In 1994, on the centennial of popular author Edogawa Rampo's birth, Japan underwent something of a mini-Rampo craze. That year not only was the famously troubled production Rampo made, but also Akio Jissoji's remake of Noboru Tanaka's critically acclaimed Edogawa Rampo Ryoki-Kan: Yaneura No Sanpo Sha (Walker in the Attic). In this version, Hiroshi Mikami plays Goda -- a resident at an exclusive boarding house who regards his fellow tenants with barely concealed contempt. One day, while parading around in his apartment wearing a wig and lipstick, he discovers a loose ceiling board in his closet. Popping his head through the opening, he discovers a secret passageway leading to the rooms of the other boarders. After fashioning a series of innocuous-looking knot holes, he gleefully begins spying on his fellow residents. He learns that the prim-looking musician Miss Akizuki (played by pin-up model Masumi Miyazaki) not only makes beautiful sounds with her violin, but also with the sundry of suitors that regularly drop by her pad. He also learns that the lawyer in the next room (No Terada) has a passion for tying up his frequently naked mistress in a variety of exotic and complicated fashions and topping the sheepshanked lass with hot wax on her bare bosom. As the Goda's initial voyeuristic rush begins to wear off, he develops a obsession with Miss Akizuki and a burning hate for one of her suitors and fellow tenant Mr. Endo (Naomasa Mutaka) -- a dentist who boasts about beginning in a failed love suicide. Goda's distaste for the man leads to Endo's death and soon police detective Kogoro Akechi (Kyusaku Shimada) is called on the scene. The film has two different versions: one is a relatively tame rated R version while the other is more "adult" fare. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi