It has been 10 years since Kiyoshi Kurosawa unleashed a horror film unto the world (2006’s Retribution), and even longer since his smash hits Cure (1997) and Pulse (2001). He returns to the genre he is known for with Creepy, which has its Texas premiere at the Austin Asian American Film Festival tomorrow night. Creepy is a slow burn thriller that has a few pacing issues, but committed performances and fascinating direction make the film worth a watch.

Based on the novel by Yutaka Maekawa and co-written by Chihiro Ikeda and Kurosawa himself, Creepy starts promisingly. The film opens in an interrogation room in which expert criminal psychologist Koichi Takakura (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is interrogating a man who he deems to be the “perfect psychopath.” After a mishap leaves the criminal dead and Takakura wounded, he quits the force and retires to the countryside with his wife Yasuko (Yûko Takeuchi). He eventually grows restless and begins looking into a missing persons case from six years ago in which a father, mother and son disappeared, leaving behind the daughter Saki (Haruna Kawaguchi) with no memory of what happened. Meanwhile, Yasuko tries to befriend their new neighbor Mr. Nishino (Teruyuki Kagawa) who is the embodiment of the film’s title. 

Kurosawa telegraphs fairly early on that Nishino is somehow connected to the missing persons case. This makes the first hour or so of the film’s 130-minute runtime drag in places. The last act is appropriately disturbing, but because you know exactly where it’s going it takes a lot of the suspense out of the proceedings. There are still plenty of twists and turns to be had, as Saki slowly regains her memory of what happened the night her family disappeared and Nishino’s invalid wife, who never comes out of the house, is repeatedly brought up in conversation but never seen. It’s also difficult to avoid the chills that are sent up your spine when Nishino’s daugher tells Takakura “He’s not my father. He’s a total stranger.” The horror elements are there and they are effective, but the film could have easily been trimmed by about 20 minutes.

That being said, Creepy is filmed expertly. Kurosawa frames his shots from a distance, giving many scenes an impersonal feel. You begin to feel like a voyeur spying on your neighbor, which is undoubtedly the intention. Akiko Ashizawa’s cinematography is also impressive, such as a scene in which the camera pans out at an overhead angle, showing just how alone the Takakura is in an abandoned neighborhood. It works from a literal standpoint and as a metaphor for the inner turmoil he is suffering from. So if you find yourself bored with the events transpiring on screen, you will at least be mesmerized by the filming style.

Every performer gives a remarkably committed performance, but the true standout is Kagawa as the eerie Nishino and his sinister smile (pictured above). He is, well, creepy. One moment he’s amiable and the next he’s withdrawn and a few moments later he’s absolutely loathsome. The shifts in character are seamless and simply engrossing. Frustrations will be had with nearly every character in the film, as they are all incredibly flawed and make some terrible choices. This can make Creepy difficult to watch at times, but it does provide a necessary amount of realism to the characters.

Creepy isn’t exactly the return to form that fans are expecting from Kurusawa, but there is plenty to like about it. Filled with top-notch performances, haunting cinematography and wonderful direction from Kurusawa, Creepy is worth checking out for those looking for a creepy (sorry) good time.

Creepy will have its Texas premiere at the Austin Asian American Film Festival on Saturday November 5th at 8:45pm CT.