But as much as the banality of daily life is carefully underlined, an intriguing mysteriousness concerning Nishino Masayuki (Teruyuki Kagawa), one of their neighbors, and the Hino city crime, Takakura examining this case after a request of an ex-colleague (Masahiro Higashide), is immediately evoked, drawing the spectator’s interest in, hooking his wish to know – or maybe his wish not to know. We cannot help but wonder, does the narrative live up to its name?Ĭreepy, as narrative, begins as an ordinary slice of life narrative, leisurely following the lives of Takakura (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Yasuko (Yûko Takeuchi), who have just moved into a new neighbourhood., while Takakura, once a detective, is trying to settle down as a newly appointed lecturer in criminal psychology at Togaku university. With Creepy (2016), an adaptation of Yutaka’s Maekawa’s award-winning mystery novel, Kurosawa returns once again to explore the darker side of society in general and of human beings in particular. He confirmed his position with Pulse (2001), considered by some as his most successfully realized horror narrative to date.įorever interested in the psychology of the individual and, quite often, the impact of society as well – these are the themes around which Kurosawa’s oeuvre turn around, Kurosawa left the horror genre with Tokyo Sonata (2008), for which he received the Jury Prize at the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes film festival, and Journey to the shore (2015), providing a compassionate emotive contemplation on the supernatural.

In 1997, 14 years after he started directing feature films, Kiyoshi Kurosawa appeared with a bang on the international scene with Cure (1997), a subtle and creepy serial killer narrative, while regaining his place – a place he lost in the eighties under influence of Nikattsu – in Japan as well. And yes, you will think twice about getting cozy with your neighbours”. “Kurosawa’s masterful formal approach to cinematography shows vividly that creepiness lurks at the surface of society (…) Creepy is a masterpience and truly lives up to its name.

Creepy by Yutaka Maekawa