Nightmare Detective
Encyclopedia
is a 2007 Japanese horror
film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto
and released by Movie-Eye Entertainment Inc, starring Ryuhei Matsuda
and hitomi
. Masanobu Ando
and Ren Osugi
play supporting roles, and Tsukamoto himself plays the unnamed villain. The film is shot entirely within Adachi, Tokyo
.
Nightmare Detective 2
was released in 2008. Matsuda returns in the lead role of Kagenuma. Hitomi declined to reprise her role.
Kagenuma wakes up in hospital next to the body of Mitake, and surrounded by Mitake's children. Kagenuma had been in Mitake's dream, to find out who should inherit his property, but cannot answer. As he leaves, Kagenuma telepathically hears the selfish thoughts of Mitake's children, and realises that a messy legal battle is about to commence.
Meanwhile Lieutenant Keiko Kirishima (hitomi) has recently switched from the National Police Academy to a district police station. Her new colleagues, Detective Ishida (Ren Osugi
) and Detective Wakamiya (Masanobu Ando
) do not understand her, and are somewhat resentful of her qualifications. Her own prickly personality does not help matters; she interprets their casualness at crime scenes as a lack of professionalism. She is unable to stomach the gruesome scene at her first case, so Ishida mocks her.
Her first case is a young woman who has been found dead in her apartment, horribly slashed with a blade placed in her own hand. The fact that the apartment was locked from the inside convinces Ishida and Wakamiya that the case is a suicide; Kirishima is not so sure, as no note was left and a neighbour heard the victim crying out for help. Later, Kirishima's team is confronted by a similar case. A wife saw her husband slash himself to death while asleep in their bed.
Kirishima discovers a link between the two unrelated victims; both had last dialled the same number, a sequence not registered anywhere in the country. The recording of both conversations reveals a young woman saying "help me" over and over again. It is suspected that some form of hypnotic suggestion was used. Because of the strange nature of the cases, the chief of the division separates the investigators into two groups. One, led by Detective Ishida, is to carry out 'the standard procedure', while the other, led by Lieutenant Kirishima (and including Detective Wakamiya), is to investigate supernatural
causes for the murders. This frustrates the rationalistic Kirishima. She and Wakamiya are directed to Kagenuma, who is described as a person with the power to enter dreams.
Kagenuma is very unwilling to help. He does not like to use his power. In fact he had just tried to kill himself, but kids from the neighborhood saved him. The police leave him.
Kirishima suggests calling the mysterious number. In the end Wakiyama makes contact but the woman (O) seems to know something is wrong. Soon after Wakiyama is attacked while asleep. Kirishima again asks the Nightmare detective to intervene. Wakamiya has fallen asleep on the couch in the police station. Kagenuma finally enters Wakiyama's dream and confronts O. Wakiyama is killed and Kagenuma ends up hurt. He want to escape, but Kirishima forces his hand by calling O herself. So he must enter her dream, or let her die. He reluctantly decides to try to save her. Meanwhile, the other squad is getting close to O in the real world.
As Kirishima is close to sleep, she speaks with O, wanting to know how he's able to go into minds. O reveals that he originally wanted to die alongside the first victim, but instead somehow crawled into her mind, feeling a rush and hunger to kill her. Wanting to feel the rush again, he continued to kill other people.
In the dream, Kirishima is chased around a derelict school, ultimately being confronted by her inner self, who berates her for her weakness. Eventually, O chases her into an old furnace, trapping her before being attacked by Kagenuma. Kagenuma unlocks a repressed memory of O, revealing that, as a child, his teacher locked him in the same furnace Kirishima is in, alongside his sister who is killed when trying to escape. (The little girl is revealed to be the one who originally said the repeated "help me.")
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
film directed by Shinya Tsukamoto
Shinya Tsukamoto
is a Japanese film director and actor with a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad.-Biography:Tsukamoto started making movies at the age of 14, when his father gave him a Super 8 camera. He made a number of films, ranging...
and released by Movie-Eye Entertainment Inc, starring Ryuhei Matsuda
Ryuhei Matsuda
is a Japanese film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in Japanese films such as Taboo and Nana.-Early life:Matsuda was born on 9 May 1983 in Tokyo to Yusaku Matsuda, a Japanese actor, and Miyuki Matsuda , a Japanese actress. He has two siblings, one of whom is Japanese actor Shota...
and hitomi
Hitomi
better known by her stagename , is a Japanese singer and songwriter. She began her career as model, and after meeting Tetsuya Komuro he began managing her career as a pop singer...
. Masanobu Ando
Masanobu Ando
is a Japanese actor and director.For his second film, in 1996, he won the Film Academy of Japan's Best New Actor Award, starring in Takeshi Kitano's Kids Return....
and Ren Osugi
Ren Osugi
, born , is a Japanese actor. For his work in Cure, Hana-bi and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival...
play supporting roles, and Tsukamoto himself plays the unnamed villain. The film is shot entirely within Adachi, Tokyo
Adachi, Tokyo
is one of the Special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is located north of the heart of Tokyo. The ward consists of two separate areas: a small strip of land between the Sumida River and Arakawa River and a larger area north of the Arakawa River...
.
Nightmare Detective 2
Nightmare Detective 2
is a 2008 Japanese horror film and sequel, directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, to the 2007 film Nightmare Detective, starring Ryuhei Matsuda as Kyoichi Kaganuma.-Plot:...
was released in 2008. Matsuda returns in the lead role of Kagenuma. Hitomi declined to reprise her role.
