Nightmare Detective
92
8
Story
10
Cast
9
Fun
10
Subs
9
Overall
Aaron Fowler
September 30, 2007
Movie poster for Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Country Japan
Genre Horror
Year 2007
Running Time 106
Distributor The Weinstein Company
Director Shinya Tsukamoto
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Synopsis

A female detective (J-Pop starlet hitomi) is attempting to investigate a series of murders, which are beginning to feel more like serial suicides than anything else. Her partner on the case (Masanobu Ando) and she decided to use the help of a mysterious so-called Nightmare Detective (played by Ryuhei Matsuda) who claims to enter the dreams and nightmares of the less fortunate to find answers to the souls haunting their minds. The recent string of deaths seem to somehow be tied to cell phone calls made right before the victim’s untimely death. Could a psychotic mystery caller (Shinya Tsukamoto) be the man behind on this madness? Far from a retread of Takashi Miike’s ONE MISSED CALL, Shinya Tsukamoto’s NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE takes a familiar story and flips it on its side. Sure to please both horror fans and those in the mood for something with a bit more edge, the film grabs hold of the viewer and never lets go.

Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Review

Before I move on to my review of NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE I must explain a bit about my love of Shinya Tsukamoto’s work. First in my discovery, as with most of you, was the much hyped cult film TETSUO. I will be honest. I was a bit unimpressed. His creativity and bravado was quite impressive but I didn’t seem to have the same enthusiasm of others at the time. Nonetheless, the film peaked my curiosity and I went in search of TETSUO 2: BODY HAMMER that I fell for hook, line and sinker. I loved what he did with a larger budget and more of a somewhat cohesive story.  Next came TOKYO FIST, which really did it in for me. I still consider this my second favorite of all his work and find it a revelation. The film is so much different from his previous work yet oddly enough so similar. I pretty much got into his films around the release of this one so I had to wait a bit and put my admiration of his work on hold until the arrival of GEMINI. Once again completely out-there in its originality and style, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. At this point, I was again fell out of touch with his work for awhile missing out on both HIROKU and BULLET BALLET. Later, I caught up on BULLET BALLET and loved his erratic turn he took with filmmaking. Then there was the anticipation for SNAKE OF JUNE.  The minute the Tartan UK dvd hit the shelves I dived right in and was once again impressed beyond belief. This voyeuristic view of finding one’s true self was like nothing I had ever seen before. Flash forward to the New York Asian Film Festival 2005 and my wife and I are sitting in the cramped spaces of the Anthology Film Archives waiting patiently for VITAL to begin. Wow. Tsukamoto takes his work to a new level and direction with this film. I can honestly say VITAL is hands down his most amazing piece of filmmaking thus far and will always be close to my heart.

Which leads us to NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE. I am sitting in the Japan Society, one of the new homes of the New York Asian Film Festival 2007, listening to my favorite Ritalin-free film connoisseur Grady Hendrix rant and rave as he has done for the last 6 years and I am feeding off everything he has to say. He claims NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE is by far the best of Tsukamoto film career and that each and every audience member better think the same.  I hope to myself that I will feel the same as Grady.  I lean back and take the film in. Two hours later the end credits are rolling and the theatre is in the process of emptying. So what did I think and was I as equally as impressed as Mr. Hendrix? Yes and no. Let me explain.

NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE once again brings you to a new level in Tsukamoto’s film career. With his largest budget yet, one would expect him to sell out and give in but he does no such thing. The excessive money only gives Tsukamoto bigger ideas. A killer from your nightmares that can only be stop by a reclusive detective which can enter your mind. Sounds original to me. In my opinion, he never took the easy way out by making a more commercial film, though I do believe it is by far his most accessible to date. Instead, he brings the mainstream audience deep into the off- the- wall world of Shinya Tsukamoto. His larger budget only delivers a more bizarre film for audiences to attempt to comprehend. Nothing seems to be absent from his usual fare. Still present, is a very uncomfortable steadi-cam to set its viewers in a frenzy. This is what really drew me in. He never seemed pressured into making a studio approved blockbuster film.

As usual the acting really makes the film for me. While my wife and I differed on are feelings for the performance from J-pop star Hitomi (I thought she did well while my wife believed it was another suffered performance from a singer attempting to act), we were both on par with are love of Ryuhei Matsuda and Masunobu Ando. One could argue that Matsuda acts the same in each movie, not unlike some people’s complaint of Tadanobu Asano, but I really enjoy every character I see him portray. He just has an essence of cool to him that brings a smile to your face while watching him go through his signature style of acting. Ando as always was equally likable. Both actors really know how to choose the right work and directors to give them the edge on most of other actors in Japanese cinema today.  As always though, the shining crown here that pretty much steals every scene is Tsukamoto himself.  Man, is he creepy in this film and it fits the character to a ‘T’. Like the work in his equally impressive HAZE, his movement and presence is what makes the experience so unnerving. I really hope he never gives up acting in his own films or other director’s works because he is a true pleasure to endure especially at his most cringing moments of awkwardness.

So what are my complaints about the film, you ask? Not too many. For one thing, I felt it was a bit long for its own good. At often times it felt like it was dragging along with material that could have been trimmed to make the film a bit tighter as a whole.  The film also suffers from what his known as multiple endings. There were two times during the end of the film, which I felt would have been good stopping points.  So do I believe it is Tsukamoto’s best work yet? No, but I was damn well pleased and still believe he has some even more greatness buried deep in the sequels. Sequels you say. Yes, it has already been announced that there will be (possibly) two upcoming sequels to the film both from the mind of Tsukamoto.  As we speak, the director is deep in production of NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE 2 that is said to dig deeper into the childhood of Matsuda’s character and hopefully shed some light on how all this came to be. I for one will be there to find out what is to follow. Now all we need to do is pray that the Weinstein Company get off their asses and release this film in US theaters already. It damn well deserves to be seen by the masses.

Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
Scene from the movie Nightmare Detective - Review | KFCC
92
Story
Cast
Entertainment
Subtitles
Overall
Aaron Fowler September 30, 2007