There have been plenty of stories of vacationers renting places to stay via apps like Airbnb only to find it wired up with hidden cameras. Writer/director John Geddes, (Exit Humanity, Hellmouth), takes these already creepy occurrences and gives them a deadly spin in his latest film Creep Nation.

Sophia (Liv Collins, The Hexecutioners, Cult Hero) was studying in Italy until her affair with a married professor goes bad. She returns to Toronto and turns up on her brother Aaron’s (Adam Seybold, Ejecta) doorstep. When he won’t take her in she rents a room via an app. Her one-nighter with her landlord Glen (Mark Gibson, Hall) leads to her disappearance and Aaron investigates. When he discovers she’s dead he seeks revenge.

Geddes work as a director, (he’s also a prolific producer and owns Foresite Features), has been varied. From the fairly raw backwoods cannibal flick Scarce to the highly stylized Hellmouth. Creep Nation continues that trend with a plot that’s a hybrid of deep web horror and revenge thriller with a Psycho style plot shift in the middle. This isn’t a spoiler BTW, the film’s own publicity gives it away.

We’ve seen plenty of films about dark web voyeurs and snuff film rings, that’s not new. However, most have played up the torture/horror aspects of the plot. Creep Nation is more like a thriller as it unfolds. First through Sophia’s disappearance and death, then into Aaron’s revenge.

The film manages some strong scenes, such as Aaron seeing the footage of his sister’s murder. There’s another where he has to stitch himself up after taking a knife to the gut. But despite them, Creep Nation doesn’t really build up much in the way of tension. Knowing Sophia’s fate takes the suspense out of that storyline. Overall the film is just too slow-paced to build a sense of urgency.

Fewer scenes of characters traveling around texting each other and a faster-paced, more exciting climax would have greatly helped. The location used for the final confrontation was perfect for a cat and mouse finish, but it’s barely used.

Creep Nation recently played The Canadian Film Fest in Toronto. It appears to be already available in the US under the title Scare-Bnb.

Where to watch Creep Nation