Plot
A middle-aged man is taking a drink of beer. A young man (Matsuda) appears from under the floor, and it is revealed that the older man, Mitake, is a former teacher of Kagenuma's father. Kagenuma is being haunted by the soul of a daughter whom his wife had aborted without his knowledge. Mitake refuses to help him.Kagenuma wakes up in hospital next to the body of Mitake, and surrounded by Mitake's children. Kagenuma had been in Mitake's dream, to find out who should inherit his property, but cannot answer. As he leaves, Kagenuma telepathically hears the selfish thoughts of Mitake's children, and realises that a messy legal battle is about to commence.
Meanwhile Lieutenant Keiko Kirishima (hitomi) has recently switched from the National Police Academy to a district police station. Her new colleagues, Detective Ishida (Ren Osugi
Ren Osugi
, born , is a Japanese actor. For his work in Cure, Hana-bi and other films, Osugi was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1999 Yokohama Film Festival...
) and Detective Wakamiya (Masanobu Ando
Masanobu Ando
is a Japanese actor and director.For his second film, in 1996, he won the Film Academy of Japan's Best New Actor Award, starring in Takeshi Kitano's Kids Return....
) do not understand her, and are somewhat resentful of her qualifications. Her own prickly personality does not help matters; she interprets their casualness at crime scenes as a lack of professionalism. She is unable to stomach the gruesome scene at her first case, so Ishida mocks her.
Her first case is a young woman who has been found dead in her apartment, horribly slashed with a blade placed in her own hand. The fact that the apartment was locked from the inside convinces Ishida and Wakamiya that the case is a suicide; Kirishima is not so sure, as no note was left and a neighbour heard the victim crying out for help. Later, Kirishima's team is confronted by a similar case. A wife saw her husband slash himself to death while asleep in their bed.
Kirishima discovers a link between the two unrelated victims; both had last dialled the same number, a sequence not registered anywhere in the country. The recording of both conversations reveals a young woman saying "help me" over and over again. It is suspected that some form of hypnotic suggestion was used. Because of the strange nature of the cases, the chief of the division separates the investigators into two groups. One, led by Detective Ishida, is to carry out 'the standard procedure', while the other, led by Lieutenant Kirishima (and including Detective Wakamiya), is to investigate supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
causes for the murders. This frustrates the rationalistic Kirishima. She and Wakamiya are directed to Kagenuma, who is described as a person with the power to enter dreams.
Kagenuma is very unwilling to help. He does not like to use his power. In fact he had just tried to kill himself, but kids from the neighborhood saved him. The police leave him.
Kirishima suggests calling the mysterious number. In the end Wakiyama makes contact but the woman (O) seems to know something is wrong. Soon after Wakiyama is attacked while asleep. Kirishima again asks the Nightmare detective to intervene. Wakamiya has fallen asleep on the couch in the police station. Kagenuma finally enters Wakiyama's dream and confronts O. Wakiyama is killed and Kagenuma ends up hurt. He want to escape, but Kirishima forces his hand by calling O herself. So he must enter her dream, or let her die. He reluctantly decides to try to save her. Meanwhile, the other squad is getting close to O in the real world.
As Kirishima is close to sleep, she speaks with O, wanting to know how he's able to go into minds. O reveals that he originally wanted to die alongside the first victim, but instead somehow crawled into her mind, feeling a rush and hunger to kill her. Wanting to feel the rush again, he continued to kill other people.
In the dream, Kirishima is chased around a derelict school, ultimately being confronted by her inner self, who berates her for her weakness. Eventually, O chases her into an old furnace, trapping her before being attacked by Kagenuma. Kagenuma unlocks a repressed memory of O, revealing that, as a child, his teacher locked him in the same furnace Kirishima is in, alongside his sister who is killed when trying to escape. (The little girl is revealed to be the one who originally said the repeated "help me.")
Cast
- Ryuhei MatsudaRyuhei Matsudais a Japanese film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in Japanese films such as Taboo and Nana.-Early life:Matsuda was born on 9 May 1983 in Tokyo to Yusaku Matsuda, a Japanese actor, and Miyuki Matsuda , a Japanese actress. He has two siblings, one of whom is Japanese actor Shota...
- Yui Miura
- Hanae Kan
- Hatsune MatsushimaHatsune Matsushimais a Japanese gravure idol, actress and model affiliated with Harmony Promotion . She was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her real name is Noriko Matsushima, and goes by the nickname Hachu. She has starred in a number of TV dramas, films, and internet productions...
- Masanobu AndoMasanobu Andois a Japanese actor and director.For his second film, in 1996, he won the Film Academy of Japan's Best New Actor Award, starring in Takeshi Kitano's Kids Return....
- Shungicu UchidaShungicu Uchida, known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist, novelist, essayist, actress, and singer.- Biography :She was born August 7, 1959 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Her father left the family when she and her younger sister were in primary school. Her mother was a dance teacher and bar...
- Toshiyuki Kitami
- Ken Mitsuishi
- Miwako IchikawaMiwako Ichikawais a Japanese actress, sister of actress Mikako Ichikawa . She began in 1991 as a model, and released a single in 1998 and an album the following year. She debuted in acting in 2000 and immediately starred in the movies Another Heaven in 2000 and Konsento in 2001...