Creepy

Not often you get to see a plot where one of the main characters deceives himself in such an obvious way without even knowing it. Creepy deals with the story of a murderer/imposter, who happens to be the neighbor of the lead couple. As viewers we clearly have the added insight of knowing that there's something strange about that neighbor, though perhaps as normal people we wouldn't be comfortable believing that our neighbor is a dangerous person, however, Hidetoshi Nishijima's character is a serial killer profiler and he simply cannot see the danger until it's already too late. Kiyoshi Kurosawa's thriller has several plot issues, but he manages to keep the tension going even when there are really no surprises in it. The script certainly doesn't allow for much exploration for the characters, but the performances are very good and are also part of what keeps the mystery developing enough to keep you completely interested to see where it's going and more importantly, how it will end. Creepy uses the overused next door maniac trope, but manages to give it identity and more thrust than anything else. Not everything feels right and its ending isn't really fulfilling. Let's just say that the door to immeasurable evil was opened, but its director preferred not to delve into it, choosing to keep the emphasis on his lead couple rather than his monster. Nevertheless, the thriller is quite good.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]