No! Drug! Dame. Zettai. (and what a disappointment this movie was)

I gave this movie a chance because of the director (Kiyoshi Kurosawa) and his consistent handling of the thriller/horror genre. My favourite horror movie, nay, my favourite movie even, being Kairo AKA Pulse. Sakebi AKA Scream AKA Retribution and The Loft weren't too shabby either.

It started out great. The first hour was filled with a sense of uneasiness, tension, and yes, creepiness despite the lack of violence and blood. Basically, the best kind of psychological horror - doing more with less so-to-speak. You can see the same sort of slow-burn in Kairo and Takashi Miike's Audition.

There was also a refreshing lack of illogical decisions/actions made by stupid characters (well... until the next hour). Lazy horror movies manufacture contrived scenes derived from the actions of characters lacking common sense. Not so here.

Takakura (male protagonist) is an ex-detective turned university lecturer. He has a cynical (due to the nature of his work) yet deeply analytical mind (e.g. his observation that it's not necessarily the "weirdos" that should be feared because their person is plain as day but the apparently nice, sociable and charming stranger that should be viewed with suspicion). However, he is also troubled by his past.

His wife, Yasuko is a well-meaning and optimistic one. She represents the emotional half of the relationship (her husband obviously the other coldly logical half). Unlike the jaded Takakura, she sees the best in people (e.g. her frequent attempts to be friendly with her neighbours). In an average horror movie, she would be the naive character that causes her own death. In Creepy, she knows when to stop pushing her luck (e.g. under the advice of the neighbour's daughter, she cuts short her plans to visit the mother who may or may not exist).

And of course, you've got the neighbour (Nishino) who switches from one face to the other in a second. Is he hiding a malevolent self or is he just a simple, friendly, and slightly weird man?

So you have the satisfying first half (hour) of the movie. It's setting up the scene. Takakura is researching a cold case, gathering information, and joining the dots while his wife attempts to get friendly with the local residents (and the drama that ensues). Like Audition, even though it feels like it's plodding along, you still get the feeling that it's building up towards something. There will be a payoff, you just know it. So instead of nodding of to sleep, you pay attention to every detail and every word. What the movie shows up, there must be a reason for it.

Then, the second hour begins. Like Nishino who can swap between personalities at the drop of a hat, the movie does the same. Things get stupid. Fast. The characters start saying and doing irrational things. The police starts being incompetent, Korean-style. Everything that was painstakingly set up in the first hour rumbles down. The cherry on top of this disaster: The one and only high decibel jump scare (the fire explosion). Really? A jump scare? In my supposedly intelligent horror/thriller movie? By the end, many of the questions raised in the first hour remains mainly unanswered.

Overall, a disappointment, considering the director, and considering the first half of the movie.

PS. Apparently Creepy was based on a novel of the same name, which in turn, may or may not be based on actual events in Japan.

PPS. Creepy's subtitle, Itsuwari no rinjin, can mean "False Neighbour".

PPPS. The "latest" Japanese movie I thoroughly enjoyed was Kokuhaku AKA Confessions (2010), also a thriller.

PPPPS. My thread title is a reference to the cute anti-drugs posters (with Engrish) in Japan.

Now for some questions.

1) What connection does the opening scene have with the rest of the movie? Obviously Takakura made a bad judgment, displaying great hubris, and gets punished for it. Is it only to give him an excuse to move houses, right next to an active serial killer (too much of a coincidence for me to accept)?

2) Why were the neighbours (well we only see two, Nishino and the female neighbour that he kills later) so cold?

3) There are occasional references to debtors (e.g. Nogami the police co-worker who approaches Takakura at the university early on) apparently has money problems. Was this supposed to be a red herring? e.g. We might be led to believe it was the Yakuza that are pressuring people to pay.

4) At the dinner, Nishino tells Takakura that he doesn't like talking about work but if Takakura stops by another time, Nishino will show him "something interesting". What was supposed to be this interesting thing? His dungeon?

