Night of the Video Creep

A Lab Report by Lily Spell-man

To say that YouTube is flooded with critics is an understatement, it seems these days everyone and their brother is throwing their two cents in and "rating" seemingly everything that comes our way from comics to films to books to audio projects. Everything is under scrutiny and the major beats of everyone's reviews seem to be "I hate this, it's shit, funny words." and THAT'S where we start our little story.

Stand up comedian, writer, artist, and author, Michael Pinero has never shied away from speaking his mind but the one thing that makes Michael stand out from others in the community is his commitment to the material and the passion for finding the good in the sometimes hard to swallow. He took his talent for speaking and performing to YouTube to create the Video Creep, a movie review and lore channel focused on horror films from the famous freaks to the lesser-known ones, and not once does he talk shit about the films. Does he think they are all gold? Not at all, but he has no need to diminish someone else's artistic expression and hard work. His love of the genre and film, in general, oozes from his personality the moment he begins to speak in each video, all of which are extremely polished for a one-man operation.

With an average of 20 minute runtimes and a wide array of films to choose from you won't be looking long before you're diving headfirst into the hilarious series The Creep has thus far released, from Nightmare on Elm Street to an overview of the Child's play series, Michael seems set on covering it all and boy does he know his stuff! The information in each video is mainly culled from Michaels own attention to detail to the point where you'd swear he was Wikipedia with clothes. The little things that often go missed even with repeat viewings seem to jump out at him and he's sure to call attention to ALL of them giving some of us a new look at an old love.Particularly impressive is his review of Sleepaway Camp, as he attempts to decipher the dreamlike flashbacks and sometimes broken story he actually helps to settle

our own minds and gives us the feeling that the mysteries we had were solved.

Delving deep into plot and lore it's clear that Michael has a love for the material and wants to share that with us and that's contagious, the energy he brings to each review helps things flow along nicely as clips from each film are used at great length. YES we see the creep in all his bearded glory, but he is never the focus of the videos, the movie is the focus.

The movies take center stage for once, pushing the host to an almost narrator like role and letting his personality and humor shine through without acting like it's all about him. At the end of the day, the Video Creep simply enjoyed this movie and wants to tell you why.

Late last night, my Gremlin finally returned dragging a cage with a Still smiling Video Creep inside, he's...."Agreed" to have a chat with us here at the lab about the work he does, his thoughts on film and more! Head below to read the interview and see if the Creep survived!

This interview took place over DM. Typos and grammar were left as is, deal with it.

Lily: *prodding at The Creep through the cage bars* So...MR Creep...you seem steeped in horror....reeking of it...that's gotta be a childhood thing, how young were you when you started getting serious about horror films?

Michael(The Video Creep): So its funny, horror wasn't ever this gigantic thing in my life the way that it has been for the last 10 years or so, in fact when I was a kid I was very easy to scare, it didn't take much for me to get a nightmare and go running to my sister like a bitch.

Lily: *Giggles* Bitch...

Michael: Then through high school, I started watching a lot more horror, which I would hear it if I didn't bring up the fact that my buddy Chris, who used to be in a band called "Red Rocket", was the biggest horror fan I've ever known up until that point in my life and he was always showing me stuff which led to my early 20s when I was kind of like "all right, now this is kind of all I'm watching..."

Lily: Well then, what draws you to a movie, what gets you interested and invested

Michael: Cinematography is really important especially because that's the thing your committing to your eyes for the next few hours, next is just characters and their likability, no one wants to go on a journey with people they don't like cinematic or not haha, then just story itself, I like to watch something completely out of my comfort zone if it seems interesting enough!

Lily: Being comfortable is super overrated..

Michael shifts awkwardly in the cage and smirks

Lily: see! k next question! it's very common for your videos to be upwards of 220 minutes in length each, there is SO much information packed into each one and you know the material very well, how much research or just general watching and rewatching is required to make something like that?

