Ever imagine what it would be like to play hide and seek with a ghost? Well, you're about to find out in this solid creepfest from our friends in the Far East. I hate writing plot summaries, but given the fact that this is the very first IMDb review of this film, I'll do you a favor. Basically, the protagonists play the hide and seek game alone in their homes or apartments, but communicate with each other via computer and/or cell phone text messaging. Each character performs a pre-game ritual to call forth a ghost, then hides from it to experience the thrill of having a ghost rummage through their residence. If the ritual is not performed in a very precise manner, the person is murdered when the ghost finds them. This movie follows the hide and seek games of various characters.
This is vintage J-horror with all the positive characteristics that one expects from filmmakers who don't seem to care at all about the short attention spans of mainstream cinephiles. The opening scene is an accurate representation of the entire film: very quiet and deliberately paced with an overwhelmingly ominous mood. Such is the case from start to finish in this no nonsense genre outing that just relentlessly piles on the gloom and doom. Like "Nightmare Detective 2" (2008) and "Ju On: The Grudge" (2003), "Creepy Hide and Seek" is jam-packed with sequences that move as slow as molasses in January but are nevertheless gripping and entertaining.
There are a few effective jump scares tossed in for good measure, but these aren't "fake" scares because they occur in situations of real danger. The onryo (aka ghost girl) makes some appearances, but the pre-game rituals (involving dolls, salt water, rice, etc.) contribute some welcome novelty and help this movie to carve out its own niche. The scoring is also fantastic and likely the strongest element.
I personally love stuff like this. No obnoxious characters, no superfluous filler material, no comedy, no fake jump scares, no flash editing, no teenie bopper dialogue, and – most importantly – no cheap attempts to "keep the audience awake." There's nothing worse than being deprived of being fully absorbed into a horrific atmosphere than having the filmmaker insert a loud "BOOM" or chuck in some cheap sex talk to "liven things up." No thank you, dear sir. I'm one of those moviegoers who likes to be systematically worn down and beaten to a pulp by unyielding, ruthless dreariness. Too bad most American filmmakers are too timid to go the distance.
