While many of his decisions stumbled, Charles Band would now and then be at the forefront of something big. He founded one of the first home video companies and was the first to film in post-Communist Romania. In the mid-90s, Band saw that Hi-Def was becoming a big thing, so he decided to jump on the opportunity. He announced a slate of 3D movies ready for the Hi-Def revolution but might have overestimated Hi-Def’s potential. One of these movies, Secrets of the Micromen, never got made, and another called Horrorvision.com came out years later. Band was no stranger to 3D, having previously directed Parasite 3D and Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn in the 1980s. Neal Marshall Stevens, who wrote Head of the Family and Hideous! under the pseudonym Benjamin Carr, penned the script. While it was planned for a 3D release, The Creeps got a 2D release in 1997.
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Synopsis
While working in the Rare Books section of the university library, Anna Quarrels (Rhonda Griffin) is approached by Mr. Jamison. He asks if he could study the original manuscript of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which he switches out for a fake. After discovering the false manuscript, Anna hires David Raleigh (Justin Lauer), a private investigator/video store owner, to investigate. He finds that Mr. Jamison is Dr. Winston Berber (Bill Moynihan), a mad scientist who’s stolen other rare manuscripts. He aims to use them with his “Archetype Inducer” machine to bring four of fiction’s greatest monsters to life. Unfortunately for the doctor, Anna and David retrieve the manuscripts while the monsters are being created, which has unintended results. The Mummy (Joe Smith), The Wolfman (Jon Simanton), Frankenstein’s Monster (Thomas Wellington), and Dracula (Phil Fondacaro) are all pint-sized! Will Berber restore them to full size, or will our heroes stop them?
Review
If you ever wondered what the Universal Monsters would be like as dwarves, then The Creeps is for you. It’s no secret that Charles Band has an affinity for tiny terrors, usually puppets or miniature demons. Some might find it suspect that the central gimmick is having miniature versions of classic monsters, especially for the time. Thankfully, Charles Band and Benjamin Carr were smart enough not to cram in a bunch of short jokes. Each beast, Dracula in particular, is taken seriously and given familiar but different looks that help set them apart. Phil Fondacaro effortlessly gives the best performance in the film as Dracula, given plenty of monologues to showcase his talents. Unfortunately, the other monsters are given little more than grunts and growls instead of dialogue and deep characterization. They still look like Laurence Olivier when compared to the regular human cast.
Rhonda Griffin from Hideous! is given the lead but falls short of delivering a quality performance. She comes off as ditzy, whiny, and annoying, making it hard to care when she’s in peril. Justin Lauer plays a stereotypical movie geek/amateur womanizer who mostly spouts off titles of obscure exploitation movies. Bill Moynihan certainly tries as the over-the-top mad scientist, but Phil Fondacaro and his fellow monsters easily overshadow him. Full Moon veteran cinematographer Adolfo Bartoli gives the film style with colored lights and harsh shadows. Given that this was intended to be a 3D movie, there aren’t any moments where objects come toward the camera. At 80 minutes long, the film gets in and out fairly quickly, though it does drag to reach that length. Overall, The Creeps isn’t a bad choice for monster movie fans, but don’t expect anything all that special.
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