Creeps: A Tale of Murder and Mayhem

Director - Jack Mulvanerty (Streets of the Damned)
Starring - Jack Mulvanerty (Burn in Hell), Johnny Dickie (Slaughter Tales), and Joshua Bruce (City of the Dream Demons)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I love when directors take a simple flick and giving me a simple film that is worth my time and my money.  So many directors forget about the big picture when they start making their film and try to create something bigger than their budget (or talent in some cases) allows.  When I sit down to watch a low-budget indie flick I expect to see a simple story filled with blood and pure nonsense.  Recently, I watched a very low-budget S.O.V. inspired anthology called Slaughter Tales (read the review here).  The film was not that great but I took away a great appreciation for teenage director Johnnie Dickie and his love for film.  I recently learned (rather recently) that Dickie held many roles in the new flick Creeps: A Tale of Murder and Mayhem by 15 year old director Jack Mulvanerty.   When I found this out I had to see it and lucky for me the film just wrapped.  Dickie hooked me up with a link to the online screener and for that I thank you and Mulvanerty so much!
     The film follows Jack (Mulvanerty) and Johnny (Dickie) who read that their local community was home to a series of brutal murders.  The two learn that one of the bodies is still missing and Johnny decides to go look for it so he can claim the reward...and see a real dead body.  However, he goes looking in the woods alone and crosses paths with the killer.  He is murdered but his story does not end there.  It is from this instance on that the story gets a little murky.  We learn that those that die by the hand of the mask men (it is actually two killers) return to walk the earth as a creep.  Jack begins searching for Johnny and stumbles on to more than he bargained for.  He quickly learns that a young smoking priest killed a murderer who tortured two young boys.  He was able to save the two boys but they grew to hate the world and only want to cover it in blood.  Johnny also learns that he is next and teams up with another teen to stop them.
     I'm going to be brutally honest with all of you.  After watch Slaughter Tales, even though it was not directed by Mulvanerty, I did not have high hopes for this.  Though I did not have high expectations for the film I need to express how much respect I have for this group of young filmmakers.  They have the balls to do something I do not and that is make films for a genre that I adore.  Mulvanerty and Dickie are both members of a group of rising youths for a fondness for sleaze and splatter.  This "Brat Pack" goes against the conventional modern film making and craft films that can easily be compared to their S.O.V. counterparts and anything from the mind of Herschell Gordon Lewis.  Now that I got that out of the way and made everyone think I hated this film I can go ahead and praise the fuck out of it.  This film was fucking amazing.  Plain and simple.  The film blew my expectations out of the water then dick punched it repeatedly.  This film was just that damn good.  The acting, sadly, was really bad.  The entire cast shows charisma but lacks the experience necessary to make the scenes and dialogue flow better. The story was surprisingly fun but something that can be pieced together from other films.  However, what the film lacks in originality it makes up for with sheer fun.  This film once again shows that simple goes a long way especially when dealing with low-budget flicks.  The only downside to the story that I can see, which was a very big downside, was that at times it was hard to follow.  The movie actually feels like it was edited using possibly two different films or filmed days or weeks apart and then edited together.  This does take away from the flow of the film.  Finally, those looking for blood and on screen kills will find more than enough in this flick here.  The special effects are nothing special but the film was able to make them fun instead of exploiting their flaws.  Overall, this is one damn fine splatter film that will surely entertain any viewer.  When this one gets a DVD or VHS release I will be damn sure to add it to my collection.  I highly recommend it!