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地下劫
Creep
錯過最後一班列車，你條命…
已經踏入死線！
聖誕的寒冷倫敦深夜，正趕搭地鐵尾班車參加派對的姬蒂（法蘭嘉寶妲黛飾），卻又錯過了，突然有列車到站，匆忙趕上後，才發現列車空無一人。這班無人列車，接載不到她到派對場地，卻帶她走進極度驚慌的可怖旅程！
被困在呼天不應的地鐵車站內，血腥可怕事件接連發生，無助的姬蒂只有拔足狂奔，疾走地鐵車站，但偏偏給她與噬血的神秘地鐵人魔碰個正著……
故事大綱
剛參加完時裝界聚會的姬蒂（法蘭嘉寶妲黛飾），準備再啟程往另一派對，她召不到計程車，唯有到最近的地鐵站，趕搭地鐵尾班車。她等待最後一班車來臨，不知不覺間卻睡著了，醒來時才發覺已關閉的車站空無一人。姬蒂驚魂甫定，看到有列車到站，匆忙趕上車後才發現車上只得她一人，此時，曾在派對上騷擾過她的男子突然間跳出來，企圖強暴她，就在這千鈞一髮之時，車門竟突然開啟，被不明來歷的東西拉他出車外……
在已關閉的地鐵車站內，血腥可怕事件接連發生。一對藏匿於車站的青年男女先後神秘失蹤、保安員遭人割喉…..大驚的姬蒂深知大難臨頭，唯有拔足狂奔，想盡辦法逃離這個變態的地鐵人魔，但卻偏偏給她碰個正著……
製作花絮
搭地下鐵靈機一觸
英國導演基斯杜化史密夫（Christopher Smith）有一次乘搭倫敦地下鐵時，構思出本片的故事，他說：「當時火車停在隧道中一段長時間，使我想起一個意念……某人被困在地鐵內，感到孤立無助，而且被活在黑暗中的某些東西所恐嚇。我把這構思告知Dan Films的監製積遜紐麥（Jaason Newmark），他對此題材大感興趣，因此我開始著手撰寫劇本。」劇本最終吸引到德國的zero west製作公司一起投資拍攝。
基斯杜化將故事背景設在充滿著神秘詭異和哥德式氣氛的倫敦地鐵。他表示：「當我撰寫此片的劇本時，我一直試圖把新元素注入傳統的恐怖片類型，我又嘗試從最基本開始，探討人們心中的恐懼，包括孤獨時的恐懼、被困時的無助、身處黑暗時的莫名惶恐感覺一一表達出來。觀眾的心情在任何時間都不能放鬆，我希望使他們一直感到最壞的情況將會在前面出現，他們只有緊張的看著片中女主角，一步一步的走入一個兇險及不可思議的世界。」
疾走羅拉不二之選
基斯杜化創作故事時，一早已認為主演過震撼世界影壇的《疾走羅拉》的法蘭嘉法蘭嘉寶妲黛（Franka Potente），是扮演女主角姬蒂的不二之選。他說：「我希望戲中的女主角不太英國化，法蘭嘉早在《叛諜追擊》中，憑她獨特的氣質，已為這部荷李活大製作帶來一?歐洲色彩，而且她又演繹過德國賣座恐怖片《Anatomie》，有演出驚嚇電影的經驗，絕對是《地下劫》主角的最佳人選。反而我擔心她看過劇本後，拒絕擔演一個德國版的珍美李寇蒂絲（Jamie Lee Cutis）的角色，幸好她很喜歡故事，願意在《叛諜追擊2機密圈套》開鏡前接拍本片。」
不過原來法蘭嘉以往並不喜愛恐怖片，她坦言並不是一個恐怖片迷，但當她數年前拍攝《Anatomie》時，是歷來覺得最有趣的一次，而且她過往亦未曾到過英國拍攝電影，所以很快便答應演出。監製之一的馬田夏文（Martin Hagemann）對此十分高興，他說：「法蘭嘉是德國最有票房保證的影星，能夠吸引一批女性觀眾入場，擴闊觀眾層面。」
而法蘭嘉也樂於跟基斯杜化合作，她說：「我與基斯初次見面，便喜歡他為人，我們談了很多有關電影的事情，從中發現我倆有很多相似的地方，我很喜歡基斯精辟獨到的見解及充滿熱誠的態度。」
倫敦舊地鐵站取景
電影選擇在倫敦奧德維奇的斯特蘭德地鐵站，這個既深且黑暗的車站內取景。車站自1994年開始便停止服務，其中一個月台更由1917年便荒廢至今，導演基斯杜化認為這是一個理想的地方拍攝本片。倫敦地下鐵路管理層，對此片十分支持，很樂意借出地方拍攝。
《魔戒》化妝師創新技術化妝迫真
能夠把尚哈里斯（Sean Harris），化身成片中令人毛骨悚然的恐怖惡魔Craig，絕對要歸功於曾在《魔戒》系列（The Lord of the Rings）中，為部份角色化妝的邁克比斯（Mike Bates）及邁克斯靈加（Mike Stringer）。比斯說：「過去三年我們創造了一種新的矽物料，比以往更具彈性、動感和真實感。這是一種從整容業衍生發展出來，用於醫學上的矽，這產品比一般的矽更貼皮膚。我們的產品能配合演員的膚色，我們尚設計了20件配件，當中有三件屬於主要配件，其餘則作後備，尚哈里斯穿著的是特別根據其骨架結構及面部肌肉而設計，我們還為他製造了厚五毫米的不成直線的脊柱。凌晨一時，尚便開始化妝，好讓他可以一早開始拍攝，而單是其頭部的化妝就要花上4小時。」
法蘭嘉對尚也推崇備至：「尚哈里斯每日化妝要7小時，付出很大，而且並非每個人都明白這種工作方式，他的確很有勇氣和冷靜沉著。」而導演基斯杜化也表示，他第一次看見尚化妝後的模樣，嚇得目瞪口呆，他實在難以想像觀眾如何承受。
荒廢糖廠變地下室
而在倫敦地鐵內拍攝的戲份完成後，攝製隊再到德國科隆取景，並選中了一間空置的糖廠，改建成一個像地下墓穴般的室內場景。曾為《高斯福大宅謀殺案》（Gosford Park）擔任美術總監的尊法烈殊（John Frankish）說：「這建築物給予我們所希望的工業、陳舊及荒廢的模樣，周圍的牆壁都十分適用，不用大幅度修整。整個場景面積巨大，而且基本構造建全，我們不用在片場中重頭做起。工廠中的機器在多年前已被移走，我們得以加入維多利亞式的建築，及放置戰時的擺設，營造出狂魔Craig的地下藏身之所。」
