Audience Member
An epic movie with four distinctly composed stories that lure you in with a nuanced pace. There is an otherworldliness to the movie, it doesn't really fall into a specific horror category, except for maybe ghosts, it feels like you're watching legends on the screen. It is based on the book by Koizumi Yakumo (Patrick Hearn), who has an interesting story in his own right. You can see the movie's influence on other horror directors, from John Carpenter to Takashi Shimizu. It was shot entirely in an airplane hangar with meticulously hand-painted sets. It is a movie with stellar deliberate vision of folklore, superstition, and legend all wrapped into over 3 hours of glorious color, sound and imagery. An unhurried, beautifully made film.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
10/24/24
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Audience Member
Really great movie; the production is splendid! Hand drawn sets and décor galore! Very, very spooky too, but don't go in expecting some kind of modern horror flick. Atmosphere is all that matters.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
05/11/24
Full Review
Taylor L
Masaki Kobayashi don't miss.
Kwaidan is a horror anthology with narrative design that seems to have been composed straight from the pen of Edgar Allan Poe - less superficially gruesome, more eerie and unsettling. There's a particular emphasis on worldbuilding and character intended to set the stage for an inevitable tragedy, usually based in human weakness but punished with poignant supernatural consequences. It's got the fear of a moralistic old European fairy tale without the obvious intent or thematic simplicity.
While each component is narratively tight, Kwaidan's most distinctive feature is its visual design, constantly reinforcing the fantastical nature of the stories with lurid colors and expressive backdrops. The film is gorgeous to look at, a feast of creative set design that brings to life the period setting while also giving an air of mystery, tinged with that fear of the unknown.
If there's a weakness to the film, it's the same one that plagues most anthology films - a lack of coherence between the parts. The pieces of Kwaidan aren't really connected and could exist independently as short films. That doesn't make the individual pieces bad in any way, just a bit fragmented where period contemporaries like Ugetsu or Onibaba are each carefully crafted wholes, focusing more comprehensively on theme and giving more developed arcs to their characters. (4/5)
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
10/15/22
Full Review
Audience Member
Now I won't say this is a bad movie, because it isn't, it's a very good movie. If you have the time to spend and the patience, this movie is a great way to spend an evening.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
Full Review
dave s
Set in Japan at the time of the samurais, Kwaidan is an anthology of four stories dealing with Japanese folklore, all involving the supernatural. Sadly, the film doesn't seem to offer up much in the way of thrills or chills, most of the tales being a bit bland and uneventful. However, from a production perspective, it is pretty spectacular. Effective lighting, ornate sets and costumes, great cinematography, and a creepy music score help to create a somber and chilling atmosphere. Unfortunately, despite being nice to look at, it all becomes a bit of a storytelling slog and makes one wonder if, because of the running time of close to three hours, it's worth setting aside the time to watch.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
andres s
Very beautifully artistic and mesmerizing opener with the black ink being mixed in with the water. It's kind of creepy at the same time cuz it looks like long black, like from the Grudge or The Ring. Wow, very atmospheric. God, why does that long black hair look so damn creepy?! I guess it was tradition for women to grow it out back then.
Although the first story moved kind of slow, the tension building was incredible! I kept anticipating a jump scare when the guy went back to the house in Kyoto to see his first wife. Very creepy, unnerving and unsettling. Especially with use of experimental sounds, music and camera angles, it definitely elevated the horror aspect of it. Quite the terrifying tale. That was so crazy how he aged so quickly. I guess the whole moral is to not take for granted what you have because then it might be taken from you.
The second one was a haunting story of poetic beauty. I had a feeling that Yuki, his wife and mother of his children, was the lady from the snow and that she was keeping a watchful eye on him to make sure he keeps his promise of not telling anyone about what happened that snowy night. I'm guessing this story has to do with trust and keeping a promise to your loved one.
That shot of Hoichi on top of the cliff overlooking the ocean with all the waves crashing was beautiful. I wonder where exactly that location is. The whole setup to the third story, with the war that was fought on the sea, was kind of dragged out and kind of silly, silly looking as well. Especially with the guy singing in the background, it was kind of lame. That's funny how the ghost samurai that looks like tin man grabs Hoichi by his hand to guide him lol. It looks funny. The premise is pretty damn cool. A blind man plays music for the ghosts that died that day during the war on the sea. The ghosts basically want him to sing the story of the war so that they can relive and reenact what happed that day. The problem is that the story moves very slow.
That's so crazy how the samurai appears in the guys cup. That shot of him popping up from below the reflection of the water has really good meme potential. I like the setup and the creepy atmosphere inside the manor. I feel like the last story had the best production value and execution out of all of them. I felt like I was watching a whole movie, which is ironic since it was the shortest of all four ghost stories. I love how the last one was a story within a story.
The ideas they came up with for the ghost stories were incredibly original and so creative. It's definitely artistic inspiration for me. I understand that this movie is from the early 60's and was probably made on a tight budget, but some of the set pieces look kind of shoddy. But at the same time some of them look beautiful, so it's kind of weird. It's so odd how the world in which all these ghost stories take place in, almost seem like a dream or a nightmare and not real life. All the experimental noises and sounds is really what makes the stories more terrifying. It heightens the feeling of horror and terror.
Although I feel like some of the stories could have been better executed with a more refined production value, overall, I thought Kwaidan was great! I think the problem is that some of them take their time and move very slow, which is not good for my ADD lol. Some of the ghost stories really stuck with me. I don't think I'd but it on Criterion but I'd definitely download it because I do see myself revisiting some of the stories for inspiration.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
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