should be hard to watch on occasion. After all, they are supposed to be horrific. It depends whether you go to a horror film to be entertained, or to trawl the deeper recesses of the human psyche.

The aspect which struck me most strongly, albeit not until the day after seeing the film, is that a great deal of the narrative concerns relationships between men and women. In this respect, the grosser scenes in Creep do have their place.

Our first introduction to the purported heroine, Kate, sets up her somewhat lofty expectations of men and relationships by having her announce her plan to head into London and pull George Clooney. This is entirely understandable when, in the scene immediately preceding, we are introduced to her other option - Guy (a literal nomenclature if ever there was one), an obnoxious suit who is unable to comprehend that Kate has no interest in him. This situation is taken to its logical dramatic conclusion when he later attempts to rape her - demonstrating that his only commitment is to his own sexual satisfaction, and not to any other form of relationship.

Kate, however, is 'rescued' by the monstrous (although at that juncture unseen) Craig who for all intents and purposes represents something of a knight in shining armour of the moment. The rescue is given a twist by the revelation that the suit has been mortally wounded, which compels our heroine into the position of nursemaid - an ironic reversal of the relationship, and a moment that also forces the audience to question their standpoint on Guy.

The only unambiguously caring relationship we encounter in the film is that of the homeless couple, Jimmy and Mandy, who Kate encounters inside Charing Cross Station. Although living on the fringes of society, and both addicted to crack, they are presented as being committed to one another, with Jimmy at least planning a better future for them. These plans are royally screwed up almost as soon as they meet Kate, who proves the catalyst for their irrevocable separation. Although Jimmy is initially reluctant to leave Mandy, Kate tempts him away via the use of good hard cash. Once he is persuaded to leave, in order to escort Kate to the perceived safety of the security guard's office, Mandy is kidnapped (in bloody fashion) by Craig. When Jimmy discovers this he turns to his other comfort - crack. Although Kate again manages to lure him with cash she fails to realise that his commitment this time is to take revenge on Mandy's attacker. Suffice to say Jimmy is despatched not long after - however, not before he gets the chance to pass his own judgement on the dying Guy: "Let him rot."

We later find that Mandy is still alive but only barely, having been forced to endure what I can only describe as a surgical rape at the hands of Craig. That this brings up whole issues of abortion, birth, rape, and motherhood in the context of an excruciatingly violent scenario only makes it harder to watch. Like the infamous ear-slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs, it's what the mind sees and not what is actually shown that proves unbearable.

Of course there are any number of male-female relationships that are represented by this scene depending on your interpretation.

There's a degree of effort on the filmmaker's part to suggest that Craig has little idea of what he's doing - he performs a chillingly inept parody of scrubbing up and preparing for surgery which, it is clearly implied, is a process of imitation lacking any true comprehension. Thereby, and this is an aspect revisited at other points in the film, there is potential to view Craig as the victim even as he performs this grossly violent act. However, in this specific context, any interpretation of Craig as a sympathetic character would tend to marginalise the violence committed against Mandy which, in turn, makes the scene even more disturbing.

article continues...

It's around this juncture that Kate meets up with the fourth significant male character in the film, George, a sewage worker who has been kept captive by Craig. A similar pattern to her relationship with Jimmy repeats itself here. Kate tempts George into following her, albeit this time by effecting their escape. George later reveals that his motivation for escape - his commitment - is to his children. Shortly after this revelation he is, of course, killed.

In a slightly earlier scene Kate and George come across Mandy. Kate insists that they check if she's alive. George makes a vague attempt to check her condition, declares she's dead, and they leave. Moments later, but unknown to Kate and George, we learn that Mandy is indeed still alive (though not for much longer).

While George's motivations for leaving Mandy behind can be attributed to his desire to escape, this scene also exemplifies the narrative's tendency of ensuring that Kate is in the company of just one other person. When she is with more than one person, someone inevitably dies. (Interestingly Kate is also abandoned before the film even starts - the friend who is supposed to play a crucial role in her efforts to meet George Clooney has already gone on her way.)

For instance, initially we have Guy and Kate alone together. Once Craig appears on the scene Guy is snatched away. Later Kate is with Billy and Mandy, but Kate draws Billy away. When Kate and Billy encounter Craig, it is Billy who dies. Even Kate's attempts to save Guy's life by conversing with the security guard are foiled when Guy dies and the guard is murdered by Craig. George's later reluctance to have Mandy accompany him and Kate represents the unspoken suggestion that his life will be instantly forfeit if he ceases to be the only person in Kate's entourage. Once Craig appears on the scene it is, true enough, George who is slain.

This is further suggested when, towards the film's climax, Kate finally finds herself alone with Craig. Rather than simply kill her, Craig instead attempts to foster a more symbiotic relationship - the most obvious interpretation being a parent-child bond. As it happens, as with all the other men in the film, his efforts to nurture a relationship of any form with Kate results in his death.

article continues...

The final scene presents an exhausted and dishevelled Kate on the train platform with the only other survivor of the night - the homeless couple's dog - as her willing companion. At this point the visual cue is of Kate as a homeless person, and this identification on the part of the audience is rewarded when an early commuter hands her some loose change. The underlying suggestion is that Kate may well have travelled too far beyond the norm to return to conventional society. (Kate's earlier lack of compassion for the homeless couple will also find some viewers satisfied by her slide down the social scale - and in fact the movie deliberately plays around with the audience's sympathy or otherwise for characters). However, this is also one final example of a male-female relationship - the businessman who represents the summit of the male-dominated capitalist society taking pity on, or illustrating his superiority over, the female who has been chewed up and spat out by society.

How little he knows...

(N.B. There's a little more to be said about levels of society, another theme that crops up in Creep and one that is rather appropriate for a film that is set in the Underground.

The opening scene sets the idea up perfectly with two sewage workers literally clearing away the rest of society's waste from underneath the city. Craig, the killer, can also be viewed as someone who's been abandoned by society. His murderous exploits somewhat undermine the film's suggestion that the people above are no better than the people below.

Guy is the perfect example of this. The supposedly respectable member of this above-ground society, he allows his base instincts to surface once underground, and later succumbs to the underground itself.
The homeless couple, Billy and Mandy, are also literally beneath the rest of society, locked away underground. This doesn't, however, mean that Billy sees Guy as anything less than an animal. Guy is judged by his actions, not his status.

This theme is capped off by the final scene, where the hard-working commuter descends to the Underground, bringing a small measure of his wealth with him for the needy Kate.)

article continues...