他續說：「其中一個我們要在科隆由零開始建造的是一條由很多道金屬門組成的走廊，好讓Craig能夠以多種不同方式進入畫面，基斯希望每個場面都有很多空間、門口和通道，讓觀眾覺得隨時都有東西跳出來，嚇他們一跳，令他們全程都提心吊膽，喘不過氣來。」
寒冬拍攝富真實感
雖然一班演員在寒冷的冬天進行拍攝，一定感到很難受及冷得牙關打震，但他們仍對在倫敦地鐵及科隆的場景拍攝，覺得很高興，因為他們認為這樣能夠增加電影的迫真程度。法蘭嘉表示：「我討厭寒冷和骯髒，而且在隧道內，我們很難保持體力，但我看見導演基斯連外套也沒穿，他做事時充滿精力和衝動十足，激勵了我們堅持下去。雖然我已經穿了防水衣，但在科隆的水槽中待了三天，的確不好受，心煩意亂又疲倦，而這就正正是我在片中的角色狀態。」
她續說：「基斯還叫我們在拍攝每場戲前，在地鐵內的電梯跑上跑下，好讓我們看來像喘不過氣，我經常跑至筋疲力盡，但其實他是絕對正確，因為這樣能大大增加真實感，基斯作為一個領導人，其中一個條件是要聆聽，而基斯與我們交流時就肯定能做到這點。」
手提攝影營造氣氛
基斯杜化與攝影師總監丹尼高漢（Danny Cohen）決定以寬銀幕的方式拍攝本片，他們又希望以手提式攝影機拍攝，並且盡量少用燈光，藉此展現狂熱及充滿力量的風格。監製之一馬田夏文表示：「我很喜歡這個藝術決定，基斯因此有更大的空間，但又不用增加製作成本。其中一場戲，攝影師與演員一樣穿著潛水衣，與法蘭嘉等一起關在水籠內，他近距離拍攝演員的動作及情緒，能進一步加強真實的感覺。」
演員簡介
德國首席女星法蘭嘉波坦黛（Franka Potente），於1974年7月22日出生。她在94年高中畢業後便投身演藝圈，直至98年她憑湯泰韋亞（Tom Tykwer）執導的實驗電影《疾走羅拉》（Run Lola Run）而一炮而紅，成為國際知名的女演員，兩年後她與湯泰韋亞再度合作電影《漂流兩顆心》（The Princess & The Warrior）。01年法蘭嘉接拍首部英語電影《毒王》（Blow），與荷李活巨星尊尼狄普（Johnny Depp）合作，翌年她與麥迪文（Matt Damon）主演動作片《叛諜追擊》（The Bourne Identity），電影在美國上映後大受歡迎，故此二人在去年再度合作續集《叛諜追擊2機密圈套》（The Bourne Supremacy），成績比前作更勝一籌。
導演簡介
基斯杜化史密夫（Christopher Smith）
來自英國的導演基斯杜化史密夫，1998年畢業於布里斯托大學電影製作系。基斯杜化於97年憑自編自導短片《The 10000th Day》，獲英國電影大獎提名；翌年他再自編自導另一部短片《The Day Grandad Went Blind》，曾在多個電影節中參展。他也曾在天空電影台擔任導演，現正為製作本片的Dan Films籌拍黑色喜劇《Chameleon》。
| 演員： | 法蘭嘉寶妲黛 （Franka Potente） |
《叛諜追擊2機密圈套》（The Bourne Supremacy） 《叛諜追擊》（The Bourne Identity） 《毒王》（Blow） 《漂流兩顆心》（The Princess & The Warrior） 《疾走羅拉》（Run Lola Run） |
||
| 導演： | 基斯杜化史密夫 （Christopher Smith） |
《The Day Grandad Went Blind》－短片 《The 10000th Day》－短片 |
| 上映日期： | 12月8日 | |
| 發行﹕ | 泛亞影業有限公司 | |
| 片長： | 86分鐘 | |
| 級別： | III | |
| 院線： | 紐約、嘉禾港威、嘉禾旺角、UA沙田、旺角百老匯、葵芳百老匯、Palace apm及凱都 |
UK Film Council
presents
in association with Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
A Dan Films Production
in co-production with zero west
CREEP
Written & Directed by
CHRISTOPHER SMITH
Starring
FRANKA POTENTE
VAS BLACKWOOD
KEN CAMPBELL
JEREMY SHEFFIELD
PAUL RATTRAY
KELLY SCOTT
and
SEAN HARRIS
CREEP
London. Midnight. A cold winter's evening. Unable to find a taxi in the West End, Kate (Franka Potente) heads for the Underground. Slightly tipsy, she waits for the last train but drifts off to sleep…. and awakens to find everyone else gone.