5) At the "interrogation", Saki (the survivor of the "disappeared" family) talks about how the serial killer is watching her through her bedroom (or whatever) window. Later, Takakura realises his neighbourhood apartment arrangement is similar to the arrangement of apartments of the family. Near the end of the movie, Nishino climbs up and has a long range view of houses below. I don't get it. What is the significance of all of this? That Nishino likes a good view? That he is an aspiring landscape artist?

6) Nogami (the young policeman) goes to the vacant and dilapidated house by himself and finds a stinky shrinkwrapped corpse. Why is it still there after many years and not found by police? Why did he go the alone? Is it because he was in debt and he wanted credit/recognition (and hence, money) for it? I can't remember if it was revealed later but whose corpse was it anyway?

7) Nishino asks Yasuko: Who is more charming: your husband or I? What did she answer? And why?

8) Not a question but what I think is the best line in the movie, and a shining chilling example of verbal creepiness: "Ano Otou-san janaidesu. Zenzen shiranai hito desu." (I think that's the correct transcription). Anyway, it means: "That (man) is not my father. He's a complete stranger."

9) Yasuko starts acting strangely and speaking to a persons unknown (obviously Nishino). What was happening behind the scenes that would make her act this way? What allows Nishino to dictate her every move? His unparalleled charm?

10) Nogami enters the serial killer's house, noting that Nishino's face does not match the face of the real Nishino's ID. Why didn't he leave immediately since at worst, he has a case of identify fraud, instead of getting killed?

11) Why was the older policeman unwilling to share details with Takakura even though his subordinate (Nogami) died in the house fire? I thought it was maybe hinting at police corruption or they had something to hide.

12) Takakura asks Saki if Nishino looks like her past neighbour (Mizuki) and she replies no. Is she telling the truth or lying? If she was lying, why?

13) Why does Yasuko keep using the fan?

14) What exactly are they injecting (hence my thread title) and what are the effects? The needle marks can be seen on Yasuko and the daughter's mother. Does Nishino control people by simply force a drug addiction on them?

15) What is stopping the daughter from reporting Nishino to the police the very first chance she gets?

16) Let's go back a bit. How did Nishino take over the house he is in the first place? His true identity would be outed as soon as a family friend etc visits.

17) The daughter seeks help from Takakura and hides in his house. Takakura realises that Nishino is not her father. But... she already told him that?

18) Right after, Nishino, looking for his "daughter" attempts to enter Takakura's house but Takakura refuses to let him in. Nishino asks "isn't this kidnapping?" Well, is it kidnapping if the daughter stays in the house out of her own free will? Why didn't Takakura reply with a comeback: "Isn't this trespassing?". Early in the movie, Takakura shows some knowledge of American culture, comparing serial killers in American and Japan. So his full comeback could have been: "Isn't this trespassing? If this was Texas, America, I could "stand my ground" and shoot you right in the face, foo'"

19) Why does the police seem so enthusiastic about arresting Takakura, instead of the Nishino? I was half expecting an impossible plot twist like, "actually, the serial killer was Takakura and Nishino is his imagination" or something.

20) In the interrogation room, Takakura expresses gratitude to the old policeman citing "I was almost a kidnapper". Wait what, movie? You were being serious? I know Japanese law is flawed/outdated in some ways but this seems silly.

21) Not a question, but more examples of incompetent policework: letting Nishino go. Old policeman entering Nishino's house alone. Takakura entering Nishino's house alone.

22) Takakura finds his Yasuko in Nishino's house and we confirm that their husband/wife relationship wasn't the best. So she befriends a serial killer? Huh?

23) Takakura finds out that the reason Nishino has so much control over people is that he coerces people into committing crimes. How does he do that? Then Nishino closes the heavy metal door on Takakura. I was expecting Nishino to say "game over!" and leaving Takakura locked inside to rot. i.e. Saw.

24) Takakura challenges Nishino to shoot him but Nishino is unable to do so. Why? He was able to shoot the mother earlier.

25) Why did Yasuko inject Takakura? Now I was expecting a bad ending with Takakura being a permanently paralysed member of the "family".

26) Nishino climbs to a high vantage point and looks for a new house (at least his third one) to invade. How can he possibly achieve this in any realistic way (same thing for his first and second house)?

27) "Dog is man's best friend" - What did Nishino think was going to happen when he handed the gun over to Takakura?