Infection

(2005) ***

An overworked medical staff with good intentions accidentally gives the wrong medication to a burn victim who was pretty much screwed to begin with. Those involved agree to destroy the evidence to cover their mistake as the patient had no visitors so he was obviously a loser. This controversial decision may or may not be related to the mother of all infections that begins to spread through the hospital like wildfire. Those infected turn pale and excrete green ooze from their orifices. They also begin to hallucinate and this is where the movie veers off course a little because it becomes difficult for the viewer to distinguish reality from madness.

It's nice to see that Japanese horror is alive & well - and no longer dependant on ghosts and skinny girls with hair in their faces. Visually it was on par with most J-horror flicks and they exploited the dark, flickering, dilapidated hospital setting to great results. There was also an elderly nutter woman who did odd things and giggled maliciously in several scenes, recalling Twin Peaks at times. Unfortunately, the slimy infection didn't really jar me as much as expected. Whenever I see green slime, my first 2 reactions are Ghostbusters and You Can't Do That on Television, neither of which are particularly frightening. The other issue is the ambiguous plot twists that left me yearning for a concrete explanation that never materializes.