Nakata Hideo brought the world the J-horror boom with the release of his 1998 classic
Ringu. As the focal point of an entire movement the attention focused on Nakata has been intense and - with the exception of the even better
Dark Water - the response has generally been mixed. Nakata has proven a restless sort, cycling through others styles and genres rather than being pinned down, but the results have been mixed, which is why so many are anticipating the arrival of his latest effort,
The Complex.
Nursing student Asuka (Atsuko Maeda) has just moved into an apartment
complex with her parents and younger brother. On the first night in her
new room, she is awoken by a strange scratching sound coming from the
apartment of her neighbor, a reclusive old man who has refused all
attempts at communication. Concerned over his well being, Asuka enters
his home only to find him dead from malnutrition. Worse, it looks as if
he had been trying to claw his way into her room.
Asuka learns that
there have been a number of strange deaths in the complex over the years
from Shinobu (Hiroki Narimiya), the handyman cleaning up the old man's
apartment. Even the girls at school whisper rumors of it being haunted.
When the late night scratching returns, Asuka ventures back into her
neighbor's home and comes face to face with an apparition of the old
man!
Panicked by the discovery of her apartment emptied and her
family gone, Asuka seeks help from Shinobu, who brings in a spiritualist
to exorcise Asuka of the evil surrounding her. However, as she delves
into the girl's predicament, the spiritualist discovers that signs
points not to the old man but to a small boy living in the complex with a
past as tragic as the one Asuka herself lives in denial of.
The full trailer for Nakata's latest has just arrived and it's not hard at all to see the appeal for old fans. Take a look below.