After the breakout success of horror icon Peachfuzz on the small screen, Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass are back for seconds in Shudder’s compelling slice of found footage mayhem. Similar to its debut season, The Creep Tapes finds the mysterious wolf-mask-obsessive “Josef” toying with an array of seemingly doomed victims, working his way through an endless collection of VHS tapes adorned with their names. Josef has been doing this for at least twenty-five years, so there’s plenty of story to be told. They still avoid either directly or indirectly addressing the cliffhanger ending of Creep 2; instead, Duplass and company dive headfirst into the oddball eccentricities of their carefully crafted psychopath. Josef provides a masterclass in acting for Mark Duplass, who rightfully lets his freak flag fly in a constant refresh of his character’s chameleonic qualities with every episode. Disturbing and morbidly funny, season 2 of The Creep Tapes provides plenty more freaky Peachfuzz antics in this twisted exploration of exhibitionist horror.
If you tuned in for Shudder’s first season of The Creep Tapes, expect more of the same—a synth-fueled intro that zooms through a cabinet housing the killer’s VHS tapes, a runtime per episode of no more than thirty minutes, and a riveting hook that sets each anthological installment apart from the last. Structured as six standalone encounters, each follows a new victim—or, in some cases, a new accomplice—who becomes entangled in Peachfuzz’s delusional games of performance. This series brings in some fresh blood in the form of notable guest stars, with one of the biggest coming right in the premiere. David Dastmalchian, a mainstay in the genre between the likes of The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Late Night With the Devil among others, shows up as a copycat killer inspired by Peachfuzz. The sheer variety of stories helps to cushion the feel of it all being more of the same. For fanatics, that caveat will probably be an attribute rather than a ding.
Each of these stories keeps Wolfie at the forefront of the action, hovering around Duplass and his maddeningly brilliant performance. Duplass’s unpredictability brilliantly blends with the intimacy of the handheld camera, and the uneasy humor that lingers just below the horror. Duplass keeps reinventing Peachfuzz—one moment to the next, he alternates from pathetic, magnetic, delusional, or terrifying. The resulting deranged acting showcase keeps any of the material from growing stale. While we occasionally dip into excess, Brice and Duplass maintain a unique energy. Each tape is less about the kill and more about the performance leading up to it. The voyeurism cuts both ways: Peachfuzz is as desperate to be seen as his victims are to survive. Episodes 2 (“Wes”), 3 (“Mark”), and 5 (“Nick”) stand out as the most cohesive and cinematic, combining suspense, dark humor, and thematic bite. Who could go wrong with installments inspired by Saw, or even holiday themes, such as the clever Christmas episode? When this series go meta, it takes on a whole new layer of fun.
A wildly inventive and disturbing sequel season, The Creep Tapes more than justifies the need to continue this saga. Macabre, meta, and masterfully performed, its mark on the greater horror landscape cannot be overstated. As far as memory serves, few found footage shows exist, and even less, if any, have made it to a second season. That alone is worthy of celebrating alongside Peachfuzz and his absolutely bonkers personality. Perhaps a third could be in the cards—as long as Josef never runs out of twisted tapes to reveal, The Creep Tapes should continue indefinitely.
Peachfuzz picks the camera back up for more in The Creep Tapes, unleashing upon audiences exclusively to Shudder and AMC+ subscribers on Friday, November 14th.
