Hideo Nakata's DEATH NOTE Spin Off L: CHANGE THE WORLD Coming To DVD!

Fans of the Death Note franchise will be glad to hear that Hideo Nakata's spin off movie L: Change The World will be hitting DVD in Hong Kong June 25th. And, yes, the film includes English subtitles. Here's how the fine folk at the New York Asian Film Festival describe it:

Somewhere in Thailand an engineered virus causes the populace of a small village to erupt in killer acne that melts their skin. It’s the latest toy on the weapons black market, something that terrorists can give each other for Christmas, but there’s only one problem: the virus has mutated and the antidote no longer works. The village is wiped out with a firebomb, but one little kid escapes. He’s a carrier and he makes a bee-line for Tokyo, running from a gang of eco-terrorists who want to save the environment by wiping out the world’s biggest polluter – mankind – using the virus still lurking in this kid’s veins. Once in Tokyo, L takes the kid under his wing and vows to use the last days he’ll spend alive protecting him from the people who want his blood. What follows is a breathless cat and mouse game between L, the terrorists and the police, all of whom want the kids for their own reasons.

Deliciously ridiculous and ridiculously delicious, Nakata’s film delivers straight-up thriller energy, given a wild spin by their association with the gothy, creepy DEATH NOTE series. L remains one of cinema’s greatest creations: a hunch-backed gargoyle who is constantly scarfing down candy and is always one step ahead of his enemies. A box office hit in Japan where it made over $30 million and cemented Kenichi Matsuyama, who plays L, as a matinee idol, it’s a big budget treat for tired, sun-fried summer brains.