Double Vision (2002) - Synopsis

In Taipei, the teeming modern capital of Taiwan, a corporate CEO freezes to death on a steaming hot day. Then, the notorious mistress of a politician burns to death in a room untouched by flames. The coroner (Yang Kwei-Mei) discovers two bizarre and grizzly links - a mysterious fungus imbedded in the brains of the bodies, and signs that both died in a hallucinatory state. But Li Feng-Bo (Dai Lei-Ren) -- the tough, no-holds-barred homicide detective on the case -- can't find any connection between the victims, any clue as to how the fungus got into their systems or, for that matter, any idea of how they suffered such similar but eerily different deaths.

He and his commanders reluctantly admit that they need help from the FBI. Serial killing is, after all, an American specialty, and the U. S. and Taiwan have a long-standing, if uneasy, alliance. That's when Kevin Richter (David Morse) comes to town. The Bureau's top expert at profiling serial killers, he's seen the face of evil more times than he cares to remember. His police liaison is Li's former partner, Huang Huo-Tu (Tony Leung Ka Fai), a cop "exiled" to the near-useless job of Foreign Affairs Officer after having blown the whistle on a corrupt colleague. Now that an American is involved, though, the case lands on his desk. Huang's got to shake himself out the depressed stupor that's overtaken him, and that has alienated him from his wife, Ching-Fang (Rene Liu), and their troubled daughter.

The FBI agent is purely a man of science. But, as he starts his investigation, he's surprised to find that, while Taipei is a 21st-century force in high technology, its people's daily lives are imbued with beliefs and customs passed down over four millennia. Here, ghosts and evil spirits are as real as skyscrapers. The next killing occurs -- still no connection between the victims, but this time, the body has been marked with an ancient Taoist symbol. Richter and Huang must consider the possibility that a supernatural force is at play. A cunning killer or an angry spirit? The evidence is mounting in both directions. Somehow, the two men have to find out which, before the next victim turns up…