Cure (1997) Limited Edition 4K UHD Review

4 star restoration of an unsettling neo noir /horror thriller.

Cure is a 1997 Japanese psychological horror/crime/thriller film. Written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Journey to the Shore, Creepy), he knows exactly how to get into your head as we watch our detective start to fray at the edges. It is considered a very influential entry into the J horror market of the era and it’s great to see it remastered.

It has enjoyed a 4K UHD restoration and is available to own on Limited Edition 4K UHD from 27th January 2025 as part of Eureka Entertainment‘s Masters of Cinema Series #181.

“But the perp is no ordinary character. You don’t have to go this far just to kill someone.”

It all starts out innocuously as a man walks home from work, he pauses in an underpass and we see a pipe moving. Then we are in a dark room with the man and a naked woman, then bang, we find out what happened to the pipe. Claret everywhere (a theme for this film) and when the police turn up they find a dead prostitute. Not a rare thing in itself, but what had been done to her after the pipe was. She had been cut from throat to chest in a big X.

It has fallen to Detective Kenichi Takabe (Kôji Yakusho, The Boy and the Beast, Tampopo) to find who is responsible for these heinous crimes, for this is the fourth in two months and they all have the same MO. The only problem is, they have all been committed by different people who clearly remember the crime, but can’t really say why they did it. With no media coverage or department leaks, the how remains a mystery. He has enlisted the help of his friend, Makoto Sakuma (Tsuyoshi Ujiki, The 8-Tomb Village) a psychiatrist, but they are still at a dead end.

He also has problems of his own, his wife Fumie (Anna Nakagawa – Tonko, A Sign Days) is mentally unstable and goes missing a lot, as well as constantly running the tumble dryer empty. Elsewhere, on Shirasato beach, a sketcher is approached by a young man (Masato Hagiwara – A Class to Remember) who clearly has severe amnesia. He calls him Mamiya as that is written in his jacket. and takes him home. How are all these events connected and can Takabe get to the bottom of it before it’s too late?

“Ah, the woman in the pink negligee. I don’t remember anything. You do.”

Cure is an excellent film, very atmospheric and with masterful tension building throughout. The acting is superb and Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a genius at drawing you into the situation. An artfully managed combination of police procedural and psychological horror, it doesn’t rely on gimmicks like jump scares and gouting blood (although there is plenty of gore if that’s what you want). It keeps you guessing at every turn and features an ending which is ambiguous enough for you to draw your own conclusions as to the nature of the crimes.

All in all, it’s very clever, creepy and has haunting imagery which stays with you after the credits roll. My only real complaint is that it is extremely dark in places, so much so that you can barely see what is going on, which can be a bit frustrating. Aside from the darkness, it looks great in 4K UHD with a crisp clear picture and is well worth adding to your collection.

“No-one can understand what motivates a criminal. Sometimes not even the criminal. No-one understands.”

 

Cure is available to own now on Limited Edition 4K UHD.

LIMITED EDITION 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

Limited edition of 2000 copies | Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Time Tomorrow | 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation from a 4K digital restoration, presented in Dolby Vision HDR | Uncompressed original Japanese stereo soundtrack | Two archival interviews with director Kiyoshi Kurosawa from 2003 and 2018 | Kim Newman on Cure – Interview with critic and author Kim Newman | Trailers | PLUS: A collector’s booklet featuring essays on Cure by Tom Mes