PONY CANYON

INTERNATIONAL LICENSING

DEAD WAVES

Original Title

死霊波
Shiry?ha

INTRODUCTION

With all the TV specials about spirit photographs and haunted buildings have you never worried that you might yourself be cursed just by watching them?

"Dead Waves" are vengeful spirits that have become one with TV radio waves. Negative energies such as resentment and hatred are then released from the television on these waves. The phenomenon escalates, steadily devouring millions of viewers, pulling them into the shadowy world of death...

As the popularity of Asian Horror sweeps the world, a team of young filmmakers and actors brings you a startling, next generation horror movie - "Dead Waves."

Young stars Toshihiro Wada and Shihori Kanjiya (Swing Girls) appearing together for the first time

Promising young actor Toshihiro Wada, who found fame in Fuji TV's drama, "Tokyo Wankei" stars as TV director Hiroshi Usui, who is trying to pursue his own artistic path, struggling against abnormally competitive viewing ratings. In the role of Runa Nagao, a girl who fights the presence of the spirits, but does her best to stop them, is the talented young actress Shihori Kanjiya. She made a big impression with "Swing Girls" and has continued to appear in hit films including, "SURVIVE STYLE 5+" and "NICE NO MORI." "Dead Waves" is their first appearance together. The outstanding cast is completed with Masaki Miura, Akihiro Nakatani and Asuka Kurosawa in supporting roles.

The director of "Dead Waves" is Yoichiro Hayama. After writing screenplays for "TALES OF UNUSUAL", "The Following Is Based On A True Story" and "THE UNBELIEVABLE!", he made his debut as a feature film director with "Monkey" in 2003, gaining a reputation as an up-and-coming new talent.

STORY

A meeting is being held in a TV network conference room about ratings for the program "Spirit Sightings." Ratings for "Akie Doma's Exorcism" corner, directed by Hiroshi Usui, have fallen and producer Akinori Hayami (Akihiro Nakatani) encourages him to do something about it.

Hiroshi and assistant director, Naoto Taniguchi (Shigenori Yamazaki), visit the Nagao residence. Eccentric Tsuyoshi Nagao (Masaki Miura) insists that his younger sister, Runa (Shihori Kanjiya), is possessed by evil spirits and needs to undergo an exorcism.

Several days later, Akie Doma (Asuka Kurosawa), dressed as a priestess, starts the exorcism. Tsuyoshi screams as his body begins to shake violently. Runa's eyes seem to be following something as she mysteriously apologizes, "I'm sorry. It's all my fault..."

Hiroshi receives an e-mail from psychiatrist Akihiro Kawamura (MeikyoYamada), asking if he's heard about "dead waves." Kawamura had previously spoken out saying that incidents covered on Hiroshi's program were examples of mental illness and had nothing to do with spirits. Intrigued, Hiroshi surfs the Internet and finds reports of "dead waves," vengeful spirits that have combined with the TV broadcast waves to draw the viewers into the world of death.

Hiroshi feels uneasy and examines the matter further and uncovers the astonishing truth behind the Nagao household. Runa's mother and one of her classmates have disappeared. Hiroshi himself has become suspicious over the disappearance of one of his team.

Kawamura has come into possession of a suicide calendar, which he gives to Hiroshi. The calendar records instances of suicide and it becomes apparent that there has been an increase in suicides since October. October is when Hiroshi's TV program, "Spirit Sightings," was first aired. Coincidentally Hiroshi's ex-girlfriend, Shoko, also committed suicide on the first day of broadcast...

It is nearly 8 pm. The opening titles of "Spirit Sightings" are about to roll.

When the medium of television releases the "dead waves," a spine-chilling horror stalks the viewers...