The fact that a horror film named Creepy fails to be the slightest bit creepy is the first crime of Kurosawa’s impotent serial killer thriller. Further crimes include a script that is burdened by boring exposition which persists in place of suspense, not to mention a lightweight characterisation that includes a horribly predictable villain and a laughably incompetent set of investigators.

It really is sad to find such a respected director essentially phoning it in; after his previous successes in the genre (see The Cure), Creepy is a sterile bore that, at 130 gruelling minutes, considerably outstays its welcome.

Creepy is a horribly incompetent thriller that provokes more laughter than it does fear. 

RATING: 1/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yuko Takeuchi, Teruyuki Kagawa, Haruna Kawaguchi

DIRECTOR: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

WRITERS: Kiyoshi Kurasawa, Chihiro Ikeda 

SYNOPSIS: An ex-detective suspects that his neighbour isn’t all he seems. 

Creepy was reviewed as part of One Room With A View’s coverage of the 66th Berlinale Film Festival, which runs 11-21 February 2016.