A competent detective, Keiko Kirishima, encounters two mysterious suicides. Somehow the two incidents seem to be connected since the victims dialled the same number ‘0′ with their cellphones just before their death. Then one of the victim’s wife who was sleeping next to him, testifies that it looked like someone was attacking him in the dream. Keiko and her colleagues visit the reference room, looking for a clue to solve the mystery of the two suicides. There, they found information about a man, so-called ‘Nightmare Detective’, who can enter one’s dream. Keiko asks him to cooperate with their sting operation but is bluntly refused. The murder’s riddle is still unrevealed and later on we even found out that he holds the same power to slipping into people’s dreams. Though a direful ending is already expected, knowing there is no other way out, Keiko approaches the truth and decides to dial the deadly ‘0′ by herself….
Official Site: http://www.akumu-tantei.com/
Reviews: Fangoria, Dread Central, Cinema Without Borders
Our Review
This is the first Shinya Tsukamoto film that I’ve had the pleasure to watch. During a few discussions before the movie the title of auteur was being thrown around for Tsukamoto plus the comment that Nightmare Detective is his most accessible movie to date. An easy description of Nightmare Detective would be a cross between X-Files and Nightmare on Elm Street. Unfortunately though, this does not do the movie justice. This is very well thought out deep movie that is for those who are willing to put some energy into their movie watching. Do not come in hoping to turn your mind off; if you do you will probably fall behind the complex dream sequences.
Right off from the beginning we are thrown into a nightmare and we quickly see this will not be some easy good versus evil battle within the realms of dreams. Our main character, the nightmare detective (Ryuhei Matsuda) is attempting to help a friend of a friend who has been plagued by reoccurring dreams of a long haired ghost. The detective explains to the man who the ghost is and instead of simply dismissing the ghost the man chooses an alternative. We learn in this scene just how stressful entering the dreams is and the strain that is placed on the detective.
Moving away from the detective we find out that there is a serial killer who is forcing people to commit suicide by entering their dreams after they have talked on a cell phone with him. This is no basic serial killer and the police know it but they really aren’t willing to look to deeply into the supernatural so they throw this task on the newest police detective, Keiko Kirishima. Keiko is played by the Japanese pop singer Hitomi. The choice of a beautiful female lead is not done simply to draw both young men and her fans to the movie but also to highlight the sexist attitudes of her superiors and also her own attitudes. Keiko has been trapped behind a desk and now craves both the attention and the thrill of being the lone beautiful female detective. Keiko tracks down and enlists the aid of the nightmare detective. Together they work at tracking down the mysterious killer behind the cell phone.
What follows should really be standard fair but Tsukamoto keeps it from being so. Even though the story follows the police calling the killer and attempting to catch him by having him enter their dreams there is no huge physical confrontation within the nightmares. What happens instead is a combination of deep character study by working through layers of dreams. This is pretty heady stuff but really pays off in the end.
I plan on seeing Tsukamoto’s other movies in the very near future. Nightmare Detective is a complex, well thought out and deeply engrossing look into the psyche of its characters. This is not the typical J-Horror nor should it really be compared to Nightmare on Elm Street. Tsukamoto has created a wonderful dark world that I can’t wait to explore again and from the sounds of it I will get to as a sequel is being planned. I’ll give Nightmare Detective a 4.5 out of 5.
Source: www.filmgrotto.com
