Creeping Death review
The latest SCREAMBOX release mines the original lore of the holiday to accentuate a bloody Halloween slasher.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Streaming exclusively on SCREAMBOX September 10
Creeping Death
Directed by Matt Sampere
Written by Matt Sampere
Starring Matt Sampere, Monique Parent, Alan Maxson, Delian Lincourt, Hunter Kohl, Ian Brown, Scott Lea and Elise St. John
Creeping Death Review
Ahh…Halloween. The most magical time of the year. Not to mention…when the finest example of the slasher genre takes place. John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece wasn’t the first slasher movie…but it is the most influential. It should be no surprise that the holiday already known for spooky treats and dangerous tricks has become synonymous with slasher films. To be fair, Christmas has more than its share too. Which is funny when you think about it. If anything, you’d think Christmas would be a time for home invasion horror. Every holiday has a slasher movie or a dozen…but no one does it like Halloween. It’s the perfect cover for masked killers…terror is already in the air…it’s a night that already celebrates the macabre.
What most Halloween set slasher movies don’t do, however, is look deeply into the history of the day. Usually, you’ll get surface level Halloween cliches and get right down to the slashing. This isn’t a point against those movies, mind you. Less is rarely more than in a slasher movie. Creeping Death puts the work in. It mines the history of the holiday to provide a little something on top of the usual bloody and guts. It also delivers in a big way when it’s time for those blood and guts.
Let’s break down the things necessary to create a fun slasher movie. A good killer is a must. Great kills are a plus. A strong character to root for is a bonus. Creeping Death nails the first two. It struggles in creating the third one. Mostly because it is trying way too hard to get it to work. The added lore dating back to Gaelic folk tales about the history of Halloween stand in as the bonus here.
Tim (writer/director Matt Sampere) sees his holiday plans change when his father has to work a double shift. His sick mother (Linda Garner) needs looking after. When his friends accidentally unleash an ancient evil, Tim ends up caught in the crossfire.
Let’s start with the kills. They are the highlight of Creeping Death. There are excellent practical effects on display throughout the movie. Limbs are ripped off. A still beating heart is removed. A third act bloodbath ensues. It all looks spectacular. If you are a fan of practical effect, Creeping Death has you covered. When its killer is let loose…it brings top notch bloody fun.
That killer is another highlight. An imposing figure cleverly revealed over the course of an excellent first kill. Tim and his friends watch as their friend is picked apart before their eyes. The friends have unleashed the monster called Aos Si by inadvertently breaking an ancient tradition through their Halloween pranking. They are now targeted by an unstoppable force, having to find a way to survive until midnight.
The problems in Creeping Death come from the story’s attempts to create a compelling main character. It opts for the less traditional “final boy” …but that can work. Tommy Jarvis, Ash Williams, Andy Barclay, Chris in Get Out. Dozens of horror movies have succeeded while focused on a male protagonist. Creeping Death tries too hard to build Tim up to those standards. After an initial bit of interest generated from snapping at his cancer riddled mother due to the stress he’s tried to carry with a helpful attitude…the movie becomes a bit repetitive as it pertains to Tim. A length sequence where he considers sacrificing his already dying mother to appease Aos Si isn’t nearly as compelling as Creeping Death thinks it is. We understand the character by then. Now we’re annoyed by it.
Tim does get a potential love interest to split some of the third act focus. Danielle (Deian Lincourt) doesn’t get enough time to establish her character for it to work completely…but it does help to enhance the feeling of danger when the bloodletting begins. Unfortunately, their relationship mostly boils down to seemingly meaningful conversations that are continuously interrupted. The issue largely resolves itself when Aos Si’s rampage begins. The result is a third act that forgives many of the issues that come before it.
Creeping Death delivers enough of what you want in a seasonal slasher while trying to offer up something fresh. In the case of its examination of the holiday’s history…it works well. The rituals of Halloween are in place to ward off evil. Jack-O-Lanterns and candy handouts are rooted in pacts with the spirits to keep your home safe. That’s an interesting texture for a slasher movie. Especially one that so ably delivers on kill scenes through a good-looking monster and strong practical gore effects. With a good monster, fun kills and a neat use of lore…Creeping Death has more than most independent slasher movies tend to. While it overdoes it with its main character…it’s nothing that a bloody rampage can’t cure.
Creeping Death feels like it could be the beginning of a slasher franchise. There’s more juice in Aos Si…and there’s always another Halloween. As a first-time feature for writer/director/star Matt Sampere it shows more than enough promise to be interested in what new twists he can add to the concept going forward. He’ll need a lot of new actors though…Creeping Death doesn’t spare on the body count. Which, now that I think of it, is another thing in the plus column.
Scare Value
There are aspects of Creeping Death that don’t work…but it nails the parts that matter most. Great practical gore effects, wild kills and enough of an original spin on the backstory to create something fresh. Creeping Death gets very fun in the final act. There’s enough violence before that to cover some wonky story moments. A clear labor of love for the holiday and throwback slasher movies.
3/5
Creeping Death Link
Streaming on Screambox
