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Mark Duplass from Creep and Michael Scott from The Office share a lot of uncomfortable similarities…
Kara Gray Ramirez explains how Creep’s Mark Duplass is the horror equivalent of Michael Scott from The Office!
Mark Duplass is widely known for his comedic acting roles, so when he was cast as an unpredictable eccentric in Patrick Bryce’s directorial debut. “crawl” In 2014, audiences were wondering how it would fare. Brice himself stars as Aaron Franklin alongside Duplass as a videographer looking to make a quick thousand bucks. Duplass is a strange man named Joseph (aka Pitchfoose) who hires him to film a day for his unborn son “Buddy” before he dies of brain cancer; It’s all completely made up to get Aaron to trust him.
As Aaron films, Joseph increasingly exhibits behavior with constant white lies, jump scares, raucous song-and-dance numbers, a very peculiar wolf mask, and sharing disturbing details about his personal life. She uncomfortably tries to impress Aaron and gain his attention and friendship. I remember my dad raving about Duplass, and his character said to me, “Man, he’s so hard to watch and he’s so awkward. He’s like the Michael Scott of horror.” That comparison couldn’t be more dead-on about what makes Duplass so deeply disturbing in this role, and it’s what makes his character so relatable. I can’t remember another character I felt uncomfortable with since then “Scott’s Branches” episode “office.’
Like Michael Scott (Steve Carell). “the office” Joseph uses a very cartoonish and theatrical approach to getting attention while rarely considering the feelings of others. When he first reveals the strange wolf mask he apparently keeps in his closet, he transforms into the “Peachfuzz” persona. His wolf performance is hard to watch, but you’ll be captivated by his lack of awareness. Their desperate and constant need for personal connection exceeds any social boundaries with a complete lack of tact and consideration for others.
The main difference that separates the characters is their intent. Michael Scott is looking for true love and friendship and is generally quite naive to his faults, while Pitchfoose plays naive to gain trust through the guise of friendship when he’s just looking for control and violence. When it was revealed that he was a serial killer and filmed all of his victims, the audience crossed their fingers and hoped that we would see more of his embarrassing mistakes and violent encounters.
Fortunately “crawl” It was very successful and continued “Creep 2” In 2017 and the show “The Creep Tapes” On Shudder in 2024, each episode features a “videotape” that focuses on a different victim and the crazy theatrics Mark Duplass pulls off before taking his own life for fun. The show works great because it takes the antics to new heights, and the audience reaches maximum secondary awkwardness at the 19-27 minute mark. It’s a joy to watch Patrick Bryce reveal the contents of the snuff film cabinet shown in the first film. Each episode is a flavor of the victim of the week, which Duplass absurdly plays cat and mouse. One of the first episodes is deeply coded by Michael Scott as Pitchfuse deliberately orchestrating an encounter with a victim by falling dramatically from a parachute. This episode is reminiscent of Season 3 “Safety Training” episode “the office” where Michael fakes a suicide attempt to illustrate the “dangers of office depression” and threatens to jump off an office building to make a point in a debate with his co-workers. Major, theatrical events happen as a result of minor events involving these characters to the point where you’d think Pitchfoose is Michael’s younger brother.
The second film is the first time we see Pitchfoose being intimidated by his victim and we see a role reversal. “Creep 2” Follows a videographer named Sarah who is looking for quirky content for her web series. She is attracted to filming Duplass, who now goes by “Aaron”, the name of his victim in the first film. Unfortunately for ‘Aaron’, Sarah is not easily scared or intimidated and happily welcomes his eccentric behavior with open arms. Sarah’s connection to Pitchfoose haunts and unsettles her, and for a moment you believe she’s met her match. Sarah’s up to her tricks faster than Ryan can dismiss Michael’s creepy compliments. After the end of the movie and the introduction of the series “The Creep Tapes”, You can see that Pitchfuse has yet to find anyone on his threat level.
The “crawl” The series managed to make a big name for itself in the found footage genre. The first movie was so good it almost seemed like a happy accident. Patrick Bryce and Mark Duplass have carefully crafted the character of Pitchfuse with such entertaining banter that the audience can’t help but notice his silliness. Characters like Michael Scott and Pitchfuse make a good impression because they both live so happily in their own version of reality where they are always the main characters in everyone’s story.
Meet Kara!
Kara Gray Ramirez is a proud wife and mother as well as a writer and horror fanatic.
After he fell in love All Hallows Eve In 2013, Kara created an important collection of Art the Clown. In 2025 and 2026, Cara wrote for Dread Central.
He previously worked in the animal industry for 7 years and loves cats, as well as playing the bass and singing.
You can follow him on Instagram: @Karuh13 on X @karagrayramirez and check out his Letterboxd profile here.
