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DAIEI GOTHIC: JAPANESE GHOST STORIES (1959)
A collection of three of Japan's most famous ghost stories that have haunted people for centuries. Kenji Misumi (Lone Wolf and Cub) directs The Ghost of Yotsuya, in which a woman returns from the grave as a horribly disfigured phantom to torment her husband and his new bride. In The Snow Woman, directed by Tokuzo Tanaka (Zatoichi), a woodcutter must keep his oath to a vengeful female spirit or pay the ultimate price. The Bride from Hades by Satsuo Yamamoto (Shinobi) sees a handsome samurai so enchanted by a courtesan's beauty that he fails to realise that is a ghost. These three film versions from the Daiei studio form a pinnacle of atmospheric Japanese horror. Their elegant visuals and ominous shadows rival the best of Terence Fisher or Mario Bava, while their iconic female ghosts would greatly influence Asian genre cinema, from Hong Kong fantasy spectacles such as A Chinese Ghost Story to J-horror.
THE GHOST OF YOTSUYA (1959)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 83 Minutes 29 Seconds
Audio: Japanese PCM 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Directors: Kenji Misumi
Cast: Kazuo Hasegawa, Yasuko Nakada, Yoko Uraji
Up first is The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959), directed Kenji Misumi (Lone Wolf and Cub) it's the most horror-centric of the three Japanese ghost tales on this set. In it Tamiya Iemon (Kazuo Hasegawa) is married to the very pleasant Oiwa (Yasuko Nakada), but he yearns for more power and prosperity, and that opportunity comes when he rescues Oume (Yoko Uraji) from sword-wielding bandits on the road. It turns out she the daughter of a wealthy family, and she has fallen madly in love with her rescuer, and he to with her. He's unaware that his friends are conspiring to get him out of his current marriage and with the wealthy Oume. This conspiracy involves poisoning his wife and laying the blame on her loyal servant. The poisoning causes hideous boils, hair loss and deformation of her once pretty face, and she ends up dying, and Lemon does indeed marry Oume. However, Oiwa's spirit is far from at rest, and she comes back to haunt her husband, her sister, and the conspirators, who all find themselves frequented by her hideous visage. Despite being the most horrific of the trio of fright flicks the first two thirds of this one is heavy on the melodrama, it's setting up the entanglements before the ghost story proper kicks in, so expect a bit of a slow-burn going n, but boy howdy does it ever pick up in the final third! Oiwa's agonizing death is brutal, and her haunting afterward is hellbent. This one has flaming spirits floating around, and the way that she looks after death is pretty memorable stuff. I also loved the scenes at the local swamp with seaweed grabbing ahold of Iemon legs at one point, revealing the submerged body of his beloved wife, leading to a massacre at a local temple as he avenges his wife's death.
Special Features:
- New interview with filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (19:32)
- A visual essay on the history and adaptations of the classic Ghost of Yotsuya story by author Kyoko Hirano (22:08)
- Trailer (1:44)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
THE BRIDE FROM HADES (1968)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 88 Minutes 33 Seconds
Audio: Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Directors: Satsuo Yamamoto
Cast: Kazuo Hasegawa, Yasuko Nakata, Kojiro Hongo, Miyoko Akaza, Shiho Fujimura
The Bride from Hell (1968) aka Peony Lantern, comes from director Satsuo Yamamoto, based on a popular Kwaidan story of Japanese folklore. In it a former samurai turned teacher Hagiwara Shinzaburo (Kojiro Hongo) is set to be married to the wealthy Kiku (Atsumi Uda), but he chooses not to do, much to the chagrin of his parents. It's during the
Obon Festival, when spirits can mingle with the living, he meets Otsuyu (Miyoko Akaza) and her loyal escort Oyone (Michiko Otsuka).He and Otsuyu quickly fall for one another, but things take an unexpected turn when he discovers that she and her escort are ghosts, and are only among the living for the duration of the festival. Not really scary but quite enthralling just the same, a ghostly tale of love with plenty of humor peppered throughout. I loved the ghostly make-up effects and camera trickery to achieve the ghostly apparitions. The performances are strong, with Hagiwara becoming conflicted about his ghostly romance, and the locals trying to ward off the ghosts with prayer scrolls plastered on all the doorways, leading the ghosts to recruit a greedy couple to remove the scroll from her human lovers door, while promising gold that is buried in the cemetery to do their bidding, only for their greed to cause them to become victims of bandits who are none too pleased that they've made off with their gold. Not scary but quite entertaining and visually impressive throughout, I love the ghostly shenanigans, especially a scene of their skeletons popping out of a pond at the cemetery.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary by author Jasper Sharp
