The Creep Tapes is one of the best horror shows of the year, but a scene that doesn’t involve death is the series’ most memorable sequence so far.
The twisted brainchild of Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice, The Creep Tapes is a spinoff from the Creep movies, about a serial killer who videos his murders, oftentimes while dressed as deadly alter-ego ‘Peachfuzz.’
Duplass plays the killer in question, who seems affable at first, if a little awkward. But then his interactions turn weird, then scary, before ultimately becoming deadly.
Episodes 1 and 2 of a proposed 100 Creep Tape episodes launched on Shudder last week, while the third instalment dropped today, and features an ending that’s genuinely jaw-dropping. It caused quite the stir when the episode premiered at Fantastic Fest in September, so here’s what to expect, meaning beware of SPOILERS ahead…
The first episode of The Creep Tapes served as something of a soft reboot of the concept, with the Duplass character luring a filmmaker to his house under the pretence of shooting an audition tape.
The second episode saw the character suffering an existential crisis as he examines his co-dependent relationship with Peachfuzz. Which is what I’ll refer to him as for the remainder of this piece.
Episode 3 sees him going home to Mommy, which is where The Creep Tapes get really weird.
Peachfuzz has a body in his trunk, which is a bad way to start a family reunion. Especially as the victim isn’t quite dead yet, with Peach finishing him off while proclaiming his love for Forrest Gump.
When he gets home, Mom immediately both films and scares her son, which gives us a sense of his predictably strange upbringing, and potential origin story. As does a soft toy called ‘Wolfie’ that he loves.
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More back-story comes when Fuzz states that he struggles to make friends like his hero Forrest, as every time he tries to make a connection, it doesn’t work out. For reasons the audience knows only too well.
The situation is then complicated when mom’s new man Albert arrives on the scene, who is now living in the family home.
As soon as Albert arrives, Peachfuzz regresses to his teenage self, sulking, having tantrums, and being rude by comparing their love life to 9½ Weeks.
Then Albert finds the body in the boot, and Peachfuzz axes him to death. That isn’t the shocking scene however, as this being a Creep Tape, we’re kind-of waiting for blood to be spilled.
No, the messed-up moment in this Freudian nightmare comes at the very end of the episode, when it becomes clear that Mom knows about Peachfuzz’s murderous ways, and has no problem with his actions.
Then, to soothe her boy, Mom offers him her breast.
Peachfuzz lies across mother, and proceeds to suckle on her nipple, in a sequence that had the Fantastic Fest audience laughing and retching in equal measure. It’s shocking, sick, twisted stuff, and a scene that will be tough to top in the show’s final three episodes.
The Creep Tapes are available on Shudder, while for more scary stuff, check out our list of the best horror TV shows and best horror movies of all time.