Nightmare Detective (2006)

Movie

Rating: NR
Length: 106 minutes

Video

Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Audio

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
JAPANESE: Dolby Digital 5.1

Captions

English, Spanish

Purchase

Plot

A series of suicides strikes a Japanese city and a young and new female detective (the very lovely Japanese pop singer Hitomi) is part of the team to solve the case. Apparently both victims called the same phone number prior to dying. Is the caller playing a role in their deaths? Will the detective take the chance to catch this guy by making the phone call herself? Along the way they enlist a very disturbed man that can visit people in their dreams. Can he save them?

Pros

Great visual effects, strong action scenes with just the right amount of violence and gore. The film is shot in a way that the handful of bloody scenes are dark enough so you're not overwhelmed with a lot of bright red. But, unlike many American horror films, the gore is simply a part of the movie, not the primary focus. The focus is the storyline of tracking down the man that is causing people to kill themselves in their sleep after talking with them on the phone. If you have a surround system then you'll love all the wonderful noises that will emanate from your speakers. Last but not least, Hitomi pulled off a very strong performance, especially considering this was her first major role, and guys you're going to love the hemline of her skirts. :-)

Cons

Everything is dark, even the scenes filmed outside in daylight are filtered dark. It would also have been nice to have more background information on both the detective and the guy that can enter dreams. But never fear, there is a sequel due out this year (2008).

Extras

Making-Of Featurette
Theatrical Trailer

Recommendation

More and more I'm starting to look for Japanese horror movies. They tend to be original and less restrained. American versions of Japanese movies are watered down when they remake them (The Ring, The Grudge). If you like psychological horror movies with numerous layers of gore then turn down the lights and give this a shot; don't forget to watch the making-of featurette. If you tend to have bad dreams at night, stick with something lighter.