Donnie Darko

It's extremely clear that Creeper have taken influence from Donnie Darko. This became apparent when they began counting down to Suzanne. "In __ days ___ hours ___ minutes ___ seconds we'll die holding hands." In Donnie, "In __ days ___ hours ___ minutes ___ seconds that is when the world will end."

Looking deeper into it, there's an insane amount of connections.

Theory:
The Callous Heart are the Manipulated Dead from Donnie Darko. The Stranger is Frank. Time has gone completely out of sync (In Hiding With Boys James has "time out of phase" written on his wall.) The Callous Heart work for The Stranger, in the video they're outside watching everything James is doing in his hotel room. The Grand Reveal patch suggests they serve The Stranger as they've idolised him on their jackets. He may be the God/Leader of the cult, which links to Creeper's backdrop of The Stranger overlooking the callous heart. Drawing parallels between the two, it's clear that James won't make the same sacrifice that Donnie did. Donnie chooses to die to save humanity, but the last song on Eternity, In Your Arms is called "I Choose To Live."

Time out of sync:
There have been numerous things which suggest time is completely out of sync.
1. The HWB video says James arrives at the hotel on 23 December 2015, but the state of room 309 suggests he's been there for a while. He has a huge board on the wall of the mystery which must have taken a while to sort out.
2. www.whereisjamesscythe.co.uk cannot make up their mind on when James's birthday is. It says he's born on 25/12/1975, but then on the missing poster it says he's born on 31/12/1975.

Donnie Darko:
"The Philosophy Of Time Travel" (fictional book by Roberta Sparrow) can be used to explain the links between the two:

The Artefact And The Living - "Artefacts provide the first sign that a Tangent Universe (completely different universe) has occurred. Artefacts returned to the Primary Universe (main universe) are often linked to religious iconography, as their appearance on Earth seems to defy logical explanation."
James Scythe carries rosary beads and a cross around with him constantly. There's also a cross on the album cover. These appear to be the artefacts, therefore it's known there is a tangent universe which explains time being utterly fucked.

The Living Receiver - "chosen to guide the Artefact into position for its journey back to the primary universe. The Living Receiver is normally blessed with Fourth Dimensional Powers. They're normally tormented by terrifying dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his time with the Tangent Universe. Theses surround the Living Receiver, known as the Manipulated, will fear him and try to destroy him."
James Scythe is The Living Receiver (Donnie Darko in the film.) This explains why he constantly has dreams of The Stranger and why he has described some encounters as having "visions of grief." The Manipulated are The Callous Heart. This can explain why James is so knowledgeable and looks into them so much; they're trying to destroy him, but he won't take that shit.

The Manipulated Dead - "more powerful than the Living Receiver. If a person dies within the Tangent Dimension, they are about to contact the Living Receiver through the Fourth Dimensional Construct. The Manipulated Dead will often set an Ensurance Trap to make sure the Artefact is returned to the Primary Universe."
This is where it gets confusing. The Tangent Dimension is different to the Primary Universe. If someone dies in the Tangent, surely they do not die in the Primary. This could potentially explain why they're immortal? They've died in the tangent, they won't die in the primary? I'm not sure I don't have the brain capacity to figure this out at all. The Ensurance Trap could potentially be James at the Dolphin. He's there figuring everything out, he has all his rosary beads and crosses.

James in the callous heart:
Since time is morally fucked and dimensions are fucking around all over the place, it's possible that James is able to view himself in the future, or the past who knows. When James drives past the callous heart gang, he stares for a long time (while taking his eyes off the road how dangerous.) Among the gang is a man we haven't met before. He isn't the same guy in the Honeymoon Suite and Lie Awake videos, that man has tattoos, the new man doesn't. Who else doesn't? James Scythe. They both have beards too. Coincidence? This can suggest James is watching himself in the future, once he has been reinvented after joining the callous heart gang. If James chooses to live, like the song suggests, then maybe the only way he could remain living is to become part of the Manipulated Dead since he doesn't make the sacrifice to save humanity. Because of the shit dimensions and time being out of phase, James can view himself and watch himself. Bit creepy.


Quotes/Lyrics
Frank - "I've been watching you."
Creeper -

Donnie - "Under the blue moon i saw you" (referring to when Donnie first meets Frank at nighttime

Creeper - "I recall the blue, first night I met you." 

Donnie - "Every creature on this Earth dies alone."

Creeper (in one of the phone calls we got) - "WE. ALL. DIE. ALONE."

If this doesn't make you think Creeper have linked this to Donnie Darko, I leave you with one thing. With the exclusive preorder patches, we got a sticker. The sticker depicts The Stranger holding the mask of Frank in Donnie Darko. And what else? The Stranger has a bullet hole through his left eye.