Creepy

"Creepy" sneaks up on you.

For anyone who likes Japanese horror films or psychological thrillers like 'The Gift', see "Creepy." For those who like films of all kinds, "Creepy" is worth a watch.

The lead antagonist in the film is spectacular. He is definitely "Creepy." And while the title seems a bit obvious, remember, it's from the Japanese, meaning...creepy, I think. Not only are the film, subject, and characters creepy, the tension, darkness and terror creeps up and into you as you watch the film. Creepy is terrifying in a way that obvious gorefests, like 'Saw', could never be.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa, no relation to the film master Akira Kurosawa, does an excellent, if not perfect, job keeping the audience entranced in the mystery of Creepy.

Teruyuki Kagawa is amazing playing the complex Nishino, the next-store neighbor of a former police detective Takakira, played by Hidetoshi Nishijima. Along with his wife, Yasuko played by Yûko Takeuchi, they partake in a back and forth of ego, secrets, veiled threats and mystery that keeps the film moving. These actors, especially the neighbor, make this less than perfect film work.

What doesn't work in this film is that the characters far to often behave in obviously stupid ways and don't react in a timely manner to a threatening situation. I don't know how the police are trained, but when I get an open shot at a criminal that is threatening the lives of others, I take it. To sum: while the director is excellent at portraying the psychological tensions between characters and chooses shots and angles to enhance these tensions, the action scenes are awkward.

Rating: Pay Full Price.

Despite the faults in the film, the overall affect leaves one feeling and thinking something more than they did before seeing the film. That is what film at its best does.

Peace, Tex Shelters

Takakura is a former detective. He receives a request from his ex-colleague, Nogami, to examine a missing family case that occurred 6 years earlier. Takakura follows the memories of the only surviving family member from the case. Meanwhile, Takakura and his wife Yasuko recently moved into a new home. Their neighbor, Nishino, has a sick wife and a teenage daughter. One day, the daughter jumps into Takakura's path and tells him that the man is not her father and she doesn't know him at all.

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has really carved out a place for himself in the world of horror cinema. He received global recognition for "Cure" and exploded with "Pulse". After some time exploring non-horror projects, he has returned with "Creepy", which blends American-style serial killer thrillers (such as "Silence of the Lambs") with horror themes unique to Japan.

And "Creepy" is what has come to be known as the "slow burn" sort of horror film. At over two hours, very little happens in the first half. We come to understand why Takakura retired from the police force, and we meet his creepy neighbor Nishino, who has very poor social skills. But not one instance of horror can be pointed to – no jumps, no ghosts, nothing out of place. There is a death that occurs as part of a hostage situation, but it lies firmly in the category of a police / action scene, not horror.

The slower pace and build-up might make the film seem like a thriller or suspense film rather than straight horror. Granted, it is a fine line, and there is a great deal of suspense in "Creepy". But the horror aspects make themselves known in the second half and we are treated to some over-the-top imagery that calls to mind Takaski Miike's "Audition". I will not give anything away here other than to say the manner in which bodies are disposed of is a way I have never seen in a film before. (And with thousands of horror titles rattling around in my brain, that's quite a feat.)

Prolific actor Hidetoshi Nishijima makes a great leading man, exuding confidence and charm. He seems to have a bad habit of roughing up those around him (perhaps he has forgotten he retired and is now a professor), but this adds a nice edge to the character. His wife is played by Yûko Takeuchi, who might be familiar to American audiences for her part in "Ringu". TV actress Haruna Kawaguchi, who plays the victim Saki Honda, is little more than a damsel in distress, but she does that well.

Of course, the real star of the film is Teruyuki Kagawa, who expertly displays an awkward way of speaking and moving. He walks like a social outcast, if such a thing is possible. And, of course, his eyes give him that "creepy" look. Americans who only know Japanese horror actors will be new to Kagawa, but he is actually a big deal in his home country – and following in the footsteps of his father, who was in kabuki theater. I would love to see more Kagawa in the horror genre, as he definitely has a non-traditional look.

Kurosawa has another winner on his hands with "Creepy". By no means would I expect this to become as big as "Pulse" was, but it clearly has the potential to go international. And if someone decides to do an American remake, it would only shed more light on this deserving film. (No remake could capture some of the aspects that make this film intrinsically Japanese, such as the architecture. But it doesn't mean someone won't try.) "Creepy" has its North American premiere July 26, 2016 at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

Good looking movie with an interesting story that unfortunately falls flat because of the totally stupid and irrational behaviour from every single character (main characters, detectives(!) and police) in every single move and decision they make, which is something that drives the movie from beginning to end. One single rational and normal act early in the movie, would've ended it in 10 min.

I had some hopes and expectations to this movie, despite not knowing about it prior to finding it by sheer chance. I read the synopsis, and it sounded interesting, and thus I had some expectations to it. Plus the fact that Japan usually put some pretty good movies out there.

But "Creepy" (aka "Kurîpî: Itsuwari no rinjin") failed to deliver where it counted. Sure, it started out as a good enough movie and had potential, but then it just faltered, stumbled and never recovered from the blow that it took at the hands of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The movie just went downhill so fast that you could hardly blink.

The movie is about a retired police detective who has put the police life behind him and is trying to start over in a new place with his wife. But one day the neighbor's daughter tells him that her father is not actually her father, and a mystery starts to unravel, pulling in the retired detective.

Sure, the storyline had potential, but it just became a farce with the way that the story progressed and with some of the things that took place on the screen.

Actors Hidetoshi Nishijima and Teruyuki Kagawa were actually carrying the movie quite nicely, but ultimately lost the struggling battle against a poorly script. It seemed like the script was a first draft and director Kiyoshi Kurosawa didn't have time to wait for a re-written and more thought-through script and just went with the first draft.

There were so many things throughout the movie that just made little or no sense at all, and is something that you really should witness for yourself. And the plot of the story ended up being more of a laughable joke than a serious movie plot.

And I have seen some fast working drugs in movies and TV series before, but the potency of the drug used in this movie just took first place. It was just hilarious.

As much as I like Japanese movies and Asian cinemas, then it was just impossibly to overlook the flaws of "Creepy" and find something overly entertaining about it. My rating of this movie ends up at a very flat 3 out of 10 stars.

I enjoyed this and feel that some commentators have rather missed the point. There is criticism for the inclusion of the evidence of the girl during the first half and also at the behaviour of the wife. In both cases there is absolute clarity and relevance as far as I am concerned but possibly the film is overlong and the feeling that there is nothing happening grows if the story is not fully understood. Even when there is no wham bam action I am always happy to see those strange little Japanese streets and houses and listen to the polite niceties as the tension builds. Worth a watch and the creepy guy is certainly as creepy as they come, also true life events are alluded to and there are echoes of recent terrible tales as this horror unfolds.