The Creep Tapes Season 2 Star Mark Duplass Teases Peachfuzz’s Jumbled Evolution and the ‘Saw’ Inspired Episode

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The Creep Tapes Season 2 will debut on Shudder on November 12th, but viewers at Fantastic Fest got a sneak peek at the first three episodes, and the response was very positive. The series continues the story begun with the 2014 film Creep, created by Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice, which first introduced audiences to the disturbing serial killer Peachfuzz, also called Josef.

The series began with two movies, but it grew into an episodic format. Each episode centers around a different person unexpectedly put in danger by Josef, ultimately resulting in their horrifying demise.

At Fantastic Fest 2025, Mark Duplass, who is both a star and writer, and Patrick Brice, a writer and director, joined Russ Milheim from TopMob for a conversation. They discussed their aims for the second season of The Creep Tapes and the complex development of Peachfuzz.

Duplass explained that if Peachfuzz changes over time, “it will be difficult to follow those changes,” and also noted that “it’s tough to determine the order in which these items were created.”

Duplass also shared that when planning Season 2 of The Creep Tapes, “their main goal was to broaden the scope,” which gave them the freedom to “take bigger risks,” even creating an episode inspired by the well-known Saw movie.

You can find more from TopMob’s interview with The Creep Tapes Season 2 star Mark Duplass and director Patrick Brice – including additional quotes and the complete video – below.

The Creep Tapes Season 2 is coming to Shudder on November 14th. If you enjoy Shudder’s content, you might also like Crazy Old Lady, which received positive attention at Fantastic Fest.

Peachfuzz’s Jumbled Evolution and the Mission Statement of Season 2

“It’s Actually Hard to Tell In Which Order These Things Were Made.”

  • TopMob: “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?”

Okay, so Mark Duplass was talking about how the storytelling in this one is deliberately confusing, and I totally get it. He explained that if the character is changing and developing, it’s going to be really tough to follow because of all the disguises and how the footage is presented. It’s genuinely hard to figure out the timeline of events. It’s not a mistake; the film jumps around in time on purpose. He made a really good point: the character’s internal state – his confused journey – is reflected in the way the story unfolds. It’s jumbled *because* his mind is jumbled.

  • TopMob: “Going into Season 2, what would you say your mission statement was?”

Mark Duplass: The core goal shifted to growth. Season 1 was focused on figuring out if people would even enjoy this, if they’d embrace it, or if they even wanted this kind of show. We were uncertain. Now, we have a better sense that an audience is with us, or at least that a portion of the audience is.

We’re now able to invest more in our projects, and knowing that Shudder supports us gives us the freedom to take bigger chances and develop our ideas further.

We’re going to showcase a variety of camera styles, feature diverse guest stars, and try out new ways of telling the story – playing around with its structure and presentation a bit. 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.

What’s really striking about The Creep Tapes is its ability to stay fresh and avoid repetition-even though the outcome is tragically consistent for every person featured on the tapes.

So, for Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass, what’s the key to avoiding that feeling of repetition? 

Patrick Brice: I think it’s about being really truthful with ourselves and recognizing when we might start repeating ideas or going over old ground. It’s important to make sure we’re not just experimenting with the format, but also developing this character further. We’ve created a character where it’s hard to know what’s genuine and what isn’t; we’re unsure of what the truth is when it comes to him…

From a production perspective, we had the flexibility to change things around. And I think, regarding the story details we were sharing about this character, we could both expand on them and also intentionally create some mystery and confusion for viewers this season.

Mark Duplass: I think we needed to allow ourselves to be bold and try things, even if they didn’t always work out, you know? So we’d write a lot of episodes, and if some of them weren’t good, that was fine. That’s how you find fresh and exciting ideas – it’s like taking a risk and jumping into the unknown. Because we create several episodes each season, we can afford to experiment.

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 marks a significant shift for the show. Josef draws inspiration from the original Saw movie, and attempts to force one of his captives to complete a series of life-threatening challenges.

But what led Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice in that direction?

Mark Duplass: There are a lot of factors, really. The way Patrick is laughing right now perfectly captures how this whole thing came about. It’s about tapping into that raw energy of being 13 years old, combined with our experience as filmmakers, and the skills we’ve developed over the years. That blend of youthful enthusiasm and professional know-how is what allowed us to create ‘The Creep Tapes’.

So, we were brainstorming, and the idea came up to do a take on an existing movie franchise. And we decided my character had absolutely never seen any of the films, but he’s still trying to figure out what they’re about – he’s only seen the trailer, actually. It’s funny because he can’t handle scary movies; his imagination just runs wild, you know.

We discussed that idea for a while. Then, Patrick, one day, suggested we could rent the room where they filmed. He said, “Guys, we can rent the room that they shot.”

Patrick Brice: The location was very affordable, so we filmed the entire movie in that one room… We considered other places – warehouses, basements, that sort of thing. But then this spot became available. It was also conveniently close to my home. I could even take my kids to school and then head straight to the set – what we jokingly called the ‘Saw’ room.

Mark Duplass: And we deliberately avoided watching the films before we started making ours. This was partly inspired by the character Josef, and the thought experiment of what someone’s vision of a ‘Saw’-like scenario would be [if they hadn’t seen the movie]?

Regarding the possibility of Peachfuzz starting to mimic more horror films, the two individuals offered conflicting opinions on whether this could become an ongoing pattern:

You know, as a big movie fan, I totally agree with Mark Duplass on this one. I think the minute we start to get formulaic, the minute we’re gonna start to make repetitive and bad stuff. It’s like, once things get predictable, the creativity just dies. But the cool thing is, there are no rules, really. You can break all the molds if you want!

Patrick Brice: Basically, Josef really loves films, and they heavily influence him-he often blurs the line between what’s fiction and reality. So, it’s definitely possible that elements from other movies could show up in [this one].

The full interview can be watched below:

Another big horror hit from Fantastic Fest 2025 was Black Phone 2.

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2025-10-02 21:09