Jidaigeki and The Horror Film

[Tatsunoshi]

My first love in cinema was the horror genre (both traditional ‘Universal’ horror and splatter), which of course has come to be joined by jidai-geki/chanbara films. In my opinion, any movie that combines the two is well on the road to being a classic. Sitting at the top (at least for me) is the Daimajin trilogy. Hopefully the upcoming film version of ‘Onimusha’ will deliver the goods. There’s of course the various incarnations of Makai Tensho, Kwaidan, Kibakichi, Onmyoji, Kunoichi, Ghost Of Yotsuya, the Yokai Monsters series, Under The Blossoming Cherry Trees, Ugetsu, Niitsu Kakunoshin-ki, Ashura, and any number of cheesy ninja films that use weird creatures, gods, or devils. Any other suggestions for combinations of zombie/ghost/creature/psycho killer angles with the period film?

[Obenjo Kusanosuke]

How about Onibaba? It has a gritty, sweaty and uncomfortable feel throughout, with just the right amount of violence and a touch of the supernatural to keep you interested. It's been legitimately released by Criterion and can be found at the usual retailers and through Amazon.

And although The Ghosts of Yotsuya has already been mentioned, I do have to say that there are some very good versions out there, but I am a big fan of the 1994 version called Chushingura Gaiden Yotsuya Kaidan directed by the master filmmaker Fukasaku Kinji. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I've been itching to watch it again. This version, as some of you may be able to tell from the title, blends the 47 Ronin story with that of the Yotsuya Ghost story. Sato Koichi stars as the biwa strumming Iemon and Sanada Hiroyuki plays Asano.
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[SicklyBug]

I tend to lump yokai films of all sorts into the horror genre unless they are super fun yokai types like Gegege no Kitaro. I also find it very hard to seperate out fantasy from horror unless there is extreme amounts of gore or murder, shown or implied. I aplogize ahead of time for any confusion this may lead to.

Dororo, I believe you and I discussed this film in another thread though. Nice little cheesy action flick with a bit of kaiju homage thrown in.

Sakuya Yokaiden, a story about evil yokai erupting from Mt. Fuji and the daughter of a samurai who was killed by those yokai travels to Mt. Fuji to defeat them.

Chushingura Gaiden Yotsuya Kaidan is another interesting one that is the love child of Chuushingura and Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan. Directed by Fukusaku Kinji. This one should be right up your alley seeing as you seem to like a bit of Fukusaku's work.

Aragami, this is weak on the overall horror aspects, but I figured I'd throw it in here since... well to give the reason why would be to ruin the suprise. It revolves around a samurai, on the verge of death, who ends up at the door step of a temple. He is taken in to recover and then finds out the deep dark secrets of his new host at the temple. Not horrific at all, but slightly yokai themed.

Tao no Tsuki (Moon Over Tao), a very cheesy period kaiju, sci-fi flick. This film has some bad acting to it. While I can't recommend it to any serious film buff, I can howerver say that if you are in the mood for a film that has no shame then this may be what you are looking for. The story revolves around a sorcerer who is making some indestrucible swords in over to rule the land. Three females from the future go back in time to recover a lost weapon. Super cheesy fights and bad kaiju type monster costumes abound. Only buy this cheap or rent it, unless you are looking for a film to goof on. If you have seen Zieram, Hakaider or any other of Amemiya Keita's films then you have an idea what this movie is like.

Ghost Cat of Otama Pond (Kaibyo Otamagaike), The restless ghost of a beloved pet cat, comes back to earth as a human witch, in order to seek revenge on the man who killed her master.

Ghost of Kasane (Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi), A blind masseur visits a samurai to request the return of a loan. The samurai kills him in anger, then has his servant dump the body in the Kasane swamp. However, the ghost of the masseur returns to haunt the samurai, who kills his wife by mistake and then goes to the swamp and drowns himself. 20 years later, the masseur's daughter unknowingly falls in love with the samurai's son who has been brought up to be a servant. After she is horribly disfigured in an accident, he plots to run away with another woman, but the path of their escape lies by the Kasane swamp.

