2004. Release Infection was released theatrically in Japan on October 2, 2004 where it was distributed by Toho. The film was released as a double feature with Premonition in Japan. In the film's opening week in Japan, it was the second highest film in the box office being only beaten by I, Robot. It grossed a total of $1,320,123 in its first week. The film grossed a total of $6,609,556 in Japan. In the United States, the film was released directly to DVD by Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment on May 17, 2005. Reception The Japan Times stated that Infection will "look familiar to J Horror fans" and resembled an episodes of The X-Files without Scully and Mulder. The review concluded that the director "stresses Grand Guignol atmospherics more, rational-sounding explanations less. His hospital breathes with a menace, madness and despair so pervasive that only a huge, obliterating explosion could bring escape -- in this life, at least." David Kalat (Video Watchdog) referred to the film as "a claustrophobic chamber piece" and "an overwhelming sensory experience that employs every cinematic trick in Ochiai's repertoire to establish a tone of intense dread." Sight & Sound gave the film a mixed review, opining that "after a fairly engrossing trawl through horror conventions, the film takes a reckless plunge into oneiric ambiguity that fails to provide satisfying closure" Sean Plummer writing in Rue Morgue stated that Infection "gets a bit messy towards the end" as "a major plot twist makes suspension of disbelief difficult" concluding that the film's "take on how a virus is transmitted is pretty original." See also List of horror films of 2004 List of Japanese films of 2004 References Footnotes Sources External links 2004 films 2004 horror films Films directed by Masayuki Ochiai Japanese horror films Films about viral outbreaks J-Horror Theater Fiction about murder Nikkatsu films Toho films 2000s Japanese films