For all my after thoughts on “The Creek,” Erik Soulliard’s film is a constantly changing bit of horror that I was fascinated from the beginning. At first it seems like a revenge film, and then another ghost flick, but then it pretty much evolves into a mystery about the mysterious death of a friend. After a night of partying, Billy goes off alone in the woods, and is found dead. No one was ever sure how it happened, all they know is that only his friends were there with him. So the question becomes, who did it? Soulliard thankfully sets the film up like a Stephen King story. He focuses on a group that’s basically been dealt terrible hands in life, and then suddenly connects them thanks to an ominous force. And there’s always a reason for this. And as they gather and once again re-open old wounds, we know this is all leading to something shocking.

Soulliard never over plays it, as it’s in a tight and satisfactory eighty minutes, thus we’re forced to get to the meat and bones of the story. Who is doing the murdering in this reunion? Is it Billy? Or someone intent on keeping the secret? While it’s never as tense as Agatha Christie, “The Creek” has much potential, and a lot of interesting qualities going for it, including the odd hybrid of a slasher and murder mystery, as well as some of the actresses who are just skilled as screamers. Soulliard must have had painful auditions for women who could holler on cue. Soulliard also provides some great direction as “The Creek” is a constantly murky and well shot bit of creepifying cinema that I could see in festivals.

I was very open to a film about a guy who mysteriously dies and appears five years later with an agenda. I mean there are so many good things to be done with the revenge movies, even when it involves a vengeful ghost, the only caveat is that “The Creek” sometimes plays like a sequel to “The Grudge.” For a while, we just seem to basically be following a series of scenarios instead of a fluid narrative. We cut from one scene to the other like skits, and Soulliard fades out to show more characters having experiences. I knew it was going somewhere, or at least I hoped, but for a while “The Creek” tests your patience and seems rather random in its set ups. Sadly though, “The Creek” is the story of a group of disconnected friends brought together by sightings of their demised best friend, and we don’t know too much about them to care.

These characters here aren’t so much characters and personalities as they are clichés and archetypes. There’s the heel, and the jilted lover, and the geek who isn’t well liked yet mysteriously popular, and all of that leaves “The Creek” ultimately feeling under-developed. It’s almost as if this could have used much more of a tighter sense of emphases on each individual, including Billy. And instead, I’m left with the notion that this was merely nothing but a glorified slasher film. I love slasher films, but if we’re delving into open wounds and a mysterious murder, I want more mystery and less gory murdering. The dialogue is also in painful need of some polishing. While I didn’t particularly cringe, there were many lines that just completely fell flat. Upon awaking being strapped to a chair by the culprit, a character asks “What is this?” What do you think? It’s the culprit. These caveats dragged down what could have been a very good murder mystery.

While it has a pretty lengthy list of caveats and flaws that really need ironing over, "The Creek" is an entertaining and competent horror entry with an interesting mystery, worthy production values, and tight direction from Soulliard.

• For more information on "The Creek," visit the official homepage.

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