Cure (1997)

Cure (キュア, Kyua) is a 1997 Japanese psychological horror film written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Starring Kōji Yakusho and Masato Hagiwara, it follows a detective investigating a series of murders whose perpetrators confess yet lack clear motives. The film received positive reviews from critics and has been described in later commentary as influential on the late-1990s wave of Japanese horror cinema.

Originally entitled Evangelist (伝道師, Dendoushi), the film's name was changed due to the Tokyo subway sarin attack perpetrated by Aum Shinrikyo that happened while the film was in production. To avoid suggesting a religious cult connection to the crimes in the story, it was retitled Cure at the suggestion of a Daiei Film producer.

The film premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival on 6 November 1997, and released in Japan by Shochiku-Fuji Company on 27 December. It received widespread positive reviews from critics, and is considered a progenitor of the explosion of Japanese horror media in the late 1990s and early 2000s, preceding other releases like Hideo Nakata's Ring and Takashi Shimizu's Ju-On.