Nervous Part 1: Versus Side Story (2004) - Nice gimmick for fans of the fantasy slasher Versus - 5/10 (18/01/21)

Nervous Part 1: Versus Side Story is one of two short films related to Japanese fantasy slasher Versus. This first short film focuses on the two officers who are chasing two escapees in the original film. The quieter officer has a much more sinister side in this short film. He wants to conduct an interview with an eyewitness at the police station. However, the interview room is filled with bloody bodies who come back to life. The scared eyewitness soon understands that the police officer is responsible for those atrocities and that he is next on the list for a rather unusual reason.

This short film is only loosely associated to the original movie. It convinces with gloomy settings, strange dialogues and tense atmosphere. It's certainly entertaining from start to finish with its limited running time of about seven minutes.

On the negative side, the story itself is as thin as it gets. Furthermore, this short film's antagonist has a behaviour that was never evident in the original film which is slightly confusing. It's a good thing that the content of this short film was released separately and not interwoven into the original full length feature.

In the end, this short film is obviously only interesting for fans of the original full length feature Versus. It can be found among the extras of the ultimate version of the film on the recent Arrow Media Blu-ray release. This short film entertains decently and convinces with gloomy atmosphere but the story is rather shallow and unimportant.