Back in 1995, the UPN TV network debuted a show that perhaps 8 people in the United States watched--and I was one of them. Because no one watched it, it only lasted one season and soon disappeared. And, it turns out that the plot for the show "Nowhere Man" and the new Asian film "Genome Hazard" are pretty much the same! Very, very few people would recognize this and I checked with IMDb and it does not say that this film is based on "Nowhere Man"...but it is. Because of that, my reaction watching the film will very, very likely not be your reaction. I just had a strong sense of deja-vu and felt a tad bored since I'd seen so much of this before...and unless you actually saw "Nowhere Man" (heck, I saw every episode and bought the DVD set), I say that you should give the film a look.
When the film begins with Ishigami coming home from work and finding the apartment filled up with candles. Apparently, his wife has planned a hot evening for the two of them. However, soon he finds his beloved wife...dead. Now here is where it gets super-weird--he then gets a phone call from her and she is alive!! Then, there is a loud bang on the door-- police are trying to get in and he's worried about the body on the floor. When they come in, the body is gone!! And yet, the police insist on taking him in for questioning about some OTHER crime! What is going on here?! Soon, lots of police arrive and Ishigami runs...especially when it looks as if they aren't really cops! What is going on here?!
Through the course of this film, Ishigami is assisted by a lady reporter. Why she is helping him is uncertain. However, her helping him becomes more and more difficult as he finds his memories of his past are beginning to fade AND his life seems to have disappeared. People who SHOULD know him suddenly don't, the company he works for doesn't exist and when he returns home again, strangers are living there and claim to have lived there for six months!! What is going on here?!
I love paranoid films and TV shows like "Nowhere Man" and "The Prisoner" are exactly the sorts of things I adore. It this had been just a bit more unlike these other shows, however, I probably would have liked it more. Still, if you have a high tolerance for strangeness and paranoia, you can't do much better than "Genome Hazard"!