- New interview with filmmaker Hiroshi Takahashi (17:38)
- Trailer (2:24)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
THE SNOW WOMAN (1968)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 79 Minutes 32 Seconds
Audio: Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Directors: Tokuzo Tanaka
Cast: Shiho Fujimura, Akira Ishihama, Machiko Hasegawa
Easily my favorite tale on this set is The Snow Woman (1968), a literally chilling tale directed by Tokuzo Tanaka (Zatoichi). In it a pair of wood sculptors are trekking through mountain snow-covered terrain looking for a special tree with the a precise quality to it, they find it and take shelter in a cabin for the night. That night The Snow Woman, a local legend of folklore, arrives and kills the master woodcutter by freezing him to death. It is said that anyone who lays eyes upon this vengeful pale-skinned, golden-eyed spirit dies, but the spirit finds him attractive and spares Yosakun (Akira Ishihama) life, on one condition - he must never speak of what he has seen this night, if he does, she promises to kill him. Not long after he meets a young woman named Yuki (Shiho Fujimura, Shinobi: Revenge) and they marry, but years Yosakun's failure to keep his promise tot he spirit with upend his happy life. If this sounds vaguely familiar the same story was used as the premise for the Tales from the Darkside: The Movie segment "Lovers Vow:, modernizing it and making The Snow Woman into a gargoyle. This is a much more satisfying and fleshed out version of the story, the snowbound setting and the way that it turs the spirit into a bit of a tragic figure is quite wonderful. The pale-skinned spirit looks terrific onscreen, as do the snow and ice effects used to convey her supernatural powers, especially during the the final few scene when she turns the ice on a lusty local lord and his bodyguards. Very atmospheric and engaging, this is a classic ghost tale, expertly crafted and gorgeously shot.
Special Features:
- New interview with filmmaker Masayuki Ochiai (15:50)
- A visual essay on writer Lafcadio Hearn (6:47)
- Trailer (2:16)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista
All three films arrive on their own dedicated Blu-ray disc framed in 2.35:1 widescreen, with The Bride from Hades and The Snow Woman receiving new 4K restorations, while The Ghost of Yotsuya is advertised as an HD transfer. All three look terrific, maintaining their natural filmic qualities with pleasing depth and clarity across the board. Colors look terrific and black levels are pleasing. Audio on all three come by way of uncompressed Japanese PCM 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The tracks are clean and well-balanced, atmospheric sound design and score come through nicely and dialogue is always intelligible and precise.
Onto the extras, Ghost of Yotsuya gets a 20-min Interview with filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa; a 22-min Visual Essay on the history and adaptations of the classic Ghost of Yotsuya story by author Kyoko Hirano; and a 2-min Trailer. The Brides of Hades gets an Audio Commentary by author Jasper Sharp; an 18-min Interview with filmmaker Hiroshi Takahashi; and a 2-min Trailer. The Snow Woman extras come by way of a 16-min Interview with filmmaker Masayuki Ochiai; 7-min Visual Essay on writer Lafcadio Hearn; and the 2-min Trailer.
The Limited Edition (of 4000) 3-film, 3-disc set arrives in a sturdy Rigid Slipbox with the oversized Removable Obi Strip on the spine, the three films each arrive in two clear full-height keepcases with Reversible Sleeves of Artwork featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista. Also tucked away inside the slipbox is a Limited edition 80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing by authors Tom Mes and Zack Davisson, newly translated archival reviews and ghost stories by Lafcadio Hearn, as well as cast and crew info and notes about the transfer. It's a very handsome set, it looks great on the shelf, and more importantly the films look gorgeous and the extras lend even greater depth of appreciation for these Japanese ghost tales.
