The Creeps (2023) by Dustin Ferguson

Director: Dustin Ferguson

Year: 2023

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Anthology

Plot:

A graveyard ghoul tells several creepy short stories.

Review:

Conjure and Kill-Searching for her missing father, a woman and her friend head out to find him only to come across a monstrous being. This is a rather fun start to things. With the immediate nature of the search and them wandering around the abandoned farm with the blowing wind in the background, this one manages to have some fine atmosphere in places that goes along with the brief bits we find along the way about something out there in the area. The final resolution is a decent enough shock after the series of animal cries in the distance further that idea rather nicely, and while the brevity keeps it from being too clear about what happened and the low-budget constraints do show up in places, there’s still enough to like here.

The Bite-Waking up one morning with a strange bite, a man attempts to work his life as normal only to eventually find the deadly secret behind it. This isn’t a bad brief body horror segment. The innocuousness of the situation and the way he tries to get past everything to keep his everyday routine in check is quite nice to see play out especially as the situation gradually worsens. The gradually degenerating and spreading wound that shows up adds a bit of tension to the situation, and although there’s not much in the way of explanations here with the briefness that would also explain the stupidity in not dealing with the situation once it gets going in checking with professionals about it there’s still a lot more to like here.

Bad Karma-After performing his normal duties, a man who makes his living being a scumbag gets his comeuppance. This was a wholly underwhelming and not-that-impressive feature. It’s so cliche and not that original that it seems inherently ludicrous that he would get far in life with the philosophy and mindset he has without this type of comeuppance earlier so it’s hard to imagine this hasn’t happened already so it’s nearly impossible to care about him at all. It’s also the longest segment here and can drag at places with it being rather obvious in that regard in points. Along with not making the resolution cathartic as expected, that takes a lot of the sting out of this one, so while there are some decent atmospheric moments here it’s not that enjoyable overall.

My Brother, The Monster-Hitching a ride on a dark road, a woman goes with the driver back to his house where his brother requires a certain meal. This wasn’t too bad and was quite enjoyable overall. The unease of the car ride with his somewhat sinister overtones meshes nicely with the reveal of where he lives, providing some fine atmosphere walking through the house where the creepy decor and unnatural vibes being presented create a wholly chilling setup. It takes a while before anything happens with just seemingly endless scenes of him deviously leading her through the darkened house while the annoying score blares away in the background to an obvious reveal, but that’s not enough to hold this one down.

Emily-Returning to her house, a woman conducts a sacred ritual that will hopefully return her long-dead daughter to her. This was a rather effective and enjoyable way to end things. The wild setup offers quite a lot to like with the motivation for the ceremony involving her desire to see her daughter and the way to carry out the ritual itself gives everything enough of a dark energy before the return occurs. This provides even more fun as the demented game here has an even darker air to it that’s all wrapped up in a highly effective if somewhat brief finale that could’ve used a bit more time to spell itself out since the shorter run-time does this one in due to this. Still, the solid story at the focal point here is the main factor with this one.

Overview: ***/5

An immensely fun compilation-style anthology effort, there’s enough to like here for fans of this style that it manages to be a highly worthwhile entry in this style for fans of this format. Those who appreciate this kind of indie fare or are fans of the creative crew are those main targets and will have the most to like here while others who aren’t into these factors should heed caution.