The Creep Tapes Season 2 is set to premiere later this year on Shudder on November 12, but audiences at Fantastic Fest were able to see the first three episodes early, and it made quite the impression. The series is a continuation of the Creep franchise that started with Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice's 2014 Creep film, a story that introduced the world to the demented serial killer Peachfuzz, also known as Josef.
While the series started with two films, it eventually became a series, with each episode following a new victim being thrown into an unexpected situation by Josef, eventually leading to their gruesome death.
Star and writer Mark Duplass, alongside writer and director Patrick Brice, sat down with The Direct's Russ Milheim at Fantastic Fest 2025, where they talked about their goals with Season 2 of The Creep Tapes and Peachfuzz's complicated evolution.
Duplass revealed that when it comes to Peachfuzz's evolution, "if there is an evolution, it's gonna be very hard to track," adding how "it's actually hard to tell in which order these things were made."
Duplass also explained that in approaching Season 2 of The Creep Tapes, "the mission statement was expand," which also allowed them to "swing the bat a little heavier," including being able to create an episode that riffed off of the iconic Saw film.
To read more from The Direct's interview with The Creep Tapes Season 2 star Mark Duplass and director Patrick Brice, more quotes, alongside the full video conversation, can be seen below.
The Creep Tapes Season 2 will be released on November 14 on Shudder. For more Shudder projects, be sure to check out Crazy Old Lady, which impressed at Fantastic Fest as well.
Peachfuzz's Jumbled Evolution and the Mission Statement of Season 2
"It's Actually Hard to Tell In Which Order These Things Were Made."
- The Direct: "Usually, throughout a television show, characters take on growth and evolution, especially over the course of a story here. However, Peachfuzz remains pretty consistent. What would you say is his evolution? If he has one throughout the world of the movies and the show?"
Mark Duplass: Here's the great news: if there is an evolution, it's gonna be very hard to track, because you're watching these tapes, and because of the way he goes into these certain disguises, it's actually hard to tell in which order these things were made. So, you're jumping back and forth and around in time, and that's on purpose. So, his journey is just as jumbled in the presentation as it is in his own mind.
- The Direct: "Going into Season 2, what would you say your mission statement was?"
Mark Duplass: The mission statement was expand. If Season 1 was about, are audiences going to like this? Are they going to accept this? Do they want this form? We're not sure. Now we kind of know that they're here for us, or at least some people are.
And so now we could swing the bat a little heavier, and now that we know that Shudder is our home, we had a few more resources to take some more risks and expand things.
So, you're gonna see different camera formats, different kinds of guest stars coming on, and a little bit more experimentation with the form of the story and how you can break that up a little bit.
One of the most impressive things about The Creep Tapes is how it manages to not feel like it's doing the same thing over and over—despite each tape ending the same way for each poor victim.
So, for Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass, what's the key to avoiding that feeling of repetition?
Patrick Brice: I mean, I think it's being super honest with ourselves and knowing when we're veering into the territory of potentially repeating ourselves or not, and making sure that not only are we expanding on the form, but also on this character. We have this character who we don't know what's real or not. We don't know what truth is when it comes to him...
From a production standpoint, being able to switch things up. But also, I think, when it came to what lore we are revealing about this guy and whatnot, we were able to, sort of add to that, but also maybe walk a few things back and maybe confuse people at the same time this season.
Mark Duplass: And I think we had to give ourselves the permission to take some wild swings and give ourselves the permission to fail at times, you know. So we will write a bunch of episodes, and we're like, well, these don't work, and that's okay, you know? And that's how you are able to get to something new and inspired. It's kind of like taking off the parachute and jumping off the cliff a little bit. So by doing multiple episodes a season, we can take some swings.
Season 2's Incredible 'Saw' Episode, and Possibly Riffing Off of More Horror Movies
They Shot the Episode In the Actual 'Saw' Bathroom
The third episode of The Creep Tapes Season 2 takes a wild swing for the series, as Josef turns to the original Saw film for inspiration, trying to get one of his victims to solve a few deadly puzzles.
But what led Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice in that direction?
Mark Duplass: Well, I mean, so many things. The way that Patrick is giggling right now is that's how this happens. It's like connecting to the pure all 13-year-old boys and ourselves, who also happen to be grown-up filmmakers with skills. It's the combination of those two elements that makes 'The Creep Tapes' possible.
So we started talking about, like, yeah, we should riff on a franchise, you know. And we were certain that my character had never seen the movies, but he's still trying to really, [he's just seen] the trailer [because] he can't watch scary movies because his imagination is too active, you know.
And then we kicked that around. And then Patrick, one day, came back, and he's like, Guys, we can rent the room that they shot.
Patrick Brice: It's cheap to rent, so we shot it in the same fucking room... We were looking at other industrial spaces, and basements, and stuff. And then that came up. It's also right next to my house. But I was able to, like, drop my kids off at school and then go to the 'Saw' room.
Mark Duplass: And we purposefully didn't watch the movies before we made it. And part of that was the idea of, like Josef not watching the movies either. And what would someone whose idea of what creating a 'Saw' situation look like [If they hadn't seen the movie]?
As for whether this might be the start of Peachfuzz imitating more horror movies now, the two had mixed messages on if this might be a trend that continues:
Mark Duplass: To your point, I think that the minute we start to get formulaic, the minute we're gonna start to make repetitive and bad stuff. That being said, there are no rules.
Patrick Brice: And Josef is a cinephile at the end of the day, and movies do live inside of him, and he thinks a lot of movies that are fiction are real. So, you know, I could see some other movies bleeding into [this], absolutely.
The full interview can be watched below:
Another big horror hit from Fantastic Fest 2025 was Black Phone 2.
