Ryûta Miyake

Vanished: Age 7 is a rather typical Japanese horror film, except that it is set up as a thriller with a conscience. It starts off by stating the number of people disappearing each year in Japan as an introduction to the plot, but as things move along it become increasingly clear the film chases a more typical horror narrative.

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The limited budget doesn't really work in Miyaki's favor here, some of the CG is so bad you wonder why they even bothered. Even so, Miyaki manages to build up a decent atmosphere and the finale isn't too bad. It just takes the film a while to get there and with relatively poor performances and a lack of stylistic polish, this isn't really a highlight of the genre.