Angel Dust

Setsuko (Taro Maki), a police psychologist with a telepathic bent, is called in to work on a bizarre serial killer case, in which the murderer lethally inject a woman on the Tokyo subways every Monday night at 6 p.m. As Setsuko gets drawn further into the case, the path leads to her former research partner and lover Rei, who's involved in deprogramming former cult members. An intriguing premise is undermined by maddeningly stylized dialogue (in fact, Angel Dust is somewhat similar to Japanese anime--i.e., animated films) and plot twists that really don't add up in the end. Still, the mind games are sufficiently complex and intriguing to whet the appetites of thriller fans, making this a strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)