Infection

North American Premiere

Japan | 98 MINUTES | Japanese |

INFECTION

Set during the night shift at a hospital, Infection harks back to the classic horror films of the '50s and '60s. The film uses simplistic cinematic techniques that quietly create truly terrifying jump-out-of-your-seat moments. After a patient dies due to malpractice, strange and terrifying events begin occurring. An emergency room patient on a gurney is found alone in the hallway. No one knows where the patient came from but the body is deteriorating into green slime. Two of the three doctors want to call Disease Control, but the senior doctor prefers to study the body in hopes of discovering a new disease. One by one, the nurses become infected, dripping green ooze, going into a trance, and mutilating themselves with sharp instruments. Soon, those still unaffected realize that a colleague they are speaking to may actually be dead. Director Masayuki Ochiai masterfully concocts a strange and horrifying scenario utilizing a subtle style to evoke fear and paranoia. Set in a single location with dark, long hallways and silent, moody rooms, the claustrophobic atmosphere raises the creep-factor throughout the film. Infection relies less on shock frights than on psychological terror that will stay with viewers long after the last frame.