Having grown fond of the Japanese suspense / thriller / horror movies in recently, I saw this one on the shelf quite a few times at my favorite video store. "One day.... I'm going to get that movie." I told myself. Well, I finally did, and all I can tell you is, I wasn't ready for the imagery that I saw, and the story was interesting enough to keep me seated to see what happened next. The images that follow below are selected so as not to give ANY of the story. I'll give you a brief overview of the movie, and invite you to pick it up and see for yourself.

Somewhere in Japan, there is an overcrowded, under supplied hospital, and its super exhausted staff who are trying to get everyone the medical attention they so severely deserve. One patient, who manages to stumble forward who has been listening to his music a full blast for five hours straight, right there, in the waiting room. Another patient, has fallen out of the bed and gnarled himself up REAL good... I still get twitchy when I see that.... Other patients include a mask wearing child, and an elderly woman who believes she's surrounded by her friends and family... all the time. And she sees them in mirrors as well. All the while, an ambulance is looking for an ER to take a patient they are carrying, who has symptoms of a very bizzare nature.

Our drained hospital staff has been alerted to one patient's room where the patient has made his way to the floor... even in a full body cast, The crew immediately come to the rescue, and instruct one of the nurses to administer a sedative to keep the patient from slipping away. Immediately after the drug is flowing through the patient's veins, do they soon find out it's the wrong cocktail. The patient is pronounced dead, and the nurse swears she heard the doctor say one type of drug - the one she administered - while he swears he said something else. The others chime in, and back up the nurse. The ambulance is getting closer to their hospital...

Seeing as how they were all there to see to the patient, they all agree, that they should cover up this mistake, because a malpractice suit will surely close their hospital. Out in the lobby, the ambulance carrying a patient with the most unreal of symptoms has arrived. One of the doctors goes out to tell the ambulance driver that they are full up, and cannot accept this patient. The driver explains that they have to leave him here, because they were the closest hospital. While the two bicker over the deteriorating patient's fate, they are interrupted by one of the nurses who swears she saw their recently deceased patient move. The doctor tells the driver one last time to take the patient elsewhere, and runs off with the nurse to see what the trouble is. When the doctor arrives in the room where they've moved the patient to - with the heat on, so he'll decay faster, and remove any traces of the mistakes they've made - they decide to take turns making sure the body is indeed decaying.

One wayward nurse comes back to the lobby, only to discover that the patient the ambulance brought is gone. Thinking that one of the other doctors had taken the patient in, when they clearly didn't have any room, the nurse goes in search of the unwanted arrival. And around the dark corner, is the gurney.... and it's infectious patient... The events that follow must be seen to be understood. Some are obvious, others are not as obvious as you would have thought. The ending has a nice twist as well.

I think there are a lot of people who keep rating other Japanese Thriller / Horror as "Ring" or "Ju-On: The Grudge" wanna-be's, when it's clear to me that these movies have their own style. Call it B-Horror, or whatever you want. This is one that I had heard quite a few good reviews on, and only two bad ones. I'm just posting my opinions on the DVD movies I've bought, it's up to you - the viewer - to watch it, and make up your own mind. If you feel the same, just drop me a note, using the form in the Contact section of the site.

Infection is not a bad movie, it's got it's holes, but it's got an interesting story. I think that the director could have worked a little harder on the cohesion of the story. Other than that, it's a decent movie for director Masayuki Ochiai.

– Brian K. James