Monsterz

North American Premiere

Japanese horror master Hideo Nakata (Ring, Dark Water) returns with the remake of the 2010 South Korean film Haunters (directed by Kim Min-seok), a somber paranormal thriller that offers an original, exciting variation on the tale of two men with supernatural abilities, locked in a duel to the death. The nameless villain of the tale is an elfish-faced, brooding loner (Tatsuya Fujiwara) who uses his mind-control power to rob banks and fund his solitary, misanthropic lifestyle. He is thrown off guard when all-around nice-guy deliveryman Shuichi Tanaka (Takayuki Yamada) remains unaffected by his power, even after everyone standing in a public square has been placed under the control of his menacing sapphire-glow eyes. The malevolent mind-bender, feeling threatened by the stranger, sends a speeding truck at Shuichi and leaves him for dead. But he miraculously recovers, and even finds a job working for the offending driver, Mr. Kumoi (Tomorowo Taguchi), a kind-hearted guitar-shop owner, who offers him modest wages as compensation for the accident. Things seem to be going well, but when he finds out Shuichi is still alive, the nameless mind-bender comes back to kill Shuichi for good. From there, it is a merciless war between the two men. Presented with Japan Cuts: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema.