Japanese director Hideo Nakata, whose classic 1998 film Ringu (The Ring) helped kick off the massive wave of J-horror mania in the early 2000s, has been off the US genre radar for several years (his 2010 UK-based production Chatroom didn't grab much attention stateside), but he just might back in the running with a new project titled The Complex. Here's the newly-launched trailer:
The Complex stars J-pop star Atsuko Maeda as a nursing student who is just settling into a drab-looking apartment with her family when she begins to hear strange noises from their reclusive neighbor. She later discovers the old man dead – and that he had been trying desperately to claw his way into her room. Rumors that the place is haunted are apparently confirmed when Atsuko later comes face-to-face with an apparition of the dead man.
The film has recently been making the festival rounds overseas, and is slated for release in Japan on May 18th. No word yet as to when it will be picked up for worldwide distribution. Stay tuned!