Though no-one will ever accuse it of originality, Creep at least knows what to steal from. After all, it's inspired by the classic 1972 cannibal-on-the-Tube movie Death Line, just as current American films like Wrong Turn derive from '70s backwoods horrors.
While it might not match that high-water mark of London urban terror, Creep at least delivers a good hour of suspense, with Run Lola Run's Potente on the run again, dashing about while everyone she turns to is splattered, followed by a half-hour of grue and suffering in the lair of the monster. First-time director-writer Smith has a knack for unsettling moments of late-night observation, and gets plenty of mileage from the setting especially when the high-heeled heroine steps off well-lit areas of the Tube and finds herself in neglected tunnels and forgotten government facilities.
However, he doesn't trust the audience to be creeped out by atmospherics alone, and feels the need to throw in surplus characters for gruesome-death purposes not to mention a pet shop full of rats to swarm about at short notice. The third act is sadly the weakest, as it brings the Creep into the light. It's cringe-inducing especially in a nasty medical scene but less scary than the shock-in-the-dark stuff.
