Suicide DVD
Infection
Our company mainly produced
TV programs...
on gourmet dining and local events
for cable TV networks.
Mr. Suzuki, is there anything
wrong with the camera?
I did a sound check.
There was some background noise.
Sir, something strange
arrived in the mail.
What?
It looks like a video.
What is it?
The letter attached says if
you watch it you'll die.
They probably sent it
to the wrong place.
We do gourmet shows.
That's for companies working in
horror and supernatural.
Check the address.
It is addressed to us.
Look at the DVD.
The packaging is really weird.
These used to be kind of popular.
There were letters and stuff
that brought bad luck.
I'm not interested.
It doesn't have anything
to do with our company.
Can I have it?
You like horror?
Yes.
I was going to throw it away
anyhow, so go ahead.
Why don't you produce
a report on it?
I'll lend you a camera.
It's about time you learned how to
put together a proper report.
It will be good practice for you.
Got it.
What kind of a report
do you want?
Do it like a gourmet dining report!
Like a gourmet report...?
That was the last time I
ever saw her alive.
I never thought she'd
actually die.
She said that she wanted to see it,
so I told her to write a report.
I really didn't give the matter much thought.
I feel absolutely terrible about the whole thing.
The police report chalked it up to suicide.
She jumped off the balcony of her
apartment of her own free will.
She didn't leave a note,
so we were all interviewed by the police,
but there was no evidence
any crime was committed.
Another woman commits suicide
It happened suddenly.
Kayo's parents came to Tokyo to retrieve
her body for the funeral.
Her parents thanked us for keeping
her on at the company,
but this only served to prick
our consciences.
The police asked if there was
anything I could think of.
I immediately thought of the video,
but I was sure they would
dismiss me as a fool.
Besides, I was the one who let her
have it in the first place.
I wanted to protect myself. Our cameraman,
Suzuki, apparently felt the same way.
I never thought it would
turn out like this.
I thought the director should take
responsibility for the DVD.
To be honest, I was scared.
You want me to tape this, right?
Tape absolutely everything.
Keep the sound on too.
We don't have an assistant director anymore.
This will serve as a record.
Hello, we met the other day...
Yes Actually, we lent your daughter
the company's camera
With the rest of her belongings?
Yes I see
I understand
If that's the case,
I'll go pick it up
Yes, I'm sorry to have
bothered you yes, goodbye.
What did they say?
It's still in her apartment.
Her stuff has to be out by the
49th day after her death.
They'll contact the landlord
to let us in.
We went to pick up the DVD.
We were curious what was on it.
But at the bottom of our hearts,
we may also have figured...
we could hide something that proved
our complicity in her death.
She was a fairly tidy person.
It's easy to tell she would have made
a good wife for someone.
And she was only 23 years old.
It's too young.
What are we doing here?
Let's get out of here.
She's dead, there's nothing we can
learn that will change that.
If I had only been more careful
Then, you believe it?
It's because I don't believe it.
Finding the DVD will prove that it
had nothing to do with her death.
I can't just let this go.
If we don't get to the bottom of this,
her soul won't be able to rest.
It's the DVD.
Suicide Induction Tool
This is where she
We set up our equipment in the basement
of the office and started work.
The Last Footage Kayo Filmed
Kayo reporting I'm going to take a look
at a DVD sent to the company...
A letter was enclosed, stating that a man jumped
to his death after watching the video.
The letter was from the
man's elder sister.
With the cause unknown, the woman asked that we
determine what was behind the man's horrible death.
It's a difficult request to respond to.
Ordinarily, our company doesn't
handle such projects,
but in this case,
I was interested personally.
There are words streaming
on the screen. I'll read...
"This video will ensure suicide.
People who see it will die.
"However, the effect differs from
person to person
"If you survive seeing it once,
please view it a second time...
"from the beginning to fulfill
your wish to die.
"Please view at your own
discretion."
This seems to somehow be a
video to assist suicide.
An image appeared!
It looks like the roof of a building.
Well, what in the world could happen?
The image is fixed and there
is no change.
Absolutely nothing has happened.
It just sounds like noises from
a factory or something.
Maybe they're tearing down a building.
