06-04-2025, 09:50 PM
a.k.a. The Ghost of Yotsuya. This is a samurai horror film based on a kabuki play from 1825. A ronin aspires to marry a samurai's daughter that is above his station and ends up killing the samurai and his friend. The samurai's aide is conniving and creates a plan. It involves more murder - lots of literal backstabbing.
THE REST IS SPOILERS The ronin swears to avenge the samurai's death for the daughter - the end up marrying, having a kid, and living in poverty. Cajoled by the aide, the ronin kills his wife with a poison that makes her ugly first. Her face becomes a bloated bloody blister. The ronin. also sets up a masseur, who he cuts down violently, lopped off arm violently. The ronin and the aid nail the bodies to shutter doors and sink them in the swamp. But their ghosts come back. It's horrifying for the time - the ghosts are super creepy and gross - shot with disturbingly odd angles. And there's a lot of snakes. The ronin and aide are terrorized by visions of the ghosts and snakes and make even more bad decisions until karma plays out.
I liked the style of this film, the way that the plot moved forward, and the way Buddhism was portrayed as they try to exorcise the ghost. The sword fights are frenetic, not graceful, downright awkward, which is probably how real sword fights looked. There's a nice running shot through a bamboo grove that made me wonder how they did that back then. The colors are muted, which starts to work very well for the ghostly parts. A true classic of chanbara horror.
D00M recommended.
THE REST IS SPOILERS The ronin swears to avenge the samurai's death for the daughter - the end up marrying, having a kid, and living in poverty. Cajoled by the aide, the ronin kills his wife with a poison that makes her ugly first. Her face becomes a bloated bloody blister. The ronin. also sets up a masseur, who he cuts down violently, lopped off arm violently. The ronin and the aid nail the bodies to shutter doors and sink them in the swamp. But their ghosts come back. It's horrifying for the time - the ghosts are super creepy and gross - shot with disturbingly odd angles. And there's a lot of snakes. The ronin and aide are terrorized by visions of the ghosts and snakes and make even more bad decisions until karma plays out.
I liked the style of this film, the way that the plot moved forward, and the way Buddhism was portrayed as they try to exorcise the ghost. The sword fights are frenetic, not graceful, downright awkward, which is probably how real sword fights looked. There's a nice running shot through a bamboo grove that made me wonder how they did that back then. The colors are muted, which starts to work very well for the ghostly parts. A true classic of chanbara horror.
D00M recommended.
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