The Creep Behind the Camera/The Creeping Terror (2014)

Details: By Loron Hays; 15 October 2017

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The Creep Behind the Camera / The Creeping Terror

Egads! An amazingly large creature is on the loose in Los Angeles hunting down women (and it’s not Harvey Weinstein). It swallows its victims whole sucking them down from finger to toe (again, not Weinstein). Wailing as it does while slurping them down its throat, it’s a wonder that it’s not heard over the shrieks of each and every person gobbled up along the way. Nom nom nom.

Call the cops! This long-necked woolly shape must be stopped by any means necessary. The Creeping Terror will not be tolerated, not even on its low rent budget.

Directed by Vic Savage (whose real name is Arthur Nelson), The Creeping Terror is easily one of the worst films ever made. And you thought that award went to Plan 9 fro Outer Space! Fools! You’ve not seen anything like 1964’s The Creeping Terror and that movie is merely the BONUS movie in this twofer release from Synapse Films.

Savage, who also stars in the b-minded flick as the deputy sheriff responsible for kissing all the girls and slaying the monster, essentially swindled his way through the production of this infamous drive-in flick. And it’s all detailed in the main documentary that headlines this release, The Creep Behind the Camera. From driving up and down Hollywood Boulevard with the creature in tow solely to get attention from gawkers, this cheap production’s rather storied escapades are far more interesting than the 1964 movie itself.

And that’s why Synapse’s combined release of The Creep Behind the Camera, the part documentary, part dramatization about the filming of The Creeping Terror, and the new 2K scan of the original film is so damn important to B-movie enthusiasts. Once you gain your breath back from the blissfully ridiculous theatrics of the original film, you can follow it up with the harrowing events occurring behind the scenes – Drug deals! Prostitution! Charles Manson! Oh my! – on how this incomplete film was stitched together, and eventually salvaged for whatever nickel its producers could get from it.

Savage (played by Josh Phillips) in the documentary is an absolute psychotic, raging against everyone in his way. This includes his unsuspecting wife, Lois (played by Jodi Lynn Thomas from AMC’s Preacher. Make no bones about it, Savage was an abuser and a user and, as the documentary points out, he was also a con artist, taking everyone for a ride as he stitched together the absolute best worst movie ever made.

This creature from another planet is, of course, merely ratty carpet thrown upon the backs of teenagers who struggle to pull actresses through the “mouth” of the alien. The documentary gets a lot of mileage out of this sight gag. There might have been another monster made for the original movie. It might have been stolen the week before the movie shot. And, yeah, his crew might have serviced every cost-saving measure on this one but, if you ask Savage himself, he’d lie to you straight up and tell you it, obviously, all by design.

The Creep Behind the Camera is pretty unflattering in its portrayal of the director and, obviously, this is deservedly so. Director Pete Schuermann and Producer Nancy Theken present a full and entertaining picture of a madman who would and did anything to bring his idea for a movie to life. Lie, cheat, and steal? These are small bananas when compared to the sheer lunacy of Vic Savage.

All types of creeps get their close-up on Synapse Films excellent release.

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The Creep Behind the Camera
MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 111 mins
Director: Pete Schuermann
Writer: Pete Schuermann
Cast: Josh Phillips, Jodi Lynn Thomas, Bill LeVasseur
Genre: Documentary
Tagline: Con Artist, Psychopath, Movie Director.
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: September 12, 2017
Synopsis: An exploration of the making of b-movie sci-fi cult classic "The Creeping Terror" and its con-man director Art "A.J." Nelson/Vic Savage.

The Creeping Terror
MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 75 mins
Director: Vic Savage
Writer: Robert Silliphant
Cast: Vic Savage, Shannon O'Neil, William Thourlby
Genre: Horror | Sci-fi
Tagline: EEEK!!! Lock the doors! Bolt the windows! It's... THE CREEPING TERROR
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: September 12, 2017
Synopsis: A newlywed sheriff tries to stop a shambling monster that has emerged from a spaceship to eat the citizens of an American town.

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The Creep Behind the Camera / The Creeping Terror

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Synapse Films
Available on Blu-ray - September 12, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English
Language: English
Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 mono soundtrack
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Synapse Films’ High-Definition 1080p (1.78:1) Presentation of The Creep Behind the Camera is soaked in digitally shot goodness. Colors are striking and clear and the detail is luscious, including every wrinkle in the blouses from the era. Black levels are strong throughout. The Creeping Terror’s 2K restoration is presented in High Definition 1080p (1.33:1) thanks to a new transfer. Grays are good and black levels, while never even, are adequate for the budgetary limitations of the shoot. The sound for the first film is presented in an expressive DTS-HD 5.1 English track. The 1964 film is saddled with a limited DTS-HD mono English track. This is still an exceptional release from Synapse Films that every Hound of Horror ought to have in his or her collection.

Supplements:

Commentary:

There is a commentary on The Creep Behind the Camera and it features Director Pete Schuermann, Producer Nancy Theken and stars Josh Phillips & Jodi Lynn Thomas, all talking about the film they made concerning the making of The Creeping Terror.

Special Features:

The Blu-ray exclusive inclusion of The Creeping Terror makes this release a must-own. The other bonus materials include a 25-minute making of the documentary, a lesson in how to build a carpet monster, deleted scenes, a Q&A session, and some original trailers.