Death Water

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Movie: Death Water
Romaji: Mizuchi
Japanese: 水霊ミズチ
Director: Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Writer: Hirofumi Tanaka, Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Producer:
Cinematography:
Release Date: May 27, 2006
Runtime: 101 min
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Intro

Water covers 70 percent of the earth surface. It also comprises as much percent of human bodies. Water is our lifeline. What if it turned into a liquid that kills? In a Japanese myth, there is cursed water called "death water." Can you imagine the consequences of the water entering into circulation for our everyday use? After consuming this water, one'd be haunted by an unquenchable thirst and grotesque delusions... until killing self by gouging out eyes. Is there any way to dispel the curse and halt the spread of the infection?

Plot

Death Water

The Kanto region is experiencing mid-scale earthquakes one after another.Newspaper correspondent Kyoko Togakure (Haruka Igawa) visits a nursing home in the outskirts of Tokyo. She finds the dead body of a resident. It was an apparent suicide. He's holding a piece of paper with the mystifying word "Death Water" written on it. Nearby was a blood-stained scissors, and his eyes are squashed. She has no idea that this death is just the beginning of a horrendous nightmare. Kyoko and Yuichi (Atsuro Watabe) divorced soon after the birth of their first child Yohei. Kyoko is now taking care of the baby child single-handedly. Kyoko hears university professor Morikawa (Yurei Yanagi) killed himself. She first met the professor a half year ago while covering a case involving a religious group. The professor said at the time he was doing research on the cursed water known as "death water." The professor disappeared and is rumored to be living on the street. Kyoko learns he committed suicide after boring out his own eyes. Scribbled on all pages of his notebook is the same message "Never drink death water." His death coincides with unexplainable suicides by high school students in the area. Hiromi Yazawa (Mio Suzuki) is the first student to kill herself after puncturing her eye with a pen. She's been complaining of an abnormal thirst and a nagging dullness. Misato Noda (Mami Yamasaki) comes down with similar symptoms. She develops grisly delusions and commits suicide. She too disables her eyes with a broken mirror piece.

Kyoko's ex-husband, Yuichi, is a water quality researcher for the Tokyo prefectural government. Kyoko suspects the repeated suicides have something to do with water, and asks Yuichi if there is any chance of tap water driving people insane, or even killing them. Yuichi laughs off the idea, insisting water in circulation is being processed appropriately and is safe for human consumption. Yumi Nagisa (Nanase Hoshii) is a close friend of Hiromi and Misato. Yumi, like Kyoko, thinks her friends' deaths have links with water. Yumi comes to see Kyoko. Yumi suddenly loses her composure after being told of professor Morikawa's suicide, and dashes away. Feeling a tinge of uneasiness, Kyoko goes to Yumi's home. Kyoko opens the door of Yumi's room, and finds Yumi just as she's trying to hang herself. Yumi is saved at the last minute but loses her sight. She pricked numerous needles on her own eyes during the suicide attempt. "You should've let me die," Yumi tells Kyoko, just before wrenching her own neck around to end her life. Kyoko finds out all the suicides took place in the same areas, and these areas have one thing in common. These areas are rich in underground water famed to taste good. So tap water, taken from wells, are being put into circulation after the minimum disinfection.

With the help of the professor's assistant Aya Meguro (Shin Yazawa), Kyoko sees a loop emerging on a map after connecting recent earthquakes' epicenters. On the center of that loop sits Yomohira Town, which hosts a huge dam that reserves water for Tokyo residents. That's when the deep mist shrouding the words left by the deceased professor about the cursed water begins to clear up. The earthquakes made water cloudy in the area that houses the dam. A mudslide caused by one of the earthquakes also led to the discovery of an archeological ruin in the area. Kyoko comes to the conviction that a chain of unusual events were caused by the cursed water. Yuichi notices minacious symptoms developing in him, a constant thirst and baleful hallucinations. He's earlier than Kyoko to recognize the impact of the cursed water, even though he's never admitted it in front of her. With the grim realization that there's no hope for his survival, Yuichi pleads doctor Ohmura (Masaki Irie) to perform dissection on him... while he's still alive. Kyoko finds a videotape that carries Yuichi's dying message. She learns his anatomy is being carried out in Yomohira and follows the two. The cursed water extends its reach almost to an uncontrollable level. Hopes for any means to stop its spread are fading fast. But Kyoko has no idea at this point the most shocking fact is just about to unfold...