Kansen (2004)

Director:

Masayuki Ochiai

Writers:

Ryôichi Kimizuka (story)
Masayuki Ochiai (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 October 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

Death is just a breath away.

Plot:

INFECTION takes place in a dark, isolated hospital, where one doctors mistake has led to dire consequences for a patient.

Plot Keywords:

Infection | Nurse | Hospital | Doctor | Ambulance

Cast

Michiko Hada	...	Dr. Nakazono
Mari Hoshino	...	Nurse
Tae Kimura	...	Nurse
Yoko Maki	...	Nurse (as Yôko Maki)
Kaho Minami	...	Head nurse
Moro Morooka	...	Dr. Kishida
Shirô Sano	...	Kiyoshi Akai
Kôichi Satô	...	Dr. Akiba
Masanobu Takashima	...	Dr. Uozumi
Isao Yatsu	...	Hospital Patient

Also Known As:

Infection (International: English title)
J horaa shiataa 1 (Japan) (series title)
J-Horror Theater Vol. 1 (International: English title) (series title)
Taka Ichise's Infection (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror-related images.

Runtime:

Japan:98 min | Croatia:98 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | UK:15 | Spain:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M (2007) | Peru:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | Philippines:PG-13 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Company:

Aozora Investments

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

Confused yet?

Like so many J-horror flicks in years past, the plotting is a nonsensical mess of seemingly random events tied to a loose running narrative, but the visuals do a good job of maintaining interest.

A patient dies at a hospital due to a mistake made by a team of hospital personnel. Wanting so save their careers, they vow to cover it up. Around the same time, a young man arrives at the hospital exhibiting symptoms of an unknown contagion. After the youth dies due to the virus (by melting away, of all the unpleasant ways to go), the members of the conspiracy start behaving strangely and also experiencing the same symptoms. What is happening to them? That is about as linear as the plot ever gets, from there on the story starts rocketing back and forth between flashbacks, hallucinations, ghostly encounters and other odd events. Moreover, rather than moving toward a resolution of conflict, it merely gets weirder and stranger the longer it runs. The characters are mostly anarchistic views of social stereotypes, which makes hardly any of them likable or sympathetic. Also, the story drags for the first 30 minutes or so, while the last 30 minutes shoot by way to quickly; some re-editing could have helped with that.

Visually, the film is nice. A greenish hue covers most of the film, which gives it an eerie sort of discomfort. Also, many shot choices and camera angles add to the feeling of things not being right. There is a fair amount of 'gooey' scenes, but not very much in the way of the red stuff. Most of the scare set ups are fairly well done, but many of them conclude without much pay-off.

There's good (visuals), there's bad (the script), meaning it's really only meant for J-film fanatics.

6/10