Infection (2004)

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

Director:

Masayuki Ochiai

Writers:

Ryôichi Kimizuka (story), Masayuki Ochiai (screenplay)

Stars:

Michiko Hada, Mari Hoshino, Tae Kimura

Cast

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

Storyline

In a general hospital near bankruptcy, the reduced staff is working under a severe stress. During the emergency attendance to a burned patient with Dr. Uozumi (Masanobu Takashima) and two other nurses, Dr. Akiba (Kôichi Satô) and the nurse commit an error, injecting potassium chloride and killing him. Dr. Uozumi convinces the team to forge the report to save their careers. Meanwhile, an ambulance leaves a patient in the emergency with a lethal infection. When the muscles and internal organs of the patient liquefy, Dr. Kiyoshi Akai (Shirô Sano) convinces his two colleagues to examine and research the virus, leading the employees of the night shift to a tragic end.

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Plot Keywords:

nurse | infection | hospital | ambulance | doctor | 

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Taglines:

Evil is contagious]

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror-related images

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 October 2004 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Infection

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,001,064

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aozora Investments, Entertainment Farm (EF), Geneon Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Paramedic: [over phone] We're in transit with an unconscious male. Condition stable, mid-forties, temperature 105, mental confusion, no apparent injuries... but has a black rash on the chest and arms. Any available ER, please respond.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 J Horror Films (2016)

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Soundtracks

Yume
Performed by Miwako Okuda

User Reviews

Tepid and muddled

I was hoping for a little more out of this movie. It is set in a hospital, which is an inherently creepy setting that has been used to good effect in several good horror movies (eg, Session 9, the Eye 2). Unfortunately, though the cinematography is good, there's not much in this movie that rises above the sort of low-level creepiness inherent in all hospitals.

At times I was struck with the idea that the director had originally planned to make a fairly straight-forward hospital-slasher movie, but due to some kind of colossal blunder ended up being shipped 50 gallons of green goo instead of the 50 gallons of fake blood that he ordered. Infection was then swiftly rewritten to accommodate this mix-up, and while they were at it they tacked on some twists at the end which might have been fresh prior to the global movie-twist mania that swept the world circa 1993 or so.

It's not a terrible movie, and there is some endearing acting by the three lead doctors (who do fairly well with pretty colorless characters). Overall, though, it plays out like a Halloween episode of E.R. Many scenes that ought to frighten the viewer are just drawn out, only the most extreme of the gross-out scenes are really effective, and the movie is full of dross that doesn't enhance its story or its mood.