Yôkai daisensô

Yôkai daisensô aka The Great Yokai War is a very funny and wild mix - an oddity mostly unknown to a Western audience I dare to say. Myself was well entertained - it's creepy, it good some fun and odd ideas and a nice cinematography. If a story about an old Babylonian vampire demon fighting against Japanese demons and samurais sounds interesting to you - this one may just be made for you.

A zucchini-headed vampire from Europe comes to Japan, kills and then possesses the body of a good and noble lord. The local demons aren't too pleased by the idea of a foreigner moving in on their territory and decide to battle the monster. Thus, a horde of boogeymen assemble - a water demon who looks like a flatheaded Woody Woodpecker, a woman with two faces; one lovely and one hideous, a demonic umbrella with a tongue that Gene Simmons would envy, a tiny little dude with a round head who bears a freaky resemblance to Aunt Jemima and a woman with a deadly python-like neck. As the vampire claims more victims and literally begins to reproduce himself, the villagers and the demons band together and go to war.

This is a hilariously funny and visually beautiful film. The special effects are outstanding, considering the year was 1968. Simple camera tricks turn the battle at films end (and the ensuing victory "parade' of the Japanese ghosts and demons) into something resembling a weird ballet as transparent ghouls and projected monsters jump, spin, fly and fight in slow motion. Despite some unexpected (and hysterical) light expletives and a few splashes of ketchup-y blood, this is a great film for kids as well as adults. It's really very funny, oddly sweet and a lot of fun. HIGHLY recommended!

As a fan of world mythology and Japanese monsters/legends, this film was right up my alley. The monsters look exactly like they do in the old woodblock prints and watercolor paintings that depict them, and kids will totally dig this (if they have the patience for subtitles).

Strangely, the monsters that I'm familiar with from the old stories seem to be pretty friendly in this film. For example, the water demon-a kappa as he's known in Japan-is rather nice, but his type of demon are known for preying on people and horses. They love to eat fresh livers, which they obtain by reaching up the victim's anus and ripping out the tasty organ. Now THAT would have been interesting to see done

The Great Yokai War (1968) is the second film in the Japanese Yokai trilogy that I recently watched on Shudder. The storyline follows a Babylonian demon vampire that arrives on sacred lands of various ghouls and ghosts. As he targets humans for food and looks the rule the lands the only hope to stop him may be the local ghouls and ghosts.

This movie is directed by Yoshiyuki Kuroda (Mirror Man) and stars Yoshihiko Aoyama (Zatoichi in Desperation), Takashi Kanda (Kamen Rider), Ikuko Môri (The Tale of Zatoichi) and Tokio Oki (Shogun Assassin).

This is such a fun movie. The costumes, masks and makeup to create the monsters are very well done, especially for the era. The one that looked like a duck was my absolute favorite. The arrival of the Babylonian demon vampire with the fire staff was very dramatic. His first fight with the duck was hilarious and well done. Every fight sequence with the monsters is entertaining. I always laugh at the way they do the long necks in these pictures. The ending battle is a perfect monster fight conclusion.

Overall, this is a must see for monster movie fans from this era. I even liked this better than the first picture. I would score this an 8/10 and strongly recommend it.

In this sequel of sorts to 1968's 'Yokai: 100 Monsters' ('Yôkai hyaku monogatari'), scavengers digging in Babylonia disturb that which should not be disturbed and release Daimon (Chikara Hashimoto), a murderous, shape-changing, blood-sucking demon. The fiend flies to feudal Japan, where it kills, then takes the form of, local lord Hyogo Isobe (Takashi Kanda), and begins to spread terror. Affronted, the local yôkai ('spirits', referred to 'apparitions' in the English subtitles) challenge the malignant creature and a phantasmagorical war begins. Despite a few gory moments, the film is a children's fantasy with monsters that are more funny than scary. Many of the yôkai are drawn from Japanese folklore (including among others: a Kappa (water sprite), a Futakuchi-onna (two-faced woman), a Rokurokubi (a woman with a long, snake like neck) and a Kasa-obake (an animate umbrella creature (in this case, with a tongue like Gene Simmons!)). The monster costumes (and the Kasa-obake puppet) are a bit silly looking but surprisingly endearing and the story of yôkai's battle with the iniquitous Daimon is fun and engaging. The human characters, including Isobe's pretty daughter Lady Chie (Akane Kawasaki) and samurai Shinpachiro (Yoshihiko Aoyama), are secondary to the 'apparitions' but are well played (considering the genre and the material). The final scene, where the army of 'apparitions' dance off into the clouds is oddly affecting. For a children's film, there was some strong language (e.g. 'pissed') in the English-subtitled version I watched. As well, there were a number of translation errors ('kit's' for 'kids' occurred a number of times). After years of movies about elves, trolls, gnomes etc., I found watching a fantasy that embodied mythological beings from a non-Western-European culture both entertaining and fascinating and am looking forward to watching the third film in the trilogy: 'Yokai Monsters: Along With Ghosts' (1969). As of this writing, all three films are available on You-tube.