Based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name, this supernatural horror story is a uniquely banal haunted house story, following hard-working college student Tazuru (Kotona Minami) as she takes on a job at an all-night convenience store.
Those who have ever been forced to work retail should understand Tazuru’s plight immediately – even if we’ve not had to put up with ghosts, customer service is an absolute nightmare. The terrors she’s forced to endure range from creepy customers to a door that won’t stop opening and closing of its own volition.
Meanwhile, in the present day, Tazuru explains to the police how her manager came to be found dead on the premises with his eyes plucked out. It’s a story that not even skeptical Inspector Saruwatari (Terunosuke Tazkezai) can discount as evidence mounts that something is amiss at the local corner shop.
Directed by Jirô Nagae, The Convenience Store is a relatively faithful adaptation of the video game, updating its more low-key chills with a variety of effective jump scares. Like the game, it’s a simple setup – think Five Nights at Freddy’s without the edgelord teddy bears – and one which Nagae wrings plenty of tension from. If it loses some steam, it’s when Saruwatari’s investigation picks up pace, taking us away from Kotona Minami’s wonderfully vulnerable performance as Tazuru.
Those with more than a passing familiarity with the haunted house subgenre and J-horror history will find little here that’s not been done before, but The Convenience Store makes light work of old genre tropes.
THE CONVENIENCE STORE premiered at FrightFest Glasgow on March 7 2026.