It's unpleasantly noisy.
What was on it?
Replay
You're right. I saw something.
Play it again in slow motion.
Slow Motion Replay
What was it?
For now, let's keep watching.
There is absolutely no change
in the image.
letter sent to company by
dead man's sister
There was no way to explain the footage shot
immediately prior to her suicide.
If you looked at it just right, you could see what
appeared to be the image of a person.
Neither Mr. Suzuki nor myself saw any reason
to examine Kayo's footage any further.
I was never the type of person
to believe in ghosts.
However, at the very least,
I had to acknowledge that watching that DVD...
was the last thing Kayo had done before
throwing herself off her balcony.
The brother of the woman who sent
the DVD in did the same thing.
It could just be coincidence,
but it was the same as Kayo.
We decided to pay the woman a visit.
Or rather, I should say, we felt we
had no choice but to visit her.
Hi, this is Takano from the
cable TV company
Hello I'm trying to get in touch with a
Miss Nakagawa, who sent a DVD in to our company
Yes, It's nice to meet you
I'm sorry to call you out of the blue,
but I would like to meet and have a talk with you.
Yes, I see. The address on the letter
you sent is OK, right?
Yes, well then, I'll be right over
Thank you for your cooperation.
Good bye.
I got in touch with her.
She says she can meet me now.
Did she say anything?
I thought she would be really serious,
but she wasn't like that at all.
Even just that is comforting.
Only half believing in the DVD's power,
I felt as if I had found partial salvation.
I had suspected the worst, but now it appeared
that I didn't have to think that way.
The world of evil spirits and revenge
from beyond the grave...
I felt my grip on reality growing.
I became calm and rational.
My sole motivation became debunking
the existence of a supernatural DVD.
Here.
Point the camera down -
I'll ask her if it's all right to shoot.
I'm the one from the cable TV company
who contacted you.
I'm sorry to have made you
come all the way out here.
Actually, we were doing a piece on the
DVD you sent us. Do you mind if we film?
OK.
If it's going to be any kind of a problem,
we can blur your face or mask your voice.
No, it's all right.
Please come in.
This is the apartment my
brother lived in.
You've left everything as it was...
I'm sorry for your loss.
When did your brother
He came to Tokyo to be a musician.
I received a strange phone call from
him about a month ago.
I decided to come to see
if he was all right.
A strange call?
He was very pessimistic and seemed
to have lost hope.
He did a number of auditions, but he
didn't get anywhere with them.
He was always frail and had to see
a doctor regularly in Tokyo.
I'm sorry to ask...
but what was wrong with him?
It's OK. He suffered from
mild depression.
Can I assume that he was suicidal
from the start?
I was worried, so I stayed
with him for a while.
I went with him to the doctor and made sure
he followed the doctor's advice.
You're not supposed to try to cheer up
someone with depression,
so pretty much all I could do was
make sure he ate.
But when that DVD came,
he seemed to change.
He changed when he saw the DVD?
No, before that.
He seemed happier.
I thought it was just the medicine
My brother watched the DVD.
I was in the kitchen cooking.
Then, suddenly there was a strange sound.
My brother screamed. I was surprised and
came to look, but he was gone.
The entryway is right next to the kitchen,
and so I realized what had happened.
I looked out the window...
That's the window he jumped
out of, isn't it?
Do you blame yourself?
I did at first, but time passed.
We had the funeral.
On a hunch, I watched the DVD...
but the warning at the beginning frightened me,
and I turned it off.
I've set up the said DVD.
There are words streaming on the screen.
I'll read...
"This video will ensure suicide.
People who see it will die.
"However, the effect differs from
person to person.
"If you survive seeing it once,
please view it a second time...
"from the beginning to fulfill
your wish to die.
"Please view at your own discretion."
Did you report this to the police?
Yes, but they didn't take
me seriously.
How did you know about our company?
There are a lot of cable TV companies.
I don't know Tokyo very well.
I looked into it and sent letters,
but I didn't hear back from anyone.
My brother happened to have cable TV,
and so I knew their address.
I only had one copy of the DVD, so I knew it was
a gamble, but I sent it in to you.
