THE CREEP TAPES: SEASON TWO
****
Directed by Patrick Brice.
Starring Mark Duplass, David Dastmalchian, Chris Donlon.
Horror, USA, 141 mins, Certificate 18.
Released in the UK on Blu-ray via Acorn Media on 1st June 2026.
There is always a danger with a successful TV or streaming series that after the first season the ideas will get bigger, the production values will change and whatever made the property so enjoyable in the first place will get diluted to appeal to a wider audience. Which makes THE CREEP TAPES: SEASON TWO such a joy to watch as creators Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass bring jovial POV killer Peachfuzz back for another six short episodes of twisted murderous fun.
As with season one, each episode is named after the victim starting with JOSEPH, co-starring LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL’s David Dastmalchian as the titular character. In a twist of genius, Brice and Duplass have made this 21-minute episode into a tight remake of the original CREEP movie, albeit with Joseph as a copycat Peachfuzz killer and Duplass’ Peachfuzz (’real’ name Josef, or one of his aliases from the original movie) turning up at his house to film him for a day under the pretence that Joseph is dying and wants a record of his life.
If you have seen the original movie - and it is recommended that you do before embarking on the series - then you will know what beats it will follow, but Duplass is brilliant as the killer who is always in control of the situation and his knowing looks to camera make it all the more hilarious. For his part, Dastmalchian is fantastic as the wannabe Peachfuzz and it wouldn’t be a stretch to see these two team up for some serial killer mayhem, except that the series dictates we have to have a victim so that won’t happen.
Episode three, titled MARK, sees Brice and Duplass drawing on SAW and DEXTER for inspiration as two men wake up chained to a wall in a dank basement while a voice gives them cryptic instructions. Obviously one of the men is Peachfuzz so we know how this is going to play out, but the writing gives us much more as, for once, the killer’s plan isn’t entirely foolproof and he may not have selected the right person.
As SAW is the big inspiration for this one it does allow the creators to get graphic with the gore, and this episode won’t disappoint torture porn fans as Mark has to hunt for a key that will unlock his freedom - or will it? A great episode that manages to pack in so much for such a short run time.
As for the other episodes, WES sees Peachfuzz offer a young filmmaker the chance of making a promotional video for a real estate agent but Wes’ professionalism gets called into question and causes him to panic just before the police show up. AVA sees Peachfuzz at his creepy best as he invites a documentary maker to film his animal sanctuary, who soon realises that her host has other hidden traumas that want to come out. NICK is probably the weakest episode as Peachfuzz impersonates a doctor seeing a patient on Christmas Eve who has issues relating to the festive season - although it does feature the best line in the series from Peachfuzz when Nick sits on his lap, but you’ll have to watch it to find out what it is - and finally ANGELA sees Katie Aselton return as Peachfuzz’s sister in a very dark and unhinged episode that gives us some backstory that could potentially open the series up going forward.
So yet again we have six concise episodes of Mark Duplass owning the character of Peachfuzz - despite some serious competition from David Dastmalchian - and utilising the POV camera format to its full potential. As with all shows, some episodes are better than others but despite NICK not quite hitting the heights of JOSEPH or MARK, it isn’t because it is bad, it is just that the best episodes are so good that the flaws stick out more.
Nevertheless, THE CREEP TAPES: SEASON TWO continues the high standards of season one and the Blu-ray disc comes complete with an audio commentary by Patrick Brice, Mark Duplass and editor/actor Chris Donlon, so if you really want to get behind the thinking of each episode you can, but if you don’t then just sit back and enjoy another round of darkly amusing serial killer shenanigans as you await season three - you know it’s coming.
Chris Ward