Here is a J-Horror gem, Infection (a.k.a. Kansen)
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It was my Junior year in high school. I remember that the Japan Club Halloween party was going to take place at my friend's house. Shipper happened to be club president at the time.
I remember that party being a blast. There was a ton of delicious food, DDR marathons, the Fatal Frame challenge (which will come up again during this year's Countdown to Halloween, so I hope you're paying attention!), amazing drinks, and awesome people. In the years I was in Japan Club, I have never been to a better Halloween party.
I remember being one of the people being asked to help out with movie selecting, as multiple people in the group agreed that I had good taste. Our friend, Hiei, had her eyes set on this title.
"Have you seen this, Kris?" "I haven't. Is it any good?" "OH YEAH." "We'll give it a shot then."
Infection was another movie in which I was completely clueless on, so I gave it a fair chance. Man, was I freaked out that night.
This movie is one for being a psychological horror versus being a slasher. It gets under your skin. You have no idea what's going on. When you finally make sense of something, it just gets weirder and even more messed up.
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Infection is a Japanese horror film that is done in 98 minutes. The way the time is utilized is pretty effective.
It starts off with the main character, Dr. Akiba, making a huge mistake. A patient with a strange, black rash is refused right off the bat due to space limitations and the hospital being heavily understaffed for the day. The next thing you know, another patient is given a wrong drug and ends up dead in the next room. Things aren't looking up too much.
Dr. Akiba and other people that worked with him go into panic mode. They decide to hide the body in an unused room. Malpractice at its finest.
Dr. Akiba goes back into the hallway with one of his fellow collegues, Dr. Uozumi, reluctantly after finding out that the ambulance man was left in the middle of the hallway. Dr. Akai, another doctor on site, examines the body with the rash on it and it starts to liquefy into some sort of green ooze. This green ooze discovered to be the internal organs and other things in the body failing on the person. After getting a half-assed look at the infected body, Dr. Akiba returns to the room with the patient that died from the wrong medicine administered...
...the dead body is gone, and the head nurse is unconscious on the floor. A good majority of the staff involved are now in a higher state of panic, and go searching for the dead man walking.
Things head south pretty quick when the head nurse wakes up and goes berserk on the nurse that screwed up. The head nurse is oozing green from her eyes and ears. She's infected. The nearby doctors restrain her by putting her on a bed, and covering her body up in plastic to try and contain the infection.
...and that's where I stop. No one likes huge spoilers.
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Since this was obviously a horror movie that took place in a hospital (one of the only things I took from the front cover-I refused to look at the back cover to avoid spoilers at the time), I knew I would be freaked out by it once it started up. Some of the things shown are definitely not for the squeamish. One of the younger neighbor kids that showed up at random (just to say hi) walked in on one of the most intense scenes, and we found out that he refused to sleep with the lights out for nearly a month. So yeah... this is probably not a movie appropriate for kids.
With that out of the way, I do appreciate seeing a movie like this. The concept seems fresh, even to this day. The environment shown is done just right to give off the vibe of something not being right. The use of hints of color make this movie all that more creepier.
Have you heard of Infection? Would you give it a chance based on this little tidbit? Comment below!
