Alessandro M
Pure unintentional comedy
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
07/16/24
Full Review
lovro h
This was the #1 on one of the "Most disturbing movies you've (probably) never heard of" lists so I had to check it out. It was worth it. The movie follows a hospital staff after a seemingly ordinary day of work. First we see a couple of normal examinations and basically just the daily routine of each one of them, but then the hospital closes as the hospital is running out of supplies to heal their patients with. Soon after closing an ambulance vehicle arrives with a patient that apparentely has an infection and he needs immediate treatment. The main doctor doesn't want to take him for the reason already said above, so he leaves. After a few minutes, one of the patients in the hospital starts dying and he needs a surgery. The nurse messes up and the patient dies. All of the staff is scared and tries to find ways to dispose of the body so that nobody else finds out. Unfortunately, the patient with the infection is still in the hospital, the ambulance left him inside. And his disease is like nothing they've ever seen before. His body is liquifying and one of the doctors wants to have all sorts of tests on him, but his disease is highly contagious and before you know it, one by one each of the staff gets infected. That's the story. It's very interesting and intriguing. I also love how the movie is shot. It's very eerie and the overall tone of the movie is very disturbing and uneasy. Though there isn't much violence/gore in the movie, it still managed to disgust me. One of the doctors is very creepy. He constantly has this expresionless expression and the way he talks is just scary. The atmosphere of the movie is also horrifying. I don't think there's a single scene when this movie isn't disturbing! Anyways, it's one of those movies with a big plot twist at the end that's supposed to mess with your mind. I thought I understood the movie until the ending came on. It was very confusing and I had to check online for an explanation. That's the only low point of the movie that I can think of. All in all, an amazing J-horror movie with excellent acting, terrifying atmosphere and a disturbing tone that will most certainly make you feel uneasy. I would highly recommend checking this movie out!
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
An ambulance drops a contagious patient off at a critically understaffed, isolated hospital. Is the hospital haunted? It's a scary movie from Japan, of course it's haunted! There are some good scenes, it's eerie, and there is a keen sense of dread. However, the effects are like Fulci incubated inside Nickelodeon Splat City. The direction leaves much to be desired.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
????? Watch it for the hospital politics, health workforce hierarchy and abuse, and medical ethics issues.
Good points: Accurate albeit stereotype health workforce hierarchy embodied in 6 doctors and 4 nurses. Each character's introduction though just two to three scenes have clearly presented their own hospital role and principles they uphold to. In addition, all the actors adequately performed for their characters. Hospital politics. The ER situation. Medical ethics. The general story flow with varying, uncertain horror elements of monster, 'gore', supernatural and psychological. though with varying effectivity. I never got goosebumps nor did I panic even just for a bit. Still, the interesting story and desire to solve the mystery kept me to the end
Meh points: The hospital atmosphere. We've got a 'general' hospital in a rural Japanese area manned with 10 health workers for the night shift. They have 2 intubated patients (a burn case and an NSS case), one with dementia, a kid, a post-op ortho patient and an onco patient ideally for hospice care.
Bad points: The wrap-up. Though your typical Japanese film that becomes complex on the third act, it really doesn't justify parts or even most of the film. It just placed more loose ends. Kudos for the atypical justification of all the horrors in the second act but it really doesn't add up. Some shots were too long, dragging the suspense. Most of the time, they did not fulfill the expected creepy shot they were planning. Plot points that were not adequately addressed or justified to be added given that we had major themes and elements going on already. Two nurses looked so similar I never knew they were different characters until the last ten minutes or so. For some, it might be a downer to see the interesting set-up of the first act downgrade to a mystery search where one by one the players become victims, and the big reveal which was a bit unexpected but unsatisfactory.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
One of my all time favorite horror movies. Genuinely well crafted, and doesn't show too much, instead allowing the viewer to imagine the gore. A lesson that Western horror could take to heart.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Infection is a terrific Japanese horror film that is dripping with atmosphere, style, suspense, terror, and mystery at every turn. I remember that I had heard about this film through a random person's list of underrated horror films of the 2000's and this one just so happened to be among the ones listed.
Though I was aware of its existence, I forgot about it constantly, until I was at a store and I found it. So, I picked it up and I'm glad I did, because I got one of the strangest and one of the most fascinating horror films I've watched in some time. Then again, it is an Asian horror film, and horror films from places like Japan and Korea have the tendency to be far superior than most other horror films that come out these days, and Japan has scored another victory with me with this particular horror film.
At a dilapidated, understaffed, poorly supplied hospital, things are not going well. The hospital is on the verge of losing all funding, no one's been paid in awhile, the staff is not only understaffed, but also overworked, and they are running out of space for patients.
It also doesn't help that the staff aren't exactly people whom anyone would want to entrust with their lives, such as a nurse who uses a comatose burn victim as a pin cushion so she can practice how to insert a needle into a vein, as well as a disgraced pediatrician who can only spend his time stitching practice material, and the other staff members constantly criticize each other for their actions and past deeds.
But, the staff are inexplicably bound together when they accidentally kill the burn victim by injecting him with the wrong substance. Seeing that they are on the verge of losing all funding and their jobs, the staff members decide not to file a report of the man's death until after they make his flesh rot in a heated room, so all traces of the substance can be removed from his system - thus, also not having their hospital shut down due to their negligence.
However, during this particular cover up, another patient is left at the hospital who has a black rash that is covering his body and slowly dissolving him...but he is still alive somehow.
Seizing the opportunity for possible grants in studying this unknown infection, the doctors decide hesitantly to study this subject who frightens them (He even smiles at them despite his horrific condition). But, the patient ends up escaping, even though he has no muscle tissue and other vital parts of his anatomy that would allow him to even move.
Slowly but surely, the same symptoms of the new patient begin to show up in the doctors and nurses involved in the cover up of the dead burn victim, driving them to madness while also killing them as they are forced to face their horrifying misdeeds. Now, the doctors trapped in this hellhole of a hospital must figure out what is going on and if it can be stopped.
While Infection features familiar plot twists and ideas, it presents these ideas in a way that feels fresh and scary again. The plot itself is very engaging, especially in how it develops its demented characters and their actions, but also exploring the troubled and more innocent characters as they try to struggle with their current predicament. It was fascinating to watch their mental health slowly deteriorate and how they are forced to deal with their inner demons.
The acting is also quite good across the board and the cast really made their troubled characters feel believable, either in menacing ways, or making the viewer feel sympathy for some of the more troubled ones.
Plus, the film is quite creepy, especially with how it so carefully unfolds before the horror truly begins, as the film intends to develop things on a more psychological level, rather than just having a bunch of jump scares thrown at the viewer. It takes its time, and it pays off tremendously well. Not is is creepy, but the atmosphere is dripping with dread and tension thanks to the terrifically creepy hospital setting. The music is also quite fitting and complements the tone and feel of the film quite well.
With terrific psychological storytelling, great acting, great music, lots of creepy moments, a dread-inducing atmosphere, and much more, Infection is a fantastic horror film that is very underrated. If you love Asian horror films, this is one worth seeing.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