Gripped by panic she attempts to leave the station but realizes she has been locked in. Then a train pulls into the platform and she boards, somewhat unnerved, as she's the only passenger. Her relief at finally being on her journey home turns to alarm when halfway through the tunnel the train jerks to a halt and her carriage is plunged into darkness.
Kate is about to face the first of a series of terrifying events - ones that will shatter her nerve and chic composure - testing her endurance to the limit. She is not alone in the maze of nooks and dank crannies. Lurking in the pitch-black maze is something unimaginable…
Something that calls a hidden laboratory home…
And something that won't leave Kate alone.
A frightening descent into the shadowy subterranean world of London, Creep is a modern tale of nightmare terror exposing the extremes of raw survival. German star Franka Potente leads an exciting cast, including Sean Harris, Jeremy Sheffield, Vas Blackwood and Ken Campbell on a shocking journey through the unknown horrors lurking in the rat-infested depths of the bustling capital city's underground train network.
Creep is a Dan Films co-production with zero west in Germany. Backed by the UK Film Council's Premiere Fund and Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW), it is written and directed by Christopher Smith and produced by Julie Baines and Jason Newmark of Dan Films. The co-producers are Barry Hanson, Martin Hagemann and Kai Künnemann. Starring Franka Potente, Sean Harris, Jeremy Sheffield, Paul Rattray, Vas Blackwood, Ken Campbell and Kelly Scott, Danny Cohen is the director of photography, John Frankish is the production designer, and Phoebe De Gaye, the costume designer. The film is distributed by Pathé in the UK, X-Verleih in Germany, Bac Films in France and Gaga Communications in Japan with international sales handled by Capitol Films.
LONG SYNOPSIS
At a fashion industry event Kate (Franka Potente), an ambitious model agency booker, is looking for her ride to another West End PR party. The rumour is Hollywood hunk George Clooney will be there and Kate thinks she might be in with a chance. Brushing off the sexual advances of Guy (Jeremy Sheffield), Kate realises her friend has left without her and decides to make her own way to the star-studded party.
Unable to find a taxi, Kate withdraws money from a cash point and heads for the nearest London Underground station. When the ticket machine won't accept her £20 note, she gives the money to a homeless girl, Mandy (Kelly Scott), begging in the station with her dog Ray, in return for a used Travelcard. Still slightly drunk, Kate takes a seat amongst the late night revellers and awaits the last train. Drifting off to sleep, she suddenly wakes to find everyone else gone.
Gripped by panic Kate tries to leave the station but realizes she has been locked in. When a train pulls into the platform she rushes down the escalator to board it. Somewhat unnerved to find she's the only passenger, her relief turns to alarm when halfway through the tunnel the train jerks to a halt and her carriage is plunged into darkness.
Staggering towards the train driver's cabin to find out what's happening, she can't see that the train driver has been horribly mutilated on the other side of the locked door. Suddenly torchlight streaks through the darkness. It seems help is at hand. But it turns out to be Guy who has followed her under the mistaken impression that she wanted a one-night-stand. He attempts to rape Kate, but the carriage doors suddenly burst open and Guy is viciously pulled under the train and attacked by something Kate can't see.
Running back to the station along the live train tracks, Kate spies a dog. It's Ray, the one she saw earlier with Mandy. Following him through a hole in the wall, Kate stumbles across the stoned teenager sleeping with her equally rootless boyfriend Jimmy (Paul Rattray). Listening to Kate stammer about her traumatic experience on the train, Jimmy calms her down, offering a damp sleeping bag for the night and promising to sort everything out in the morning.
But Kate won't wait that long to end the horrific evening. When Jimmy lets slip there is a security supervisor (Morgan Jones) in a nearby control room, Kate offers him £50 to take her to this possible saviour. Initially reluctant, Jimmy eventually agrees to show her the way.
On route to the control room they find the fatally injured Guy crawling along the track towards them, a gaping wound in his back. Moments later, Ray appears, also covered in blood. Jimmy races off to make sure Mandy is safe but a trail of blood outside their cubby hole seems to confirm Jimmy's worst suspicions that she has also become a victim of whatever is lurking in the subway shadows. Feeling helpless and distraught, Jimmy retreats to the comfort of his drug habit.
When Kate finally contacts the security supervisor via an emergency button on the station platform, she pleads with him to call an ambulance for Guy. He demands to see evidence before he acts, convinced Kate is just another crack-head living rough. Just as Kate pulls Guy's body into CCTV camera range, the guard has his throat cut. Haunted by the sounds of the guard's death rattle over the intercom, Kate runs off to find Jimmy, waking him from his drug-induced stupor to flee their crazed stalker.
They attempt to run to the next station but are cut short when a train forces them off the tracks into an access tunnel. Hearing strange noises approaching, Jimmy orders Kate to go on alone while he confronts their mysterious pursuer. But Kate has second thoughts and she races back to help Jimmy, only to watch as his neck is snapped by something climbing on the train carriage roof.