Miss Nakagawa, our company is a
small affiliate of a cable operator.
We get paid to produce programs.
On top of that, we only do gourmet dining shows.
I'm not sure if we can help.
I just want to know the truth.
That's all.
I was right by his side
and he still died.
If it was the DVD that killed him,
it might help me get over that.
I'm not trying to blame the DVD,
but if it really does...
assist people in killing themselves -
that's just plain evil.
Where did he get it?
I don't know, but when it arrived,
I was the one who accepted it.
I guess he ordered it from somewhere.
Off the Internet?
Was your brother online a lot?
Mmmm
Can I take a look at your PC?
OK.
I'm going to have a look at it.
Your brother was looking at suicide-related
websites, wasn't he?
'Suicide websites'?
Websites especially for people
who want to die.
You can post on bulletin boards or look for
another person to kill yourself with.
Some people can't stand to die alone.
Sometimes you can find drugs or
poisons for sale on these sites
It's created a media stir recently.
No good; the site your brother
accessed is shut down.
Do you still have the envelope
the disc came in?
Yes.
Here it is.
No return address.
The Internet Provider won't
tell us anything.
Excuse me!
She's calling you.
By any chance,
did someone watch that DVD?
A young female A.D.
Shut up!
She saw it? What happened?
She died, didn't she?
I - I what's going on here?
It's not your fault.
I casually told her to watch it.
No one thought it would turn
out like it did.
She watched the DVD and
killed herself.
That's why we want to expose
the truth about it.
If the DVD really is the cause,
it's murder.
Let me help. Please! I want to.
Yes Yes, I know that.
Without intending to,
we got an accomplice.
Having no other leads,
we decided to go meet the brother's doctor.
Maybe it was just a DVD,
but something was behind it.
At that time, we had no idea that we were
being led by some unseen force...
In his case, his depression
wasn't that severe.
Frankly, I'm surprised to hear
he committed suicide.
If he was taking his medicine as prescribed,
there shouldn't have been any problems.
You saw him two days before he jumped.
Were there any kinds of signs
that something might be wrong?
On the contrary, he seemed better.
In cases such as these,
suicide isn't inconceivable
but for him the problem wasn't chemical,
it was stress-related.
He had a dream. It wasn't working out,
but he was still young.
An external stimulus - say an image -
could that trigger someone to commit suicide?
That's not my area of specialty.
You probably know more about it than me.
Maybe something subliminal...
I've heard of people going into
a trance from images,
but it was an old study and
didn't amount to much.
The more we searched,
the less we knew.
His depression wasn't severe...
and his jumping out the window
seemed to lead back to the DVD.
Like it did for Kayo.
As far as we knew,
Kayo had no reason to kill herself.
Talking to her friends from school,
most said she wasn't the type.
Having eliminated all possible motives,
all evidence pointed to the DVD.
I never believed such a thing was possible,
but now I was starting to feel the danger.
The one last thing for us to do was
watch to the DVD for ourselves...
After due consideration, I agreed to watch
the video together with the sister.
We had our doubts,
so Suzuki was on hand just in case.
It was... his idea not mine, that if
we tried to jump, he would stop us.
Mr. Suzuki, is everything OK?
I locked all the doors.
OK on this side.
I'll start the DVD...
Go ahead.
Ok, then, let's begin.
The warning is on the screen...
"This video will ensure suicide.
People who see it will die.
"However, the effect differs from
person to person.
"If you survive seeing it once,
please view it a second time...
"from the beginning, to fulfill
your desire to die.
"Please view at your own discretion."
The video started.
It's the roof of a building.
The image is spinning...
the image is fixed.
It's a nondescript, ordinary image.
It's probably a wide-angle lens.
At the center of a building in the center
of the screen, there's a cut red object.
That's the subject of this particular shot.
There's no change.
You can hear the sound of construction work.
I observe no change.
I have no sense of being in a trance.
How about you?
Nothing.
There was...
a sudden change in the audio.
It's clearly static.
That said, the picture is still clear.
Ah, the screen went black
and the video is over.
It was a nondescript image.
I feel absolutely nothing.
I feel normal, too.
