I first watched Creepy because Nishijima Hidetoshi( Mozu, Strawberry Night) and Higashide Masahiro(Blue Spring Ride, Parasyte) were staring in this film together. I didn't think this film would get a North American release so I got impatient and watched the film online. I'm kicking myself now because a company licensed the film and released it here a month ago. I didn't want to make a post about this film until I had the film in my hands though. You guys know how I do things here by now... unless your a new reader, then hello to you. The film's script was based on a novel of the same name. Kurosawa Kiyoshi(Penance) directed the film and the rest of the cast consists of Takeuchi Yuko, Kagawa Teruyuki, and Fujino Ryoko.
"That man is not my father. He's a complete stranger."-Creepy
Creepy's plot is not what you would expect it to be from the film's name or the presentation of the trailer. Most people would think a horror film with people running from house to house trying to escape a next door neighbor killer. This would have been a good plot to see unfold but Creep isn't a horror film per say. Its more of a thriller that messes with the viewer's mind and the character's minds that are present in the film. Literally, the film conflict is very physiological with a mystery that would have never been solved unless the characters had gone into the fire to get burned themselves. The plot begins with the the answers to the questions of why a husband and wife decide to start over again in a quiet suburb in Tokyo. Then comes in the creepy neighbor that can't seem to act normally if someone held a guy to his head. Every single sign point to this man as being the culprit behind an on going case of almost a full family disappearing. You just have to sit back and figure out how he did it. The neighbor has a daughter too but the wife is never seen. The events that you will witness start off as strange only to turn disturbing very fast. Its the kind of film that you have to watch at least twice to catch all the pieces of the puzzle. Miss one piece and you'll get confused about the ending. Classical violins also are the films background instrumental. They act as a signal to let the viewer know when a "creepy"event is a mist.
Hideyoshi played the character of a once detective turned college professor. He played his character the same way he played his character in the drama Mozu. A character with a strong sense of justice, kind of cold but warm with his loved ones. I think the big difference between the two characters is his character in Creepy acted like he had the mind of a murder figured out when he really did'nt know all there was to know. In Mozu, he was a character that didn't know what he was doing but he wanted the truth. He fits this film well because Creepy and Mozu have a similar unsettling feel about them. Masahiro plays the other detective that knows Hideyoshi's character through the police force. He's also cold but I think thats the style of a detective on the case. You don't show too much emotion. I did notice that both characters were quick to get aggressive if they wanted more information from someone but weren't getting what they wanted to hear. They had a good flow of detectives that wanted to know the truth behind the case. Teruyuki already has a creepy looking face so to add the performance of a psychopath on top of that was chilling. His character has many different faces and he switches between each one depending on what he wants from you. People like him are dangerous because they will mess with your mind then have you doing things that you never would do normally. I liked his acting the most when he had scenes with Takeuchi Yuko, and Fujino Ryoko. Yuko's character suffered the most.. well no, Ryoko's character had to live with a psychopath..... I felt sorry for both of them honestly. A cool fun fact is that Teruyuki and Hideyoshi acted together in Mozu. Creepy is Fujino Ryoko's third film and I'm proud of her. She did a great job in Solomon's Perjury.
The way in which Creepy was shot remind me of Mozu as well. Sorry that I keep bring up Mozu but it was a damn good series. It was shot in a dark and creepy style just like Creepy. Its like there was a lack of lighting in certain shots in Creepy. Especially the ones done inside. It didn't help that many of the places shown had a creepy feel to them. The inside of a jail, the basement of a house, and even the neighborhood the characters lived in felt like an empty car lot with houses smushed into each other. Some of those people needed to trim those trees around their homes too. I'm just saying.....
Creepy won't be for people who can't take information that is given to you and put two and two together. I saw a lot of comments of people saying that they didn't like this film because they didn't understand it. You really have to pay attention to what the film presents to you. I understood the film pretty well the first time I watched it but understood even more the second time I watched the film.
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