Blindly rushing to get away, Kate tumbles down a sluice - and into the bloated body of Arthur (Ken Campbell), a sewer worker who was killed a day earlier while showing new recruit George (Vas Blackwood) how to clear blockages in an uncharted sewage tunnel. Her escape from the floating cadaver leads her through a storeroom corridor - straight into the clutches of her hideously disfigured stalker. The world goes black.
Regaining consciousness Kate finds herself trapped in a submerged cage in some sort of underground lair. Trapped in a neighbouring cage, George fearfully feigns unconsciousness. Nearby the eviscerated corpse of the security supervisor bobs in the sewage. Because the bars aren't embedded in the ground, Kate swims underneath them and escapes through the only open cage. She attacks her captor and as his spinal-warped, pale and emaciated body writhes in agony, Kate and George escape to a room marked Surgery Site 12.
Lying around the dusty laboratory are rusting cots labelled with boys' names (one is marked Craig, the name of their pursuer), old toys, deformed foetuses in jars and medical instruments. In the centre of the room Mandy lies strapped into the stirrups of a gynaecological examination chair. Convinced she is dead, the terrified duo knock down a bricked up door and flee from the sinister charnel house. Observing their escape through an air grate, their pursuer known as "Craig" (Sean Harris) is distracted, and lets them escape to perform a mock surgical routine on Mandy, who is still alive. Working from deranged dim and distant memories, his procedure ends with Mandy's horrendous death.
As Mandy's screams of pain echo along the tunnels, Kate and George find a ramshackle Station Master's office on a disused platform. It's Craig's den… At the end of his tether, George flips out. Kate helps him regain his composure, but he is unexpectedly grabbed by Craig and has his head impaled on a jagged shelf bracket. Taunting Kate by repeating Mandy's dying words "Please stop hurting me, I'll do anything you want", she is overcome by rage, picks up a metal bar but fails to silence Craig with it. She runs. Craig pursues Kate into an area of forgotten catacombs adjoining a tube line and repeatedly attacks her. In desperation she manages to pick up a metal hook attached to a chain and plunges it through his throat.
Heaving the chain on the adjacent tracks in the hope it will make an electrical connection, a morning train pulls it through Craig's neck instead. Leaving Craig to die as alone as he lived in the friendless depths where a long-forgotten genetic experiment sealed his unhinged fate, Kate collapses on the platform back at the station. As commuters file in, one passenger gives Kate some change, mistaking her for a homeless beggar. She laughs and then cries with relief. Her long waking nightmare is finally over.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION.
The Genesis
First time feature writer/director Christopher Smith had the idea for Creep while taking a ride on a London tube train. "The train stopped in a tunnel for absolutely ages and it struck me… someone trapped on the underground, feeling helpless, alone and terrorized by something that lives in the darkness. I mentioned this idea to Dan Films producer Jason Newmark who seemed impressed so I began writing it straight away".
Producer Jason Newmark explains "My partner Julie Baines and I already had a working relationship with Chris because our company is developing his black comedy thriller Chameleon. We could see instantly Creep contained the nugget of a great idea - a beautiful girl all on her own frightened in the underground - so we kept asking Chris to revise drafts until it arrived at a point where we knew we could attract finance. Chris is a complete horror buff. If you are going to produce a horror film you need to be completely confident that the person at the heart of it knows the genre inside out. That way you keep it un-jaded, with its own heart and soul. The final script draft showed Chris could pay his dues to the genre while delivering something fresh and scary as hell".
Smith continues, "I wrote Kate as a strong pro-active lead but in an entirely new way. She begins the film in a world that she controls. She is gorgeous, has a sharp wit, and looks fabulous in her designer wardrobe. But the trappings of her privileged existence soon become useless. Her £400 shoes become a burden below ground and if she is to survive her ordeal she must adapt - her high heels becoming a weapon".
British Smith actually wrote Creep in New York. He'd moved there for personal reasons. But he didn't transfer his story to Manhattan's subway system because, "I wanted the Gothic ambience of the London network with its mysterious multi-levels. For my themes to work I needed my heroine to keep finding subterranean layers within others that took her ever below, ever downward into long forgotten Victorian secret chambers and unknown alcoves dotted around the cobwebby tunnels".
Producer Julie Baines points out. "We knew from Chris' 1998 short film The Day Grandad Went Blind that he had an innately natural filmmaking talent. But it was his strong script and concept that, incredibly, no one had ever thought of before that pushed it to the foreground. His passion for the project - and horror films in general - sold us on his ability to be able to pull it off as his feature debut. The $7 million financing came together quite quickly because all we had to do was wheel Chris into the money meetings and his energy, confidence and enthusiasm would win over even the most doubtful detractor".
zero west co-producer Martin Hagemann agrees. "Chris had the perfect pitch - and who hasn't had a horrible experience on public transport? Not quite as awful as the one Kate goes through but it's a situation we can universally recognise. It's the absolute reality and smartness Chris invested in the story that makes Creep a believable life or death struggle. Because we had made The Cat's Meow with Dan Films, and it had been such a great collaboration, we swore we'd team up to work with each other again. Once my partner Kai Künnemann and I had met up with Chris - at Berlin airport - we understood where he was coming from immediately and our total faith in his abilities never wavered from that point on".
"What I liked most about the script", remarks Kai Künnemann, "was how different it was to all the horror movies out there. It was intelligent, well paced and had a clearly defined central character you really cared about. The fact the main protagonist was female was a major plus too. You rarely get all that in horror movies. Creep is an unusual project for a German company to co-produce. The country doesn't have the heritage of horror the United Kingdom does. Yet it was precisely that uniqueness that made us join up with Dan Films for what was clearly going to be an exciting venture".
