The rickety "Se7en meets A Nightmare On Elm Street" premise of Nightmare Detective involves a killer who possesses the ability to enter the dreams of those desperate to commit suicide. Once inside, he manipulates the situation, forcing his victims to dispose of themselves in brutal fashion.
However, this killer (known only as 0) is not the only one able to disrupt the nap time of others. There exists another — a nightmare detective. This mysterious man reluctantly agrees to aid in the investigation of these peculiar mishaps after being convinced by a real-world detective (not as f**king awesome as a nightmare one, obviously).
When it comes down to it, this Asian horror/thriller is a fun watch. Throughout the entire picture, at no time was I not doing one of the following things: looking over my shoulder, wearing my good ol’ repulsed face, or drooling over the gorgeous female lead. So, yeah, I’d say this delivers exactly what you would expect from a film entitled Nightmare Detective. There are some truly creepy moments, not to mention the sufficient gore factor, both of which are handled by a brilliant behind the scenes band of psychotics (headed by Shinya Tsukamoto, but more on him in a second). The counter-balance to the distasteful is the bee-you-tea-full Japanese singer, Hitomi. Her acting isn’t Hello Kitty’s pajamas or anything, but on a visual level, she’s exclusively cut from a different mold.
Of cult favorite director Shinya Tsuakamoto’s extensive filmography, I’ve seen three films. Equipped only with this limited exposure to the man’s work, I’d still conclude he's an acquired taste. Aside from Nightmare Detective, I’ve also seen Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Gemini. Both films are quite different from each other, with the latter being a more accomplished and polished work. Overall, Nightmare Detective has more in common with Tetsuo than it does Gemini, which is fine. Perhaps this is the filmic neighborhood the director feels most comfortable residing in. After all, he has announced this first entry will branch out into an entire trilogy (with the second installment filming now), so he is obviously in no rush to venture into unfamiliar waters.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments