Akumu tantei (Nightmare Detective) (2006)

53% of users liked it
(1,654 ratings)

Visionary Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) returns to the helm with this bleak tale of a supernaturally gifted serial killer with the power to enter his victim's dreams, and the mysterious "Nightmare Detective" who provides the only hope of loosening the maniac's murderous… More Visionary Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) returns to the helm with this bleak tale of a supernaturally gifted serial killer with the power to enter his victim's dreams, and the mysterious "Nightmare Detective" who provides the only hope of loosening the maniac's murderous grip on dreamland. Detective Keiko Kirishima (Hitomi) was an academic criminologist whose interest in detective work soon found her gravitating into homicide fieldwork. Upon being assigned to investigate a recent rash of suicides in which the victims seem to have slashed themselves to death while sleeping, Keiko observes a strange connecting factor -- each victim's phone displays "0" as the last number dialed before their grisly demise. Encouraged by her superiors to view the case from a paranormal perspective, Keiko soon learns of a man named Kyoichi Kagenuma (Ryuhei Matsuda), who is said to be able to enter the dreams of others while analyzing the thoughts of his slumbering subjects. Despite his initial reluctance to get involved in the case, Kyoichi soon finds his resolve put to the ultimate test when the desperate Keiko dials "0" in a suicidal, last-ditch effort to capture the elusive killer. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Shinya Tsukamoto
Written By: Shinya Tsukamoto
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

In Theaters: Oct 14, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Feb 19, 2008

Critic Reviews

David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...cement[s] Tsukomoto's status as one of the most egregiously untalented and flat-out worthless filmmakers around...
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Possivelmente o trabalho mais "acessível" de Tsukamoto, é também um dos piores, surgindo como uma cópia sem inspiração de tantos outros exemplares da recente onda do terror japonês.
Scott Weinberg, FEARnet
An Asian combination platter of Dreamscape, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and just about every technology-obsessed J-horror flick you can think of.
Sean Axmaker, MSN.com
Shinya Tsukamoto... moves into the more traditional J-horror currents of madness without the dark humor or wicked twists of his earlier films.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

Another Film From Dimension Extreme, and like all the others I've watched from this company its EXTRME. This is a film from Japan and its the Japanese Freddy Krueger movie, fall a sleep and you commit suicide, and a female detective is after Zero the man who reaches people on a… More
Another Film From Dimension Extreme, and like all the others I've watched from this company its EXTRME. This is a film from Japan and its the Japanese Freddy Krueger movie, fall a sleep and you commit suicide, and a female detective is after Zero the man who reaches people on a cell phone causing them to die. All in all a pretty good film, a little long but in the end you will be glad you stuck it out and watched it. 4 Stars
Panta O

I love Japanese horror movie like Ring... and this wasn't in the same class! Nightmare Detective ( 悪夢探偵, Akumu Tantei) is a real slasher directed by Shinya Tsukamoto and starring Ryuhei Matsuda and Hitomi. Masanobu Ando and Ren… More
I love Japanese horror movie like Ring... and this wasn't in the same class! Nightmare Detective ( 悪夢探偵, Akumu Tantei) is a real slasher directed by Shinya Tsukamoto and starring Ryuhei Matsuda and Hitomi. Masanobu Ando and Ren Osugi play supporting roles, and Tsukamoto himself plays the unnamed villain. To me looked like a movie made for a TV and even the gorgeous Hitomi and her very interesting acting could not change that feeling of a low budget underdeveloped story...
Anthony V

Nice mixture of horror and surrealism. A very dreamlike feel.
Christopher B

It's really nice to be in the hands of a truly talented director. This is the first Tsukamoto film I've seen in the theater, and I was really excited, and holy eff, was I not disappointed. The film starts out as a sort of artier and meaner Dreamscape (an awesome film in… More
It's really nice to be in the hands of a truly talented director. This is the first Tsukamoto film I've seen in the theater, and I was really excited, and holy eff, was I not disappointed. The film starts out as a sort of artier and meaner Dreamscape (an awesome film in it's own right) with folks gettin' killed off in their dreams and a detective who can enter them is talked into solving the case. It's great until that point, but then it becomes a Tsukomoto film and starts kickin' ass and takin' names. The climax of this film is nothing short of astonishing, and seeing it on the big screen was a true joy. I can't say too much about it (not just because of spoilers, but I'm still figuring parts out) but it's some of Tsukomoto's best work. Also, in his favour, it's probably his best performance as an actor I've seen so far. His scenes in the final act are amazing and he emotes better without speaking than most folks who act for a living. A great film and a great film experience.

Cast

Ryuhei Matsuda
as Kyoichi Kagenuma
Reiko Hitomi
as Detective Keiko Kirishima
Masanobu Ando
as Detective Wakayama

Ren Ohsugi
as Detective Sekiya
Shinya Tsukamoto
as Zero
Yoshio Harada

Akumu tantei (Nightmare Detective) (2006)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

Panta O

Anthony V

Christopher B

Cast