Christopher Smith concurs. "It was always my intention to inject fresh blood into the horror genre when I sat down and wrote the Creep script. Taking the accepted norms and deploying them in new and original ways. I always intended to take the safety net away with Creep and explore everyone's worst fears beginning with the basics - the fear of being alone, the fear of being trapped and the fear of being in the dark. You will not be able to relax at any point, safe in the knowledge that you can cope with what's to come. My aim was to always keep the audience feeling that the worst lies ahead. And leave them no choice but to watch as this unsuspecting girl enters a sinister, strange and psychologically disintegrating world ".
The Casting
The pivotal role of Kate was written with Franka Potente in mind. The German superstar who exploded onto the international scene in Run Lola Run was Smith's sole choice because. "I needed an actress to lift Creep out of its very Englishness, to have it exist in this weird alien space with no politics. Franka has nothing but positive credentials. She was fabulous in The Bourne Identity giving that big Hollywood movie a grounded European integrity. And she headlined the German horror hit Anatomie. I was slightly worried when I sent her the script in case she had fears about becoming the Jamie Lee Curtis of Germany! But she loved it and happily slotted us into her schedule before beginning The Bourne Supremacy".
It was precisely because of the massive blockbuster Anatomie became in 2000 that Potente was more open to reading the Creep script. "I'm not a horror fan but when I made Anatomie it was the most fun I'd ever had shooting a movie", she recalls. "When you obey the rigid genre rules, and they work out, the pay-off can be spectacular. Creep offered the same cool potential vibe and I'd never worked in Britain before either. Making a horror movie is like going down a ski run - you have to navigate the set twists and turns or you won't make it to the end. You can't let audiences relax for a moment and that takes a completely different kind of precision focus than can be enormously exciting to work out".
Potente adds, "I liked Chris the moment I met him. It didn't bother me he was a first time director. We chatted for ages about film, realised we had similar tastes and I went with my positive gut instinct. Chris had a strong vision and burned with enthusiasm. He was forthcoming about his dark virgin reference points and the expressionist art that influenced his script. He's just so excited and up about everything - and it's a contagious quality".
"Kate is emancipated, confident and happy with no real private life to speak of," she observes. "She's quick and pragmatic and that helps her cope with her escalating predicament underground. She's a cosmopolitan take-charge chick who has learnt everything from fashion magazines. Fifty percent of any horror heroine is the weakness they have to overcome and the audience must worry along with her or else no suspense will be generated. Kate goes on quite a journey. She starts out being queen of her surroundings and then has everything slowly stripped away. But who emerges from the perpetually scared girl courageously running through subway tunnels and taking smart decisions is the real person she has always been. Except the superficialities in her life don't exist anymore. I really responded to those strong aspects of the script".
Producer Jason Newmark points out, "Franka responded to the script really quickly and within weeks she was attached to the project. Naturally that helped our German investors. Aside from her being the right actress in the right concept Franka was crucial to the scale of Creep".
"Run, Franka, run on the Dark Side of life", laughs Martin Hagemann. "Perfect! Franka is the only box office star in Germany who can open a movie and she brings with her a largely female audience. That in turn opened up a tremendously exciting crossover potential. Sure, it's an all-out, scary and spooky movie, but Franka provided that bit extra to make it appeal to a far broader audience".
With Franka Potente on board, the rest of the cast just fell into place says Newmark. "Chris wanted super realism and a cast able to give Creep an almost docu-drama atmosphere. He wanted the audience to feel like they were experiencing the horror for themselves up close and personal and to give it that hyper-realistic sense of immediacy. Truthfulness in the casting was crucial".
For Paul Rattray who plays the homeless Jimmy, Creep provided the opportunity to research an area he was intrigued about. The actor last seen in Max explains, "I've always wanted to get an insight into the homeless persona. What must it be like to sit on a cold pavement all day, get little sleep at night and beg for small change from uncaring passers-by? Chris actually based Jimmy and Mandy on a real couple he met begging in London's Soho area. I chatted to them too and realised you not only had to have a steely resolve and the thickest skin but also a great sense of humour. I read many books about the social problem including George Orwell's 'Down and Out in Paris and London' and also work relating to drug abusers. Creep clearly isn't a Ken Loach movie but I wanted to treat Jimmy with the respect and honesty the genre doesn't usually allow for".
Jeremy Sheffield angled for the part of Guy because "I've never played a villain before" smiles the actor well known to British TV audiences as Doctor Alex Adams in the long-running drama Holby City. "Guy works at the model agency where Kate is employed and he thinks he's a babe magnet. Talk about delusional! I go from arrogant socialite to wounded cripple in a point of no return in fifteen minutes flat. Now that's what I call a terrific character arc to get one's teeth into".
"I really owe Jeremy" smiles Franka Potente. "The attempted rape sequence on the train was a hard one to shoot. It used to take me ages to get myself into a reasonable emotional state to tackle such scenes but I've learnt over the years it's best just to get them over and done with. Once I'd discussed what we were going to do with Jeremy and knew he wasn't going to intentionally hurt me, I felt safe and we both went for it, which greatly helped the momentum and shock of the scene".
Featured in the menacing opening sequence as George, an ex-convict on probation doing community service in the sewage industry, is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star Vas Blackwood. "Ken Campbell and I are the first people you see on screen and when I read the script and it was all me for the initial pages, I signed up immediately", laughs Blackwood. "George disappears for a while after but makes a very substantial comeback. Then he's cut out the banter and joins Kate on her journey back up to the surface. In common with the rest of the cast, I was pleased Chris allowed us the chance to improvise our dialogue. If he didn't like what we did he told us in no uncertain terms. Yet the fact Chris was receptive to our input made Creep an interesting project to be involved in".
