Like ‘Psycho’ and ‘Snakes on a Plane’, this Japanese horror movie does what it says on the tin. After a misguided leap into supernatural romance with 2015’s ‘Journey to the Shore’, ‘Pulse’ director Kiyoshi Kurosawa returns to his roots, though with mixed results. ‘Creepy’ is a suburban psycho thriller in the classic tradition: think ‘Cape Fear’ with a dash of ‘Audition’, though without the intensity or ingenuity of either.
Koichi (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is a retired cop who can’t let go of the past. No sooner has he been pensioned off than he starts digging back into an old missing persons case. Meanwhile, his bored wife Yasuko (Yūko Takeuchi) is struggling to settle into new surroundings. Everyone on their street is either unfriendly or downright weird – and some of them, notably next door neighbour Nisihino (Teruyuki Kagawa), are both. Could the missing family and the smirking oddball be somehow connected?
There are few surprises in ‘Creepy’. With the exception of a bleak, pointed ending, it all plays out as you’d expect. That’s not necessarily a criticism – it’s fun to watch the pieces click into place, and the film is never less than slick, well-acted and nice looking. It’s cruelly funny, too, gleefully picking at Japanese social etiquette and politeness. If only it had a little more to add to an already over-familiar genre.