I don't want to jump to my death...
and I can't believe that the DVD
had such an effect on my brother.
I see... a lot of footage for my job...
and there was nothing remarkable
about this.
More than an hour had passed since they watched the video,
and nothing unusual had happened.
So, the director and I watched it again together.
I have the expertise to judge the
technical aspects of the video.
I didn't run a full-blown analysis,
but it does not appear to have been
manipulated in any way.
With regard to the sound,
it appears there was some problem with
the camera while they were filming.
The image wasn't distorted, so it seems likely that
the mike just wasn't connected properly.
I don't consider myself a particularly
spiritual person...
but when it comes to blood relatives,
you want there to be some kind of clue.
The fact is that my brother jumped to
his death after seeing this video.
For us, it had no effect...
but I feel... like there was some purpose
in filming it where they did.
This video will ensure suicide.
People who see it will die...
The video disclaimer advises viewers to watch the
video again if it doesn't induce suicide.
I saw it a second time with the cameraman,
but nothing unusual happened.
Still, Kayo and the brother saw the video once
and immediately jumped to their deaths.
Seeing the video whilst half-believing its warning
has only served to deepen the mystery.
With two people dead,
there was only one thing left for us to do:
find where they filmed the video.
This building in the background is in
West Shinjuku, isn't it?
West Shinjuku?
The building on the screen is
right here, so
that means they filmed somewhere
around here.
They used a wide-angle lens,
so picking the exact spot is difficult,
but generally speaking,
you're probably right.
Then it was in Yoyogi?
Right.
Yoyogi
What's this?
It's something unusual.
This could be a clue.
Maybe.
That's the building, isn't it?
Yes.
In terms of direction
they were filming from Yoyogi.
Let's go.
Try taking the next right.
No, I think we should go left.
No, that's wrong, go right.
No, maybe left is better.
Over the next several days, our search for
the film site proved fruitless
This way.
It resembles the angle of
that building.
Look, isn't that the one in the video?
You're right.
It sure looks like it.
Can I help you?
You don't have permission to film here.
I want you to turn it off now!
Turn off the camera!
After talking with the landlord, who also
owned the building, we had to stop filming.
However, he later agreed to let us shoot the
view from the rooftop of his building.
I can't imagine why you'd want
to film from up here.
No, this is a good place.
Have you been here long?
Since I was in junior high.
The building is in pretty good shape.
I do my best.
This is the spot. No doubt.
Excuse me, do you recognise
this photo?
I'm not here to be interviewed!
You said you wanted to photograph
the landscape.
You say one thing, but do another.
That's why people hate the media!
Wait a minute. Wait!
Hey you, when are you going to stop filming?
The show's over!
Get out! I'm not joking.
We asked around at the
neighborhood stores,
and discovered why the landlord
had flown into a rage.
We went back to see the landlord and explained the
real reason we were interested in seeing the building.
He reluctantly agreed to let us film.
You're sure you're not from
the media?
Yes, it's exactly as I said.
We won't cause any problems.
I had a terrible time before!
Reporters have been coming every day,
since the accident.
If you could, please tell me
more about the accident.
It was exactly one year ago.
I'd like to forget it.
Tabloids write their distorted articles and in a flash
everybody knows they're talking about here.
No good complaining though...
She jumped from this roof -
a young girl.
She jumped? It was suicide?
The police thought it might be
an accident or a suicide...
but they couldn't figure it out.
Could they ID the girl?
Yeah, they did.
She lived right here.
But it wasn't her apartment.
It was some kind of fly-by-night office.
The girl... she worked at the office?
It was an odd company.
People coming and going at all hours.
I think... it might have been
a call girl service.
The girls that came were really young.
It had kind of a religious feel to it...
Is the office still around?
Hell, no! I kicked them out
after the incident.
The tabloids were saying it was
a religious cult. It was a mess!
Once that happens,
no one wants to move in.
I'm having trouble repaying my loans.
Things have finally calmed down...
I'm talking to you in confidence.
Keep quiet about this!
I understand fully.
I have no intention of using
this building's name.
By the way, do you know where
the company moved to?
How should I know?
I had to pay to get rid of them.
