The word doppelganger means double walker; a doppelganger is an exact duplicate of you, and legend has it that if you see yours you will soon die. That’s the premise for Dopperugengâ (aka, “Doppelganger”), a Japanese film theatrically released two years ago. Now making its way to DVD format (January 25, 2005) for the U.S. masses to consume in its frenzy for Asian horror, some might find the rental or buy disappointing.

Tartan Video is putting out some excellent horror titles (see our review of Phone, also being released on the 25th), but Dopperugengâ is not one of them. The movie is a bit of an enigma — it wants to be horrifying, but it takes the subject matter both too seriously and too lightly resulting in, ironically enough, a schizophrenic film.

More boring and derivative than exciting or innovative, this film follows the exploits of scientific inventor Hayasaki Michio (Kôji Yakusho) who sees his exact double and goes on a wild journey with him. The journey includes love, murder, and ultimate freedom — but who is the last man left standing? Is it the real Hayasaki, or his doppelganger?

Who cares? In the end, I certainly didn’t care. I was just happy to see the closing credits after enduring bad rip-off after bad rip-off. First, Yakusho mugs like Bette Davis and  Bette Davis in 1964’s Dead Ringer. Then the screens split ala Brian De Palma’s Body Double (who stole that idea himself, in the first place). Then they riff on 1981’s My Dinner With Andre (“my dinner with myself”). After that, the precarious plot slips into Road Trip meets Short Circuit. Overwrought acting, questionable captioning and drowsy directing don’t help matters any.

Any hint of horror promised by the premise quickly dash hopes shortly into the film — if you decide to hang on after the first 15 minutes or so to see if things pick up, don’t say I didn’t warn you. On the other hand, if you’re in the mood for a slowly paced dark comedy with ham-fisted psychological and sociopolitical messages, then Dopperugengâ may not be a complete waste of your time.

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson for Horror.com