User reviews

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.

Shigeru Amachi wants to marry Katsuko Wakasugi, the daughter of prominent samurai Shinjirô Asano. Asano refuses the request, belittling Amachi who promptly murders him. Shuntarô Emi witnesses the murder and promises to help him cover it up, if he in turn helps him marry Wakasugi's sister. The two tell Wakasugi that her father was murdered by a notorious criminal and they will help her get revenge. Instead, they murder her sister's fiancé and Emi runs off with her.

Months later, Amachi and Wakasugi are married and living in Edo. Amachi has fallen for Junko Ikeuchi, the daughter of a nobleman, and hatches a plan to rid himself of Wakasugi. He hires Jun Ôtomo to seduce her so that he can legally kill her, but the plan goes awry. Ôtomo ends up dead and Wakasugi is poisoned causing hideous facial deformities before she also dies. Amachi marries Ikeuchi, but the spirits of Wakasugi and Ôtomo haunt him leading him to ruin.

This is probaby the best known adaptation of the kabuki play "Yotsuya Kaidan" (there are many). It's a fairly routine film from a story and characters perspective, but the film's vibrant colours and gory, hallucinatory visuals are really something.

And who can fault Iwa's fury? Her husband Iemon murders her father to marry her, deceives her into parting from her sister, fathers her child, pays another man to seduce her, then administers a disfiguring poison so he can marry another woman. Yet Iemon is not wholly wicked - he suffers pangs of conscience, and most of his crimes are the result of his servant's goading. Whilst our sympathy goes to Iwa, our empathy extends to Iemon. The film is endowed with the dimensions of a classical tragedy, as the director undoubtedly intended. In fact, the picture's opening scenes are unabashedly stage-bound, before it shifts subtly into an engrossing cinematic experience. Although the story has been adapted to film many times in Japan, this is generally considered the definitive version.

Besides its dramatic power, this version of Ghost Story of Yotsuya is visually sumptuous and thrillingly scored, the scope compositions are masterly, and the female phantom's appearance is truly nightmarish.

This is easily the most accomplished, frightening and satisfying of Nakagawa's period ghost stories.

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.

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Good Dated Scares and Horrors

What frightened past generations may be the same that frightens new generations, but the way in which these fears are presented and expressed is very different. Perhaps the horror genre (whether in Western cinema or, more precisely in this case, in Japanese "yurei" and "kaidan" films) is the genre in which this difference between what frightened in the past and what may seem ineffective or even ridiculous today is most noticeable. We only have to look at some American horror films (including vampires, Draculas or zombies) from the 1940s and 1950s to see that. The honorable exceptions are those masterpieces of cinema that free themselves from genre qualifications and become timeless works of art (such as Murnau's Nosferatu and others).

When they aren't masterpieces, films are worthwhile for their context and historical readings, as testimonies to the era that produced them. In the case of Japanese films seen through the eyes of Westerners, the case becomes even more difficult to assess, because we don't have the same sensitivity. What frightened Westerners were not precisely the same things that frightened the spirits of the Japanese living. Even so, in this version of the famous tale of "Yotsuya Kaidan" (a tale that has several versions) there are interesting shots, beautiful scenery and framing. I think it's a movie that should be seen by anyone who likes the genre or who is interested in Japanese culture, but I don't think it's worth mentioning as a reference film to watch.

There is also a theatrical quality that pervades the film and the performances of the actors/actresses, which may seem exaggerated to Western eyes (not used to the characteristics of "kabuki" theater).

Of all the classic (pre-1980) versions I've seen of the Yatsu story, this is one that best manages to convey a sequence of crescendoing hauntings and the hallucinatory madness that takes hold of the ronin Iemon.

There are parts of the movie that reminded me of passages from the later Japanese horror film "Ringu".

(Advice for those looking for good "Kaidan" films (not exactly Western-style horror or "gore terror"): Don't miss Masaki Kobayashi's 1964 film "Kaidan" ("Kwaidan") - a masterpiece of world cinema.)

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Bons Sustos e Horrores Datados

Aquilo que assustava as gerações passadas, pode ser o mesmo que assusta as novas gerações, mas a forma como esses medos são apresentados e expressos é muito diferente. Talvez o género do horror (seja no cinema ocidental ou mais precisamente neste caso, nos filmes sobre "yurei" e "kaidan" japoneses) seja aquele género em que mais se nota essa diferença entre o que assustava no passado e aquilo que poderá parecer ineficaz ou até ridículo no presente. Basta vermos alguns filmes americanos considerados de horror (incluindo de vampiros, condes dráculas ou zombies) dos anos 1940's e 1950's, para constatarmos isso mesmo. As honrosas excepções vão para aquelas obras-primas do cinema que se libertam de qualificações de género e se elevam a obras de arte intemporais (como o Nosferatu de Murnau e outros).