Michael: That is so much more credit then I am deserved hahaha, I'm definitely flattered it reads that way but I don't do a whole lot of research at all I have a pretty good mind when it comes to remembering facts and stuff. talking with other people who are in the community you hear really cool things and then sometimes that makes its way into my videos. but a lot of the time I think my videos go for a while because i don't let ridiculous things go by without speaking about them or cracking jokes as much as I can.

Lily: Super impressive, honestly. your knowledge of the subject matter is encyclopedic sometimes

Michael: Wow thank you! *Remembering the cage, his smile dims again* I wish that translated into every facet of my life so far, I'm only really good at facts like that when it comes to movies and music, I worked at amoeba records for years I just know all of that shit so maybe one day ill do a music channel

Lily: I see... What doe...

Michael: OR conspiracy theories.....who knows...

Lily: *staring* What does a typical episode entail work-wise? seems like it would be a long process

Michael: IT IS! and I fucking hate it. I love everything about running the channel except for editing which I have to do all of on my own, add to that I've only been editing for about a year, so its a challenge, one video usually takes me about 2 days and I rarely film something and then edit it on the same day.

Lily: *Opens the cage door as Igor drags over a chair* How do you decide on a film to cover?

Michael: *Climbs out slowly and takes a seat on the chair across from lily* I'm such a sack of shit when it comes to that, I think there's a funny misconception that I like to keep it under wraps like a big secret, but really I don't know what video I'm gonna do until i actually do it, like I just did 3 episodes for aimless so my mind wasn't there and now I have to think about what I'm gonna do for Video creep and I have NO idea, so it is extremely tentative.

Lily: *Puts her feet up on Michael like a footstool and leans back lazily* What is the most "Fuck this, never watch again, what the hell is that: Movie you've ever watched

start to finish, y' know? that one you just CAN'T watch again?

Michael: That's a hard question because I'm a firm believer of every movie being a labor of love even if my experience with it feels like there throwing literal shit into my eyes to ruffle my feathers haha, however, if there had to be a single movie that I HAD to call out it would be the film "Wish upon", What a fuckin dog shit experience!

Lily: *vigorous nodding*

Michael: I hated everything about that movie, with its hyper pop soundtrack and off-screen kills, that movie can suck my taint

Lily: HAs there been a movie recently that's just scared the hell out of you?

Michael: this is kind of old hat at this point but ill reiterate, there is a decentralized thing you go through with horror so being actually scared as an adult is an extremely rare occurrence, in recent years it's only happened one time and that was with the movie sinister. I think the conditions were just right for me to be creeped out by it, I was home alone at like 4 o clock in the morning and I was just invested enough to fuck my night up

Lily: *Noticing the masked killer waiting in the lobby for his 10 o clock* OH! What's the best kill, any killer any movie?

Michael: Wife you are not fucking around huh, that's such a BIG question, in horror you see so many different kills. but for now, I think the best has to be the suicide at the end of necromantic where the guy jerks off and stabs himself and blood spews out of his dick?

Lily: *Takes her feet off Michael and stares*

Michael: Boy...What a winner. if not that then the mannequin death scene at the end of the Maniac remake.

Lily: I love gutterball allys death by 69

Michael: God fuck yeah! so good!

Lily: So what are you..*the masked killer walks to the vending machine bumping lilys chair as he passes* AHEM, *speaking loudly* if you had to erase one of the big guys Jason, Freddy, Pinhead, Chucky, etc. and NONE of there movies exist, which ones gotta go and why

Michael: You know, why don't you just go watch some porn?

Lily: B'Okay!

Michael: That's how I feel about jigsaw

Lily: awww...

Michael: you may be getting some of these other fellows hard out here, but for me, not a twitch. so I would say jigsaw and all his fucking movies, a very close second is Annabelle and the conjuring universe, fuck that shit, I feel like those movies are the reason I'm an asshole.

Lily: *watching the masked killer angrily fight the vending machine for his funyuns* Who won? Freddy or Jason?

Michael: that's so funny we were just talking about this on the podcast! nobody won and the creators of the movie knew that no one would win going in, they just wanted to split horror fans and I won't do it! however I will say that provided the right setting the fight would go either ay, catch Jason while he's out and about hed probably rip Freddy apart like a roach, catch him sleeping and it's on Freddy.