The hardest role for the production to cast was the pivotal one of the enigmatic Craig. Julie Baines remarks, "Originally a mime artist was discussed because Craig was mainly all about movement and gesture. But what it finally came down to was good old-fashioned screen presence and charisma. The moment Sean Harris was mentioned we all knew he was perfect. He was fabulous in 24 Hour Party People (as Joy Division singer Ian Curtis) and we needed exactly that type of tragic, disturbing precision. Sean was physically right too and once Chris met him, and both recognised their shared levels of commitment, it was the perfect match. The other actors didn't meet Sean again until he was in full make-up and psyched into character. Sean wanted that so they would react in the same way the audience would".
Jason Newmark adds, "Sean is the complete method actor. When in character he was scary to be around. It's fair to say the other actors weren't working with Sean Harris. They were working with Craig. Sean never let them forget that."
Creep is newcomer Kelly Scott's first movie. As Mandy, Scott had her major scene with Sean Harris. The niece of BAFTA and Golden Globe winner actress Brenda Blethyn recalls, "I only left acting school last year and there I was completely freaking out as Craig tortured me to death! Sean stayed completely in character throughout the whole shoot because he wanted us all to be continuously frightened of him and scared to be near him".
She continues, "I had no idea what Sean as Craig was going to do to me when I was strapped in the stirrup chair. We had no rehearsal time and it didn't matter because it was instant terror the moment Chris called action. I couldn't have had a better acting partner than Paul Rattray either. He looked out for me as Mandy and as a new naive actress on the block. Paul shares similar acting methods with Sean. He stayed up for two nights in a row to get into character so he'd feel as rough as Jimmy would in the same circumstances".
Franka Potente adds her own observations regards co-star Harris. "Sean was seven hours in the make-up chair and every prosthetic put on added another piece to his character, voice and special behaviour. I found that dedication amazing and he never left his character once. Not everyone understands that method of working but Sean had the courage and the coolness to see it through. When you are playing such a unique creature one false move can render the whole thing stupid and that's what Sean cleverly avoided. I first saw him impaling Vas Blackwood's George character and the strong energy I got from him only sharpened my own performance. He wanted me to take the most benefit out of that first moment and I did. We never socialised off set and it only struck me the other day that I probably wouldn't even recognise him out of costume".
The production
Creep commenced seven weeks of shooting on October 20, 2003 in one of the deepest and darkest subway stations on the London Underground system. The old Strand station in Aldwych on the blue Piccadilly line hasn't been in service since 1994 and one platform was abandoned in 1917. It was the ideal place for director Christopher Smith to start filming his combination of "psychological mindbender and manic monster movie".
Jason Newmark says, "Dan Films producer Barry Hanson (The Long Good Friday) introduced the script to the London Underground authorities. It was important they understood it was fantasy horror and not a stalking manual. Obviously they are very sensitive about how their locations are used and we didn't want to cause them any unnecessary concern. Only the beginning and ending of Creep was shot in the London Underground as the locations are merely the portal to the sinister subterranean world the film actually inhabits".
Once all the London Underground shots had been filmed, the Creep company moved to Cologne, Germany, where production designer John Frankish connected all the station locations to sets depicting Craig's gloomy and degenerative universe. Part of Dan Film's co-production deal with zero west meant the catacomb-like interiors were built in what has become Germany's media metropolis. "In a disused sugar factory, actually", explains Frankish, art director on Thunderbirds and Gosford Park.
He continues, "The structure had the industrial, aged and rusted look we wanted and whole walls could be used without too much dressing. The set is vast and it opened up the movie giving it an epic scale. It was important we avoided the audience constantly looking down a cone with Franka running off into the distance. So Craig's sunken cellar lair and musty laboratory were a great opportunity to give the movie a feel of underground space".
Frankish continues, "We made the most of the budget because the basic structures were already there, we didn't have to start from scratch in a studio. The machinery had been taken out of the factory years ago and it left a rectangular atrium we could fill with Victorian architecture and old wartime artefacts. We built the security guard's office and Jimmy and Mandy's cubby hole in Cologne too".
"There's virtually no colour in my designs either", he adds. "I deliberately made the Charing Cross station zing with a modern airport terminal sheen that gradually disintegrates into greens, earth tones and ochre shades as Kate goes lower and lower into more macabre areas. Layers of dust and filth then become insinuated into the look, until Kate is washed away down a sewer sluice into a very strange world. She eventually hits rock bottom in the sunken cellar set and ends up being trapped underwater with bars above her head like in The Deer Hunter."
He continues, "One of the few sets built from scratch in Cologne was a complete corridor made up of metal locker doors so there's over a hundred different ways Craig can enter the scene. Chris wanted every frame to always have spaces, doors or gates behind people's heads so something could possibly pop out to make the audience jump. Sometimes Chris never used them. Other times he did. It was to vary the genre expectations and keep audiences on their toes".
All the actors adored working in the actual London Underground tunnels and on the Cologne sets because they felt it added immeasurable verisimilitude to their portrayals. Even though the winter shooting period meant it was freezing most of the time. Franka Potente sums it all up - "I absolutely hate the cold, and dirt should never be this dirty even in Movieland! It was hard to keep our energy levels up because it seemed to evaporate into the tunnels. Then I'd look at Chris and he wasn't even wearing a jacket! He was so wired and energised by what he was doing it gave everyone the lift needed to carry on despite the physical pain we often felt. And spending three days in the water tank in Cologne was no fun despite wearing rubber underneath my flimsy dress! But then being tense and tired was what my character was really all about".