Quando não são obras-primas, os filmes valem pelo seu contexto e leituras históricas, como testemunhos da época que os produziu. No caso de filmes japoneses vistos pelos olhos de ocidentais, o caso torna-se ainda mais difícil de avaliar, porque não possuimos a mesma sensibilidade. Aquilo que assutava os ocidentais não eram precisamente as mesmas coisas que assustavam os espíritos dos vivos japoneses. Ainda assim, nesta versão do famoso conto "Yotsuya Kaidan" (conto que conta com várias versões) há enquadramentos, cenários e fotografias interessantes e bonitas. Acredito que seja um filme a ver por quem gosta do género ou por quem se interessa pela cultura japonesa, mas não me parece que valha a pena ser referido como uma obra cinematográfica de referência a ser vista.

Há também um qualidade teatral que perpassa o filme e as actuações dos actores/actrizes, que podem parecer exageradas aos olhos ocidentais (não habituados com as características do teatro "kabuki").

De todas as versões clássicas (anteriores a 1980) que vi da história Yatsu, esta é uma das que melhor consegue passar uma sequência de assombrações em crescendo e a loucura alucinada que se apodera do ronin Iemon.

Há partes do filme que me fizera lembrar passagens do posterior filme de horror japonês "Ringu".

(Conselho para quem procura bons filmes de "Kaidan" (não exactamente de horror ao estilo ocidental ou "gore terror"): Não percam o filme "Kaidan" ("Kwaidan") de Masaki Kobayashi, de 1964 - uma obra-prima do cinema mundial.)

This film essentially begins with a young samurai by the name of "Iemon Tamiya" (Shigeru Amachi) asking a more high-level samurai named "Samon Yotsuya" (Shinjiro Asano) to marry his daughter "Iwa Yotsuya). In response, Samon angrily refuses because he considers Iemon to be much too hedonistic and of low-moral character. Not surprisingly, this infuriates Iemon and, as if to prove Samon's point-he furiously draws his sword and kills the older man on the spot. Having witnessed the murder and wanting to capitalize on it, a cunning peasant named "Naosuke" (Shuntaro Emi) appears from the shadows and advises Iemon on exactly what to do next. Needless to say, Iemon listens quite intensely and in relatively little time he does, in fact, marry Iwa. Likewise, Naosuke also gets closer to realizing his ambition of marrying Iwa's sister "Sode" (Noriko Kitazawa) who was always out of reach for him due to his low status in life. However, what neither Iemon or Naosuke realize is that, eventually, their evil deeds will catch up to them--and when they do--they come in a most bizarre manner. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a good horror film which took a bit of time laying down the foundation of the story before really increasing in intensity later on. Admittedly, the costumes and makeup used pale in comparison to the CGI and special effects found in more modern films of today. No question about it. But even so, I thought that the overall movie was still quite entertaining, and I have rated it accordingly.

Iemon Tamiya ( Shigeru Amachi, the hero of Jigoku ) is a samouraï without Master ( ronin ) who wishes to marry Iwa, the girl of the Samon lord. One evening, it waits on the property of Samon that this one returns to him, in order to ask him last once the hand of his daughter, but Samon wants nothing to know, and milked Iemon of libertine, doubled of an imbecile. Iemon perhaps, which does not have a row but does not remain about it less one man of honour, carries out Samon and its continuation at once, under the amused glance of its servant, Naosuke, which sees an occasion there to increase its capacity on its Master. The two men decide to make wear the hat in Usaburo, a samouraï of which any Okayama knows hatred towards the late one. Yomoshichi, whose father belonged to the guard of Samon, decides to avenge the death for his/her own father, but also for that which was on the point of becoming his/her father-in-law: indeed, it had obtained the hand of Sode, the sister of Iwa. The two couples in becoming get under way in order to avenge death for Samon, accompanied by Naosuke. Six months later, Naosuke, in love with Sode, decides to make sing Iemon so that it helps it to get rid of Yomoshichi - death that the two men put again on the back of Usaburo. Naosuke and Sode leave to the continuation the "culprit" while Iemon and Iwa, patient, settle in Edo. Two years pass, and the two sisters, from now on separated, still did not satisfy their thirst for revenge: Usaburo always runs. Iemon, married to Iwa, claims more not to have re-examined Naosuke whereas the two men find together means of tapping money with the Ito old man to remain, each one on their side. Iemon sees in EMU, the girl of this last, the possibility of obtaining a honourable position, and it is put consequently at the head to marry it. But for that, it must get rid of Iwa, become cumbersome - as well as faithful Naosuke suggests to him...

Tokaido-Yotsuyakaidan takes again a traditional history of phantoms to the Nakagawa sauce. One finds at the same time elements of Jigoku there , that the realizer would turn one year later, and of Borei-Kaibyoyashiki , filmed one year before. The three films put in scene a murder more or less reflected, made under an access of anger, which involves others of them before taking along the heroes to know the revenge on In addition to world. But the similarities do not stop with the topic. The character of Naosuke precedes that of Tamura in Jigoku , character of background which encourages the hero to make ignominies more and more. The end of the film, during which one rocks in pure film of horror, mixes the hallucinations of the assassin of Borei... and visual hallucinated hell of Jigoku . Moreover, Tokaido... is also a film rather gore for the time: that it is with the make-up of Iwa, properly horrible, or the torn off arm of Takuetsu, friend of Iemon victim of one of his machinations, Nakagawa never underestimates the impact of visual truly bloody.

