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Nightmare Detective [Akumu Tantei]

悪夢探偵

Genre: Gloomy Psychic Crime Horror
Director: Tsukamoto Shinya (2006)

review in one breath

Tokyo police are baffled by a series of grisly deaths which at first glance appear to be obvious suicides but after further investigation have all the earmarks of homicide. Eyewitnesses to some of the cases report that the victims violently killed themselves in their sleep while screaming for help. When it is discovered that each of the victims had phoned a mysterious individual known only as "0", a detective calls the number only to soon thereafter die a gruesome self-inflicted death in his sleep. At their wits end, the cops ask the help of a bedraggled psychic said to possess the ability to enter people's dreams.

Sakebi [Retribution]

Genre: Supernatural Psychological Thriller
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa (2006)

review in one breath

Soon after investigating the muder of a young woman, a hardened detective finds that he is haunted by the woman's ghost and discovers several inexplicable clues seemingly linking him to the crime. As he struggles to understand his nightmarish predicament, both inner and outer worlds collide in this disturbing and mind-bending morality tale.

The Demon
[Kichiku]

鬼畜

Genre: Heart-Wrenchingly Abysmal Morality Tale

review in one breath

Sokichi's past and present tragically collide when his mistress Kikuyo, with whom he has fathered three children and then left, suddenly arrives at the home of he and his wife O-ume. The encounter leaves Sokichi speechless and his wife enraged. But when the wife begins heaping abuse upon Kikuyo, it becomes clear that Kiyoku will receive no help in her children's survival. In a fit of rage, Kikuyo abandons her children, leaving them with Sokichi and his hate-filled wife, sending the three younglings, and their father, into a god-forsaken spiral toward visceral tragedy.

Zero Focus
[Zero no shoten]

ゼロの焦点

Genre: Contemplative Mystery

review in one breath

When a newlywed husband suddenly disappears while on a business trip, his wife spearheads the effort to find out what happened. Her search brings her to a remote northern town lined with steep cliffs descending into the turbulent winter sea. In a plot filled with twists and unexpected turns, this comes across as a very effective early Japanese crime drama.