Nippon Tanjo - Mifune play Prince Yamato Takeru in a fantasy about the shinto orgins of Japan. While not a horror, it is so intersting I felt I had to mention it. I'm kind of cheating by adding this one, but you just have to see the silly fight between Mifune and the multi headed serpent.

There are quite a few more out there that I own or have seen that I am forgetting. When I remember I will post further on the subject.

[wicked iemon]

The Titular (sorry thats bad ..but worse to come )Star of Chushingura Yotsuya Kaidan being former nudie model Saki Takaoka was at the recent Democratic Convention with Danny Glover ,she is the star of a new film he is producing .
Glad to see she is keeping a breast (told you worse was to come )of our presidential race,though if she had been at the Gop gathering i would have been demoralized .

Allegedly Saki lives in Oakland Ca now (now i have a reason to take Bart across the bay )
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[kitsuno]

My first thought was Aragami. It really comes across as a gothic horror at the start. It might as well be Count Dracula sitting across the room from the Samurai as the actual person who was there (Can't give away anything). Although it turns into an action flick at the end, it maintains the creepiness until then. Like there is always something lurking, waiting to jump out. Also, although it isn't a "movie" per se, Takashi Miike's "Imprint" from the Masters of Horror series was pretty good. Either by intent or accident, it really seemed to parody both Memoirs of a Geisha and The Last Samurai. A broken down American shows up in Bakumatsu or early meiji Japan looking for his lost love, but instead of finding her, he gets treated to the nightmarish tale of her torture and death. I thought it was pretty good, myself.
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[Tatsunoshi]

Thanks for all the input, guys-that Chushingura/Yotsuya film and Ghost Of Kasane have went to the top of my buying list (have all the others!). The Masters Of Horror entry sounds cool too-how long does it run?

[Tatsunoshi]

I just saw it's 63 minutes-I thought it would be far shorter, part of an anthology film. For $4.50 on Amazon, I went ahead and ordered it.

[kitsuno]

[SicklyBug]

[kitsuno]

[SicklyBug]

[takuan]

I suggest a dark little gem called Shura. It's a slow-burn, Grand Guignol thriller released in 1971, an adaptation of Namboku Tsuruya IV's follow-up to his immortal Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan. It stars Katsuo Nakamura (whom Kwaidan fans will remember as the blind biwa player Hoichi the Earless) as a ronin who gets stung in a confidence game and takes it badly ... very badly. Blood will flow, heads will roll -- you get the idea.



[You can get a copy over at kurotokagi.com]
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Keep yourself to yourself, and so preserve your dignity.
-- Fujiwara no Morosuke

[wicked iemon]

100 TALES OF HORROR (KAIDAN KAIJAKU MONOGATARI ..I Think thats the jp title

This 11 episode Fuji tv series of period horror story's was pretty amazing .
kicking off with Yotsuya and on through gems like Ho-ichi and Snow Woman all the storys are well known but this mini series from the producers of O-oku
was pretty well done .
Its on HK DVD with subs too .
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[Tatsunoshi]

[wicked iemon]

Yes it is and thank you as i could not remember the title exactly .
There was also a 2006 sequel but not as good as all the story's were only 10/15 min's .

Another interesting series was an early 90's Tv remake of Kwaidan in the Ho-Ichi story he is seduced by the lustful spirit of Taira Maiden who proceeds to drain the life from him ,i though the depiction of the Taira's as sort of Incubus/Succubus type spirits was better than the Kobayshi film .

Lest we not forget there is last years Hideo Nakata's Kaidan which is really worth seeking out .
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[maikeruart]

If you've seen Audition there isn't a lot more here to shock you,


2 Words Visitor Q

[kitsuno]

[Tatsunoshi]

[maikeruart]

[wicked iemon]

Tatsunoshi
These guys should have 100 Tales http://www.kimook.com
I have no idea of the quality of subtitles and not much jidai .
They do have (from time to time )
O-oku season 2
O-oku season 3 plus the specials
Satomi Hakkenden (06)
Okuni (06)
and
Byyako-Tai (07 )
all subtitled .
The site is often down but have patience ,its worth it .
Their main thing is Korean Dramas
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"One mans washing machine is another mans music "

[Tatsunoshi]