But principal qualities of Tokaido... are of a visual nature: the realization is once more impeccable, modern for the time in its use of the framework and the out-field ( the scene where Iwa discovers the decomposition of its face in is an excellent example ), and contributes to make mount the trouillometer in a very convincing way for such an old film. The appearances of Iwa, nailed on the board on which it was drowned, show again some many modern "monsters". As for the last image of film, it returns as much to Jigoku as at the end of beyond Fulci ( very adequate comparison definitely for the study of the case Nakagawa ), with its ghostly figure within a monochromatic landscape which one guesses without difficulty infernal. A remarkable film of horror, which more is easily accessible to any fan from cinema from terror ( what is not inevitably the case of all films of the realizer ).

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".

This excellent Japanese ghost flick is a perfect illustration of how the 90s J-horror cycle was rooted in a long Japanese cinematic tradition (and ancient folkloric tradition) of murdered women who hold serious postmortem grudges.

The first half of Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan shows the antagonists' increasingly shocking moral depravity as it gathers momentum and raise the foundation for the second part of the movie. This second part consists of the revenge of the wrong spirit. It is equally shocking, gruesome, and horrifying. The production design is sumptuous, with striking use of color and sound, with a score that punctuates each shocking moment.

Easily one of the best Japanese horror movies ever made, and one that should be at the top of every list of top ghost story flicks.

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

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.

Fast summery of the movie, it's about a samurai who wants a woman as his wife, Doea the unthinkable and then does it again.

It's a good plot and great acting in it. And the scenes are very good! Specially the final part and the scenes and how it's filmed are really nice. The last part of this movie really made the movie shine and it was really good stuff.

It's a good revenge movie, the main villians you really hope to die as mercyless and themselves were. I liked this movie a lot, even though I was sitting after half the movie wondering were the ghost stuff were suppose to happen and man didn't i have to wait long.

All in all, great horror movie.

The ronin Iemon Tamiya (Shigeru Amachi) asks the father of Iwa (Kazuko Wakasugi) to marry his daughter, but the old man refuses, saying that he is worthless. Iemon kills him and his friend and together with the witness of the murder Naosuke (Shuntarô Emi), they lure Iwa and her sister Sode (Noriko Kitazawa) saying that the criminal Usaburô Ozawa (Yôzô Takamura) was the killer of their father. They head to Edo with Sode's fiancé Yomoshichi Satô (Haruhiko Nakagawa) seeking revenge. Along their journey, Iemon and Naosuke throw Yomoshichi off the waterfall cliffs in a river in order that Naosuke can marry Sode. Sometime later. Iemon and Iwa are married with a baby and Sode and Naosuke are living together without sex, but the sisters do not know that they are living in the same town. When Iemon knows the wealthy Ume Itô (Junko Ikeuchi), he plots with Naosuke to poison Iwa so that he can marry Ume. He also convinces the masseur Takuetsu (Jun Ôtomo) to seduce Iwa. Iemon kills them both and dump their bodies in the river. Iemon marries Ume but soon the ghost of Iwa haunts him.

"Tôkaidô Yotsuya kaidan", a.k.a. "The Ghost of Yotsuya", is a great horror movie specially if the viewer considers that this is a 1959 film. The make-up is impressive and the scenes after the death of Iwa are creepy. The former samurai Iemon Tamiya and his partner Naosuke are impressively evil and they deserve their fate. I believe this Japanese old tale is unknown for Westerns. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Fantasma de Yotsuya" ("The Ghost of Yotsuya")

The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) is a Japanese samurai/horror movie that I recently watched on a random streaming service. The storyline follows an ancient Japanese fairytale about a murdered woman who haunts her home and husband. As the husband tries to move on he finds it difficult to determine what's reality and what isn't. As he starts to go mad he gets closer to closer to being reunited with his deceased wife.

This movie is directed Nobuo Nakagawa (Jigoku) and stars Shigeru Amachi (Girl Boss Blues: Queen Bee's Counterattack), Noriko Kitazawa (The Depths) and Katsuko Wakasugi (Black Breasts).

The samurai genre is my absolute favorite genre so I may be a little bias when it comes to these films. The background music in this is outstanding, as are the sets, makeup and there's a tremendous transformation scene that's absolutely a must see. I adore the way they make the ghosts face look and how it tortures the husband. The ending samurai standoff sequence is epic and worthwhile.

Overall this is a unique addition to the horror genre that's a must see. I would score this a strong 7.5/10 and recommend seeing it once. And yes, it's with subtitles.

Great film -- very compelling, entertaining and thought provoking.

My wonderful girlfriend somewhat randomly picked this up from at the video rental -- excellent film, very interesting story and very well presented. Really liked the character development and camera work -- angles were great and simple film editing (1959) created some excellent special effects.

A classic ghost story with a very clear moral message -- if you double deal on your wife, she will get ugly on you.