CURE — SHOCKTOBER!

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Writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's bold police procedural breaks every cliche in the book.

Traces of "Se7en" and "The Silence of the Lambs" flow through the film's dark psychological undertow.

The story's enigmatic killer is a young man who hypnotizes those he comes into contact with, to carry out horrific murders that necessarily involve slicing the victim's throat in a large X pattern that allows for maximum bleeding.

Our killer is able to commit heinous acts of murder through the delicate nature of lacking self identity of those he hypnotizes to do his evil bidding.

Kôji Yakusho's police detective Kenichi Takabe plods through the demanding days of his dead-end job, dedicated to taking care of his mentally ill wife Fumie (Anna Nakagawao).

Kenichi dreams of taking her on a vacation that may never happen.

Tokyo serves as a cold and foreboding backdrop to the mental anguish on display.

Suspenseful and taught with plot twists galore, "Cure" is an overlooked masterpiece from the same filmmaker responsible for "Tokyo Sonata," another terrific movie, albeit from a different genre altogether.

Not Rated. 111 mins.