She continues, "Chris even made us run up and down the tube escalators before each scene just so we'd look realistically out of breath. I was often too exhausted to feel like doing that but he was absolutely right because it added amazing truth to the work. I don't think a casual observer would ever have guessed that Chris was a first timer as one of the qualities of being a leader is to listen and Chris certainly has done that with all of us".
"Franka," Chris says, "knew when my writing was pure and truthful, when it wasn't and didn't have a problem telling me. She would give me ten different versions of the same emotion and each worked. She's a director, actor, and continuity girl all rolled into one and her professionalism astounded me. I was obviously nervous about tackling my feature debut but Franka gave my confidence an enormous boost with her trust in the material and I will always be grateful".
Smith shot Creep in wide-screen in conjunction with director of photography Danny Cohen (Dead Man's Shoes, Only Human) and wanted to use a mainly hand-held camera with very little lighting. "The style is hectic and full of energy", enthuses the director".
"I loved that artistic decision the most", admits Martin Hagemann. "It allowed Chris the luxury of getting loads of coverage without over-stretching the budget. The fact the cameraman had a wetsuit on like the actors when he was in the water cages with Franka and Vas was marvellous because his close proximity to the action and emotions further underlined the gritty realism".
It was down to prosthetic make-up artists Mike Bates and Mike Stringer to turn Sean Harris into the shadowy, menacing presence of Craig. Bates and Stringer have their own company, Hybrid Enterprises, which was responsible for actor John Rhys-Davies' Gimli make-up in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Bates explains, "Over the past three years we have created a new silicone material allowing more flexibility, movement and realism on-screen. It's a platinum-based medical grade silicone that was developed as an offshoot of the cosmetic prosthetics industry. Silicone won't naturally stick to skin, but this product will".
Bates continues, "We got the Creep assignment because of the level of detail we could achieve and especially our ability to colour-match the product to the actor's own flesh-tones. We created three major appliances for Sean on top of twenty smaller ones and cast seventeen spares in all. Sean does not wear a body suit as such, just something that moves in line with the his bone-structure and facial muscles. We also made him a 5 mm thick misaligned spinal column. We often had to start work on Sean at 1 am in the morning to have him ready to shoot at 8 am. The headpiece alone took four hours to apply".
Christopher Smith concludes, "If Sean could scare me rigid the first time I saw him in full make-up, then I don't know how the audience is going to cope. He's given such a twisted, powerful and psychologically brave performance. It was always my purpose to explore our collective worst fears in the edgiest ways. Creep is a Ghost Train journey through a hellish underworld and one woman's monumentally frightening struggle to get back from the brink of that distorted insanity. Kate is continually being scared out of her wits and my plan has always been to make sure everyone else screams along with her".
ABOUT THE CAST
FRANKA POTENTE
(Kate)
German superstar Franka Potente burst onto international cinema screens as the lead character in the massive European hit Run Lola Run, written specifically for her by director Tom Tykwer. She teamed up with Tykwer again for The Princess and the Warrior. She starred in the enormous German hit Anatomie and reprised her role in a cameo in the sequel Anatomie 2. Her success continued with Blow opposite Johnny Depp, Storytelling, Try Seventeen alongside Elijah Wood and The Bourne Identity with Matt Damon. She appeared in Peter Greenaway's The Tulse Luper Suitcases project, featuring in The Moab Story and Part 2: The Vaux to the Sea. Recently she rejoined Matt Damon for The Bourne Supremacy. Creep is Franka Potente's first British movie.
SEAN HARRIS
(Craig)
Sean Harris received outstanding reviews for his performance as Ian Curtis, the legendary Joy Division singer, in Michael Winterbottom's acclaimed 24 Hour Party People. Other recent credits include Trauma, Frozen, Asylum, True Love (Once Removed), Tom and Thomas, and Pay Day. Earlier credits include Jeroen Krabbe's The Discovery of Heaven, The Fabulous Bilsons, and Nicotine Yellow. Harris has been seen on television in Judge John Deed, Kavanagh QC and The Bill.
VAS BLACKWOOD
(George)
Most recently seen on screen in Mean Machine, Vas Blackwood's film credits include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Escapist, Nine Dead Gay Guys and The Trouble with Men and Women. Television credits include Hogwash, Rehab, Fun at the Funeral Parlour, Thief Takers, Casualty, The Lenny Henry Show, French and Saunders, Vas Goes Fishing and Crown Court. Blackwood has directed the stage productions 'When Your Bottles', 'Muchos Desperados' and 'Friday Night'. He also directed the film By Far.
KEN CAMPBELL
(Arthur)
Actor, writer and director Ken Campbell is the founder of 'The Ken Campbell Roadshow' and 'The Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool'. Both companies have toured with numerous acclaimed stage productions throughout the UK, Europe and the USA. Campbell has appeared on film in Saving Grace, The Bride, A Fish Called Wanda, Dream Child, Letter to Brezhnev, A Zed and Two Noughts and Scandal. His many television credits include Middlemarch, Brookside, In Sickness and in Health, Till Death Us Do Part, Sherlock Holmes, Fawlty Towers and The Professionals.
