[Film Review] Creepypasta (2023)

An unnamed man searches for clues as to his whereabouts and how to escape the house he is currently trapped in by trawling through web videos associated with creepypastas. As his search continues, he begins to become drained of life and blood, will he be able to find the specific video that is the key to his safety, or will he fall victim to the virus-like phenomenon that has seemingly infected the internet and its users alike?

Following the typical anthology-style layout, Creepypasta consists of ten short segments encompassed by a wrap-around story that connects the stories and eventually leads to a conclusion. Directed by Carlos Cobos Aroca, Berkley Brady, Mikel Cravatta, Carlos Omar De Leon, Daniel Garcia, Tony Morales, Paul Stamper and Buz Wallick, the film’s premise is centered on the infamous concept of creepy pasta. Creepypastas are the internet-era’s version of sitting around with your friends telling ghost stories, attempting to outdo each other in the freak-out factor.  There have been a few visual adaptations of these cyber urban legends, with varying degrees of success, Slenderman (2018) being of the lower end and television’s Channel Zero (2016-2018) being of the higher. And so the annals of legend and lore full of cryptids, shadow people and ghost cable channels is perfect fodder for an anthology.

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The opening sequence and sequential wrap-around story has the perfect aesthetic for an anthology of creepypasta, with its low-fi aesthetics creating a visual atmosphere of a viral, possibly cursed video found somewhere in the corners of the dark web. With bodies littering the floor of a house and analog static screens providing the only light source in darkened rooms where strange voices are heard, a man is directed to watch disturbing videos by a menacing presence over DMs until he finds his reason for being trapped in this house. Along with the wrap-around, there’s also a narrator speculating on the nature of creepy pastas, which at times feels a bit redundant when the stories can speak for themselves. 

Just like most anthology movies, the consistency differs from segment to segment. One of the strongest and most disturbing entries involves a man who refuses to follow the rules like ignoring warnings of taking pills with alcohol. Catching a strange warning on television one night that says “Do Not Watch”, he naturally disregards the advice and ends up in a whole world of pain. However the best segment of the piece portrays a young boy sleeping in his abuela’s house. Downright creepy and tense, perfectly capturing the nightmare world that awaits children in their rooms once the lights go out at bedtime. 

The other eight segments, whilst some definitely have potential, feel like they would have flourished with extra running time and the space to expand the lore of each individual creepypasta.  The conclusion of the wrap-around, while having somewhat of a commentary on the virality of the ominous side of the web, seems to negate the creepypasta theme and doesn’t quite feel like a logical ending to the anthology. Despite this Creepypasta is a somewhat interesting delve into the world of online viral legends come to life.

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