Chigireta ai no satsujin

Unlike the Evil Dead Trap 1 and 2, this movie doesn't feature much blood and gore, and is more of a mystery/thriller than a horror movie.

Rookie detective (was she a rookie? Anyway she looked and acted like a rookie, fresh and enthusiastic) Nami investigates mysterious serial murder and chases the murderer across Japan.

To me, a major innovation of the film is the character of the main suspect, a high school teacher, who is deeply into Japanese tradition, in two ways. One, he is a Kendo instructor at the school. Kendo is the Japanese version of fencing, based of course on samurai art of fighting. The kendo scenes are cool and look very real, like the bout between the guy and Nami. Two, he is a practitioner of the ancient Japanese religion of Shinto. He is from Izumo, which is an important place in Japanese mythology: when the gods first descended from heaven to build the nation of Japan, they are supposed to have landed there.

Because of this intriguing character, and the freshness of the female protagonist, the movie holds our attention even though the plot isn't particularly strong.

By the way, the appearance of great Yamada Tatsuo (of "Crazy Thunder Road") as Nami's fellow detective and partner is also welcome.

All in all, a decent thriller movie. Also, it gives a nice view of Japan as it follows Nami chasing the murderer across the country.