CULTJAPAN!

Infection is a 2004 Japanese horror film, and is volume one of six in the J-Horror Theater series. The film was directed by Masayuki Ochiai as a theatrical version based on an episode of the Japanese horror TV series Yonimo Kimyō na Monogatari (Tales of the Unusual). The film takes place in an under-staffed hospital that is quickly losing money. As night begins to fall, an ambulance comes to the hospital bringing a patient with a strange black rash. Dr. Akiba refuses to admit the patient, due to the hospital being low on resources and staff.

While arguing with the paramedic, Akiba is alerted to a serious crisis in Room 3 of the hospital. A patient, though unconscious, has somehow fallen to the floor and his vital signs are dropping quickly. They think they have saved him when they realize that the nurse has apparently misused Potassium chloride instead of Calcium chloride and injected the wrong drug into his intravenous drip (potassium is pronounced as “kariumu” in Japanese which is the Latin for potassium, kalium and calcium is pronounced as “karushiumu” so they may be similar for Japanese viewers; while Calcium chlorate[3] is used at the subtitle in American DVDs rather than Potassium chloride to make more sense for non-Japanese viewers). The present staff members — Doctors Akiba, Uozumi and four nurses — after a long and harsh argument, decide to cover up the true cause of his death and say that he died naturally. They move the body to an unused room and start heating it to speed up decay to hide the damaged blood chemistry.

Soon afterwards, Akiba discovers that the patient he rejected earlier has been left in the hallway. Another doctor, Akai, makes his presence known and suggests that they study the symptoms of this new patient as his symptoms (now liquefying into a green goo) represent uncharted medical territory — a chance to make a name for themselves. Not knowing how much Akai knows about the scandalous events in Room 3, the other doctors reluctantly agree to study the new patient — for now anyway. Before long though, the staff learns that the patient has vanished from the examination room. Not enough liquid matter remained to suggest the patient had fully liquefied, so the staff try to locate him.

It becomes obvious that they are all at risk of infection when a nurse bleeds the same green liquid as the missing patient. She had been sterilizing some supplies for reuse while holding the trays under boiling water. It is reported that her internal organs are liquefying and they put her on a bed and cover her with plastic.

A young nurse, who had earlier been practicing giving needles to the burn patient, is found practicing on herself. She mentions that she was a sickly child and looked up to the nurses that helped her, and that’s why she wanted to become a nurse. She plunges two needles into herself and green goo explodes out of her.

Akiba, panicking, turns to find another nurse covered in green goo, smiling and hanging upside down from the ceiling.

In the morning, Akiba faces Akai, stating that Akai was the one who created and spread the virus in order to use the other staff members as guinea pigs. Akai denies it, and instead states that the infection is spread mentally, infecting the subconscious mind. Akai urges Akiba to remember the events that happened in Room 3.

At this point, Nakazono comes in and finds Akiba holding a conversation with no one. She challenges him, and Akiba states he is talking to Akai, but then he realizes he was looking in a mirror, and no one was really there. He looks around and sees the four nurses covered in blood, not in the green goo that was on them before. He realizes that his last few hours had not been a reality.

Nakazono calls the police and, while returning the burn patient to his original room, Akiba recalls the events in Room number 3 and realizes that “Akai” was actually the burn patient. He then sees the same series of events with himself as the burn patient, while Akai takes over Akiba’s role and gives the orders for the wrong drug. He comes to his senses and cuts himself with a scalpel in order to see the color of his blood. He sees red blood come out of the cut, but in the mirror he sees the blood as oozing green goo.

As more staff arrive in the morning, the hospital is cleared of all patients due to the night’s events, and the police starts the search for Akiba, who has vanished. When Nakazono is leaving the hospital, she sees all the red lights change to green and vice versa; panicking, she cuts her hand, and sees green goo ooze out of her hand.

The movie ends with a shot of a locker in the room where the burn victim was heated. Someone inside of the locker is calling for help, and green goo starts pouring out of it. The top of the locker starts opening and a hand full of goo reaches out. By the watch on the hand it can be determined that Akiba is hidden inside the locker.

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Infection (film)“.