The Complex - Das Böse in Dir

I watched this film during the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2013. I had high hopes for this film, as it was being directed by Hideo Nakata, director of Ringu. It was an OK movie, unfortunately there was nothing too special about it.

The story was based around a new family that moved into a new housing complex, but the daughter, Asuka, began having strange experiences around the home, involving her neighbour & a young boy who always played alone.

There was good cinematography & Nakata did set the scenes well, building the tensions as you would expect from him. He created a sense of normal everyday life early on, while at the same time giving the audience an subtle clues that all is not quite right. There was a great use of unsettling music to add to the scenes, but I just felt like it didn't pay off, it just felt creepy at best.

The characters were interesting, with the lead actress playing Asuka doing a great job at carrying the tension & suspense through the earlier parts of the movie. There were a few typical Japanese horror clichés, but it didn't take away from the movie. I ended up feeling like I witnessed an interesting story, with the odd cheap scare & nothing more, when I was hoping for a little more creepy & scary.