poe426 NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE, like much of what Shinya Tsukamoto has done, has its readily apparent roots in manga/anime. (Manganime?) While it'll never be confused with the likes of TETSUO, BODY HAMMER or TOKYO FIST (it's clearly more like HIROKU THE GOBLIN and GEMINI), NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE more than holds its own as live-action manganime. Like some of the slower and more thoughtful anime (like GILGAMESH or WOLF'S RAIN or suchlike), it's the overall mood that is most important here. Tsukamoto says that this is the first of a proposed series of movies to feature his NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE. If so, we've got something more to look forward to.

zetes Probably the most conventional film Shinya Tsukamoto has directed. Really, it would only take a couple of tiny clichés for that to happen, since every other film he has made is so utterly unconventional. Nightmare Detective is sort of a police procedural. Detectives are investigating two apparent suicides that seem to have killed themselves while dreaming. It turns out both of these people had called the same number shortly before they died, and the detectives believe that the owner of this number, known as 0 (zero), may have had something to do with the deaths. The detectives, through some huge logical jumps, also seek out a man known as the nightmare detective (Ryuhei Matsuda of Taboo), who has the power to enter dreams. The killer (Shinya Tsukamoto) also has this power. The major cliché that bothers me most is that of the hot, young female detective, played by a relative newcomer known only as Hitomi, who has to prove herself to her male co-workers. It's very boring, and, as cute as she is, Hitomi isn't a very good actress, at least not here. My educated guess is that Ms. Hitomi started her career as a model, and was later drafted into acting. There's also the whole cell phone angle, which has already been done by Miike in One Last Call. I admit I have skipped out on that one even though Miike is one of my favorite directors. It's just corny. It also doesn't help that both the hot detective and the cell phone-inspired deaths instantly bring to mind the recent comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which used both of these themes to provide major laughs. And I'm sure no one who made that movie had ever seen Nightmare Detective. Still, even having written a mediocre script, Tsukamoto could never lose his talent for direction. And the direction is very Tsukamoto. When Tsukamoto attacks in the nightmares, he appears as a deformed monster that is only half-seen. The visuals are eerily beautiful and I really liked the music, too. All in all, it's a pretty good horror flick. It's the first part of a trilogy, the second of which should be released in Japan later this year. Hitomi is not a part of it, so I'll keep my hopes up.

Backlash007 ~Spoiler~Well, Asia had a good run. But the time has come to be more selective in viewing their output too. Gone are the days when you couldn't wait to see the next great Asian horror. The majority of what we are seeing from them is just as stale and conventional as any other country. Nightmare Detective is a movie I should not have wasted my time on. It commits the ultimate movie sin: it fails to entertain. It put me to sleep...twice. It does not generate any suspense, fear, or emotional connection to any of the characters. It plays like a really cheesy melding of Suicide Club and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Let me take a deep breath here and explain the plot. People who dial 0 on their telephone are stalked by a killer in their nightmares who makes them commit suicide while the cops track down a "nightmare detective" who can enter the dreams of others to stop the psycho. It's as silly as it sounds. Unfortunately it's not as much fun. It's really quite boring. Or maybe it was all that "shaky-cam" that hypnotized me into going to sleep?

theNomad Rookie female police officer Keiko played by wonderful eye candy Hitomi as one tough 1st case, a suicide which is seemingly too brutal to be suicide, quickly followed by another savage suicide. The key to both (is the now well worn plot) of a phone call to a mysterious Mr O (wickedly played by Shinya Tsukamoto himself)whom helps the suicidie by saying he's going to join in and kill himself while they are. Only he goes that little bit further and actually goes into their sleep and does the gory work himself. The police turn to man who's talent is going into peoples dreams, ala the Nightmare Detective of the title played by the great Matsuda Ryuhei). First attempt goes badly and O manages to kill a male police officer. Not being able to live with this Keiko now tries aided by by the nightmare detective who goes into O's own dream, revealing the reason for his actions.Plot is basically Suicide Club meets Nightmare on Elm St 3 Dream Warriors by way of Radioheads How to Disappear Completely, visually pleasing which we've come to expect by headf'ck cinema master Shinya Tsukamoto, and should have enough blood to please most gore hounds. Flaws really come in the script, pacing and that feeling you've seen it all before. Still gets a 7/10 by me as of yet the best Asian horror film I've seen in 2007.