The Creep Tapes – Mike

As a young filmmaker named Mike (Mike Luciano) pulls up to an unknown location, he is equipped with his camera. Making his way through a dark, wooded area, he is met with notes requesting that he is filming along the way when he reaches a dark home. With more reminders along the way that he should be filming, Mike enters the house and finds a lone lit candle on the dining room table. In the darkness, a man (Mark Duplass) peers over the railing and begins to descend the stairs in a vampire costume. It turns out to be a man named Jeff Daniels, an actor who needs Mike’s help in creating an audition tape…and has offered Mike $1,000 for his services.

As Jeff does his best to get into character and give an audition-worthy performance, he becomes upset when Mike appears to placate him just to collect the promised funds. But Jeff is determined to garner a reaction out of Mike and storms off, promptly scaring Mike with a werewolf mask after he comes to find him. With a decent amount of footage for Jeff’s tape, Mike begins to pack up to go. Unfortunately, a snowstorm has hindered Mike’s ability to leave….as has not being prepared with snow chains or a vehicle with 4-wheel drive.

To make the most of their time, Jeff offers Mike another $1,000 to stay and help him create another video. This time, Jeff wants to play the victim rather than the villain. With the offer of more money, Mike agrees to stay. This time, Jeff decides that Mike will be included in their film and the two re-enact a scene from the film Misery. However, Mike’s performance causes Jeff to heavily criticize him and the scene goes awry. Later that night, Jeff offers Mike two thousand dollars more to shot one more scene…with Jeff as the villain again.

They take the camera outside and Jeff shows Mike an ax, swearing that it is a fake. The new scene they are filming is that Jeff is a serial killer out to kill Mike. Jeff’s performance impresses Mike this time, but when Mike notices that Jeff’s hand is bloody….he realizes that the ax is real and that this is no longer a scene but a fight for his life. Jeff begins to come at Mike with the ax and chase him around, but Mike manages to elude him for a while. Unfortunately for Mike, when he reaches his car and tries to open it he finds it is locked. As he continues to pull at the door handle, Jeff comes up behind him and kills him with the ax.