They claimed I violated the terms of the lease.
I had to pay a hefty penalty!
Young Girl Jumps to Her Death
in Broad Daylight
One year ago, the incident at the building only merited a
small article in the corner of the newspaper.
When I inquired at the police department,
they just said that the investigation was still pending.
This I interpreted to mean they hadn't
made any progress at all.
According to an article in a
weekly news magazine,
the company was a religious organization that
attracted women with eating disorders.
I enquired at the magazine, but they responded that
they couldn't divulge any information about the incident...
since there was a lawsuit pending from
the company over the article.
We tried conducting our own follow-up investigation,
but there wasn't anything to go on.
The DVD only became more enigmatic.
From that odd object in the corner,
there's no doubt that we found
the right building.
This is the place where the girl
jumped to her death.
Kayo and Miss Nakagawa's brother saw the
image of this building on the DVD...
and immediately committed suicide.
Even if it's just a coincidence,
there has to be something about that building.
Revenge from the grave
by the dead girl?
We can say anything we want,
but no one is going to believe us.
It could have something to do
with the place itself.
It might have something to do with the surroundings being filmed,
rather than the rooftop of the building itself.
Like someone dying in a
construction accident?
Couldn't say...
but those things happen on
building sites all over the country.
We'll just have to check
it out on the net.
That company must be connected
in some way...
Maybe we could set up a trap.
We could put information up about the DVD
and see if anyone knows anything.
We might get some information.
We might even get in touch with
whoever produced it.
The distributor might jump around
from site to site selling it.
I'll handle that.
Fine. We'll continue looking
into the company.
They're in court now, so if we're lucky
we can sit in on the hearing.
It's also important to know the
company's whereabouts,
and it may help us hone in
on the girl's death.
The case focused on the magazine's
disclosure of the girl's name...
and defamatory remarks about the
company, possibly constituting libel.
We were able to sit in just once,
but the plaintiff wasn't the company itself,
but just a client company.
As such, we were unable to find out
much about the case.
We weren't even able to find out
the company's address.
The defendant was present in the courtroom,
so we were able to talk to him.
We again asked to interview
the reporter,
but the magazine again declined,
on the grounds that it was still in court.
On the other hand, Nakagawa had
several replies on the internet,
not all of them were serious,
but it opened up new possibilities for us.
Yeah?
Really?
I understand
Thank you.
The reporter at the magazine
agreed to meet with us.
Sorry to trouble you.
Everything I tell you, I want you to say
that you found out on your own.
I originally intended to dig deeper, but,
as you know,
we ended up getting sued.
As a result, I'm under fairly
tight restrictions.
Still, I was troubled by the girl's suicide,
so I decided I had to talk with you.
I was... investigating the company,
even before her death.
The manager previously operated
a religious organization.
At that time, there were a number
of disappearances...
and suicides under strange circumstances.
The organization said that had
moved into their temples.
Regarding the suicides,
they said the girls were acting on their own.
They made up excuses.
As you probably know, the law doesn't like to interfere
with religious organizations' activities.
I guess you could say they're protected.
When I looked into these incidents,
the organization said they had joined
the temple or committed suicide.
I found that large sums of money
were involved.
You mean insurance benefits
and personal assets?
Yes. About two years ago,
the religion attracted quite a bit
of interest from the media.
The wave of negative press led
to it being dissolved.
But the media has a short
attention span and lost interest.
The head of the religious organization became
active again about a year ago.
That's the company you're interested in,
'Office R'.
The company's name is 'Office R'?
No, you'll have to forgive me,
I can't say the real name.
Let's just call it Office R.
It's an NPO and has nothing
to do with religion.
An NPO?
You can think of it in that way.
You can think of them as a
counseling service.
They solicited girls with eating disorders
and counseled them.
Is counseling ineffective for
eating disorders?
I think so.
There were suspicions that they
were providing drugs,
which would clearly have been illegal.
This is just my suspicion,
but I think they were using the
girls for child pornography.
They didn't want normal girls,
they wanted ones thin as mummies,
to photograph naked.
Such images attract high prices among
connoisseurs of such things.
Unfortunately, I have no proof.