JEREMY SHEFFIELD
(Guy)
Well known to British TV audiences as regular cast member Doctor Alex Adams in the long-running drama Holby City, Jeremy Sheffield has also appeared in Murder in Suburbia, Hearts of Gold, Linda Green, Merlin and The Governor. His film credits include Something Borrowed, Her Own Rules, Anna Karenina and Safe Haven. He appeared on stage in 'Troilus and Cressida' for the Royal Shakespeare Company and in 'The One You Love' at London's prestigious Royal Court Theatre.
PAUL RATTRAY
(Jimmy)
Paul Rattray's recent film credits include Mike Bassett England Manager, Morvern Callar, Enigma and Max. On television he has appeared in The Bill, Wet Work and Simple Things. Rattray's stage performances include 'Cool Water', 'The Anatomist' and 'Hand Bag'.
KELLY SCOTT
(Mandy)
Creep marks the feature film debut for Kelly Scott, the niece of acclaimed actress Brenda Blethyn. She has appeared on television in Murder Squad and Shane.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
CHRISTOPHER SMITH
(Writer/Director)
Christopher Smith graduated from Bristol University with an MA in film production in 1998. He directed the short films The Day Grandad Went Blind (1998), broadcast on HTV and shown at such film festivals as London and Rio, The 10,000th Day (1997), short-listed for a BAFTA award, and Larry Cares and Repairs (1997), winner of the Royal Television Society award for Best Student Script. He wrote three episodes of the top rated BBC TV drama series Eastenders and was director and assistant producer of 'Barry Norman's Film Night' on the SKY channel. He has freelanced as a director on SKY Travel, SKY Movies, 'Film 2002' and the Universal Studio Channel. Smith is currently developing the black comedy thriller Chameleon with Dan Films.
JULIE BAINES
(Producer)
After working in the film and television industry in various production capacities, Julie Baines established Dan Films in 1994 as a vehicle to produce bold and innovative feature films. The company's first feature was Michael Winterbottom's Butterfly Kiss (she received a special thanks credit on the director's 24 Hour Party People) followed by Madagascar Skin, LA Without a Map, Villa Des Roses, The Cat's Meow, Summer Things/Embrassez qui vous voudrez, The Immortals, The Republic of Love and Sons of the Wind. Dan Films future development slate includes Salsa con Fusion, Hoodwink, Tuscan Soup, The Prince and Doctor Dope, Rusty and Christopher Smith's Chameleon.
JASON NEWMARK
(Producer)
Jason Newmark is a director of Dan Films. After graduating from the Northern Film School and a year spent producing for Carlton Television, he joined Dan Films in 1995 as Head of Development. While building the company's development slate he also worked as an Associate Producer on feature films including The Cat's Meow, Villa Des Roses, Summer Things, The Immortals and Sons of the Wind.
MARTIN HAGEMANN
(Co-Producer)
Recent credits include Farland/Farland, Boese Zellen/Free Radicals, September, The Cat's Meow and Der Schoene Tag/A Fine Day. Earlier credits include Nordrand/Northern Skirts, Lola+Bilidikid/Lola and Billy the Kid, Viehjud Levi/Jew Boy Levi, A Tickle in the Heart and Flirt. In 2002 Hagemann executive produced the television movie In einer Nacht wie dieser/A Night like this.
KAI KUNNEMANN
(Co-Producer)
Kai Künnemann started in exhibition at Constantin-Warner theatres. Receiving his MA in film production at the Filmacademy Baden-Wuerttemberg in 1996, he joined Berlin-based independent distributor and producer Senator Film as executive assistant/assistant to the director. He left Senator to work as an independent producer. His acclaimed feature Westend played over 25 festivals worldwide. In 2003, Kai and Berlin-based company zero film founded zero west Filmproduktion GmbH in Cologne. zero west has since co-produced the UK/German production Creep by Christopher Smith and the German feature film Rabenkinder by Nicole Weegmann. The English language project Old Love based on short stories by Isaac B. Singer and to be directed by Jan Schütte will go into production early 2005.
DANIEL COHEN
(Director of Photography)
Cinematographer Danny Cohen's feature film credits are Dead Babies, Shane Meadows' Dead Man's Shoes and Seres Queridos/Only Human. His television credits are The Book Club series.
JOHN FRANKISH
(Production Designer)
John Frankish has worked as an art director on Thunderbirds, Johnny English, My Life So Far, The Woodlanders, Regeneration, Hackers, Highlander II: The Quickening, Gosford Park, The Sheltering Sky, Chocolat, The Last Temptation of Christ and Brazil. His first production designer credit was for The Match. Frankish is currently working on Aeron Flux with Charlize Theron.
PHOEBE DE GAYE
(Costume Designer)
Film credits include Five Children and It, Killing Me Softly, Tom and Viv, A Man of No Importance, Carry on Columbus and Birthday Girl with Nicole Kidman. Earlier television credits include The Forsyte Saga, The Sculptress, Lorna Doone, Lady Windermere's Fan, The Young Ones, Bergerac and Only Fools and Horses.
THE INSECTS
(Music)
Tim Norfolk and Bob Locke of The Insects have previously composed scores for films including Owning Mahony, XX XY, Regret Not Speaking, Love and Death on Long Island, Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb, The Saint Inspector and Angry Kid. Hailing from Bristol, they have worked with many well-known artists including Massive Attack, for whom they wrote 'Karma Coma' and 'Euro Child', with Goldfrapp on the track 'Human' and with Alison Moyet, producing her album 'Hometime'. Their television credits include the ITV series Wire in the Blood and several National Geographic specials, one of which, Life at the Edge, won them an Emmy.
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