Lily: trick question, the real winner is ash.

Michael: you know your shit! I hate that we never got that film! I have completion anxiety about it

Lily: So who or what is your favorite villain or opposing force?

Michael: I'm always gonna be a Chucky guy, and the champion of the entire franchise but I'm also a huge Leatherface and Michael Myers guy. We have a strange conundrum in the horror community where we idolize the villains and I guess their tenacity for revenge but at the end of the day are terrible beings and its great

to see them get fucked up

Lily: You mentioned Leatherface? what did you think of the Recent flick?

Michael: Again, using the softest language I can fathom, I think they made some weird calls mainly for the ending. for me what makes a good horror film is the ability to rewatch and still enjoy the film, Leatherface (the movie) feels a bit like a one night stand, real hit it and quit it material right there.

Lily: Agreed, its a fun first watch but lacks on repeated viewings

Michael: Yeah I think that's most horror movies Achilles heel when it comes to having some sort of twist ending, the twist can overpower the film itself and unfortunately in that movie I think that's the case. beyond that, it was lacking based iff the fact that I was just sort of bored after a while.

Lily: Alright, tell ya what. your cool and to be honest, I hadn't planned on keeping you so I don't have a dungeon ready and I don't really wanna feed you to Wolfman Todd soooooo....ill let you go but you gotta tell me, What draws you to the mutantfam.com YouTube crew? (@HeyahNew @ChanneloftheD @SurvivorsGuilt3 @BusterDitlev @TYTDReviews)

Michael: Oh! those twinkies? it's all about the cream filling when it comes to those dudes

Lily: *nods in agreement*

Michael: At a distance they're super alluring but once you take your first bite your choice is immediately validated. doing anything is difficult and finding people who are going to support you is a challenge in itself, but mutant fam has made it the core focus and that's as badass as you can get! they're creating a platform for the little guy to get more exposure, so I do anything I can to support those guys and I'm happy to be part of the crew!

Lily: FINAL QUESTION! then you may wonder the endless maze in hopes you may see your precious, television again.

Michael: I have a kid too....and maze?

Lily: SILENCE! What is an example of horror positively affecting your life?

Michael:1000% the connections, horror people are shut-ins by nature, we love our dark rooms illuminated by the tv and solidarity to immerse ourselves in these horrifying situations. but that isolation has a catch 22, we are on the flip side of it and can be very lonely, its been in my experience that when you step out of that dark room, Because its not a common hobby for most, the community is extremely accepting... it's so very easy to make new friends and form tight bonds, comedies and dramas don't have that quality, it's literally a community and that's the most beautiful thing about it.

Lily: *Sniffle* I just got some...mummy gunk in my eye, I'm good.

Michael: The podcast that I do, "Aimless discussion" only exists today because I joined a horror group and made an internet friend who turned int a real-life friend. The fact is that is not uncommon, you can't beat that shit.

Lily: Alright you win, but before you go do you have any words of wisdom for people looking to share their voice with the community.

Michael: I would say, not even just in the horror community but with everything, if you have the slightest inclination to do anything at all, get off your balls and fucking do it! quit being a punk and worrying about the quality of what you do and push yourself to do it, so many people don't wanna attempt to do something because they know when they begin it, it won't be the level they want right away, but taking the time to earn your progression and finding your way there? that's the the best cream filling there is.

And with that Michael turned and headed down the stairs, before Lily threw the lever turning them into one long slide, laughing like an idiot all the while.

If he makes it out of the horrible maze be sure to check out Michael Pinero over at The Video Creep, the content is super high quality and the host is a blast. You'll walk away likely learning something you didn't know even if you're a die-hard fan. It's obvious from the get-go that Michael has a big heart for horror and the community in general and I for one look forward to seeing more of him.

Links below as always, Stay Spooky you mutated movie fiends!

The Video Creep on Youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rdJcqLJw3-uUVCu1QOBYQ

Twitter!

@VideoCreep_