A bit more closely related to
your problem,
I did meet with the president
of the company once.
He seemed to have some
strange sort of power...
Strange?
You mean spiritual?
I got hold of this when the girl committed suicide,
just before the company moved.
I hope it's useful.
Miss Nakagawa's brother's
name is listed here.
Is this a list of people who bought
the suicide DVD?
I couldn't say.
If it is,
this is a huge number of people.
What is this?!
Can you introduce me
to the company president?
What you're asking is impossible.
But if this many people are watching the DVD,
the result could be mass suicides.
I'm sorry, but I can't go any further.
Please stop filming.
If all these people really bought
the DVD, this is big - unbelievable.
You want to check each one?
Give me a break.
It's too much.
It's more responsibility than
I can take.
Then we turn it over to the police?
It wouldn't do any good.
Yeah Miss Nakagawa,
we found something huge...
if it's true, it will be catastrophic.
I take that back,
it's probably already happened
What? You found out about
the DVD? Tell me!
I contacted the guy who sent the DVD.
We made a big mistake.
What is it?
One, you have to watch the DVD alone.
Two, think about how we are different
from Kayo and my brother.
Different? We saw the video from
beginning to end.
My brother and Kayo saw it
on their PC's -
do you know what that means?
The DVD somehow interfaces with
some internet program?
Yes, that's why nothing happened.
I'm going to try it now.
Hold on, I'm coming to meet you.
Wait till we get there.
That will ruin everything...
Kayo's death is my fault.
This is something I have to do.
Just wait, don't do anything rash!
Miss Nakagawa? Miss Nakagawa?
Oh God, you have to watch the DVD
on your computer, and alone.
I wonder if it's programmed to automatically
access the necessary interface?
It connects to the internet
in some way.
Maybe it connects with the spirits of the
people who have already killed themselves?
I don't know!
I don't know what to think anymore.
The camera...
Miss Nakagawa filmed it!
Her watching the video!
She watched it alone!
She disappeared and several days passed.
We did look for her.
She hadn't returned to her home town and
wasn't at her brother's apartment.
We looked in all the newspapers
the following day,
but there weren't any articles
about suicides.
We reported it to the police,
but they couldn't help us.
She doesn't answer her mobile phone.
She had vanished completely.
I confirmed that the DVD had
been played on my PC...
after our conversation on
my mobile phone.
At least she left us this tape.
But, we don't know whether to believe...
what we saw on the tape.
The Last Footage
Miss Nakagawa Filmed
I received an e-mail message from
the sender of the DVD.
His e-mail address was masked,
so I couldn't write to him,
but he said it wouldn't work unless
I watched it alone and on a PC.
There's no doubt in my mind that my own
careless actions led to another person's death.
Kayo had no intention of dying.
Even now, I can feel her innocence.
Now, there's only one thing I can do:
To watch the DVD on the PC alone,
as the e-mail instructed.
I can't even guess what will happen.
Honestly, I'm scared...
but if I can't uncover the truth,
what happened to Kayo will
remain a mystery.
I've put the DVD in to play.
The scene on the rooftop appeared.
It's the same as before.
Nothing is changing.
There's the sound of construction work.
Additional images are appearing.
What's that?
This video will ensure suicide.
People who see it will die...
Translation by Scannon
Timing by Lord Retsudo
Cast
Director: Daisuke Jomoto
Cameraman: Nobuhiro Nakamura
Eiko Nakagawa: Sakurako Makino
Kayo: Makiko Mizote
Reporter: Megumu Uemura
Young girl: Atsuko Ono
Doctor: Yuken Yoshida
Landlord: Kenichiro Okada
Staff
Producer: Eisuke Ishige
Co-producer: Tamotsu Kanamori
Director: Shojin Fukui
Camera: Yoshio Tazawa
Recording: Tomo Matsushita
Casting: Ryoichi Kondo
Production: Yoshiaki Kamoji
Masahiro Miyazaki
Effects/music: Kenji Arimoto
Color correction: Shinichiro Kato
Production company: Kirishima 1945
Planning: Transformer
In co-operation with:
Famestage / Eurospace Production Dept. / Koln / Video Focus