Tôkaidô Yotsuya kaidan

Funny how things change. In 1949 Shintoho was producing prestige films like Akira Kurosawa's STRAY DOG. Ten years later they were producing scores of everything from lurid melodramas to nationalist war movies to cheap gangster flicks to kaidan period horror movies like this. Two years later, in 1961, they declared bankruptcy and closed shop, the first semi-big studio in postwar Japan to do so. Nobuo Nakagawa, along with Teruo Ishii who graduated from the film noir of the Chitai series into full blown sleaze and torture 10 years later, was one of those prolific studio filmmakers responsible for many of their kaidan pictures. His biggest call to fame is JIGOKU from the following year but this is an ample showcase of both the good and the bad of Shintoho film-making.

Based on the classic story by Nanboku Tsuruya about a conniving lowly samurai who is haunted by the ghost of the wife he murdered, a lot of the drama is hackneyed, the characters simple caricatures of good and evil, innocent and scheming, the dialogues delivered on-the-nose. Iemon, the murderous samurai, is played and depicted as the worst villain possible. No grey areas here, nothing morally ambiguous, the movie is melodrama played to the back of the house. And yet, the first appearance of the ghost sent chills down my spine. Ringu and Ju On didn't invent the pale-faced ghost that creeps along the edge of the frame. It was there 50 years ago and in Kabuki theater before that.

With the eye of a stylist, Nakagawa orchestrates a vision of hell on earth, ghosts rising from the ground or peering down from the ceiling, and it's all very stagey and theatrical probably to appeal to an audience already familiar with the story from Kabuki theater and as much creepy/atmospheric as it is graphic, certainly more graphic than American horror would dare to be for the next 10 years (we have blood gushing from wounds, facial deformities, and even an amputated limb), and while the whole is never as good as the parts, those parts should appeal to the horror fan who likes his lighting bright red and torquoise and his ghosts slow-moving and disfigured.

This classic japanese tale has been filmed many times. It's the story of a samurai's betrayal of his wife and the ultimate vengeance her spirit seeks. The spectre of her ghost haunting the mind of her husband is almost like seeing a japanese "The Shining".

Tired of living in poverty with his wife, a samurai hatches a scheme to kill her off so he can marry a wealthier woman which he carries out successfully, but her ghost returns to torment him for the wrongful death and must find a way to stop it before he is condemned for eternity.

This is one of the most enjoyable and faithful variations of the story. Even though most of them are going to be pretty much similar to what happens, this one goes for a straight retelling of the story which comes off decently. With the first half retelling their life in poverty together, these reinforcements of the society gap between the two becomes heavily integrated with the original story which isn't that action-packed yet wholly sets up the ghostly vengeance later on. When the murder happens and the ghostly stuff starts to happen, it gets infinitely better through the use of actually having stuff happening as those allow this one to surprisingly become far more watchable. With the last part of the film taken up by this use of classic Gothic horror tropes as the visions of the two ghosts appearing around the huts or appearing out of the swamp, moaning and madness all start to come into play here in a series of long, extended scare scenes that take on a fine form of revenge against him and even does correct some flaws found here. It doesn't have too many flaws about it to hold it back. The first half of this film has absolutely nothing of any real value as a horror film at all, looking absolutely like a lame drama about the social standing rather than anything to do with a ghost story, and it makes for some utterly boring and not at all interesting times. The endless talks of him trying to get a better life, the prodding from his friend who knows too much and the interactions with the wife all compound together to make this a pretty bland part of the story. As well, the film also really looks it's age with the set-based look of the villages and the cramped, confined feel completely destroys the intent of being out in the countryside the way it should be. The positives counteract some of these issues but not all of them, leaving this as a rather interesting take on the story but overall not much else.

Rated Unrated/PG-13: Violence.

The classic tale of 'The Ghost of Yotsuya' is entertaining enough, and zips along in its 76 minute run time, but it didn't deliver any knockout blows. The story is fairly black and white, with a ronin and his sidekick committing murder to get the women they want, but the depth of the blackness in their hearts is surprising, and makes it effective. Personally, I didn't find their supernatural comeuppance all that frightening, and felt that director Nobuo Nakagawa relied too much on the shock value of visuals, instead of creating real tension. The visuals are decent, but they're also dated, and we rarely fail to see what's coming. The performances were also generally over-done, though I understand my perspective is from another culture. Anyway, fans of the genre will probably enjoy this one.

The Ghost of Yotsuya is yet another adaptation of the timeless Japanese ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan. The trouble is there are so immensely many movies telling exactly the same story with few deviations from the source material.

Sadly truth be told I don't like the story, other than being overplayed it's just not all that interesting and I think Japan has considerably better ghost stories than this.

For those unaware it tells the story of a samurai who poisons his wife to further his deviant plans. She however returns from the grave and haunts him, gradually chipping away at his psyche until he's a broken wreck of a man.

Despite my average rating I think this is the best adaptation made replacing Illusion of Blood (1965). It plays out the horror well, the lead does his role competently and it all flows better than most (Partially due to the suitable running time).

For anyone who hasn't seen Yotsuya Kaidan on screen before I'd recommend this one. If however you have then perhaps skip this and the others as they are near carbon copies of one another.

The Good:

Manages the horror element well

Competent lead

The Bad:

Same old story