The Ghost of Yotsuya

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Audience Member 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. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Well made, with a rather average script. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Now considered a classic, Nakagawa's adaptation of Nanboku Tsuruya's kabuki play went unhailed by critics at the time but was popular enough to prompt at least three remakes in short order (by Tai Kato in 1961, Shiro Toyoda in 1965 and Issei Mori in 1969). Concisely plotted and fast-paced, the film somehow reconciles classical elegance with Nakagawa's patented shock effects. Both the remarkable use of sound and the colour expressionism influenced many other directors. Nakagawa's finest hour. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review dustin d Nobuo Nakagawa vividly brings to life the well-known ghost story (a forerunner to "Ringu" and "Ju-on") in the best screen adaptation of the legends. Problems with the film have to do with a reliance on gore and the overly dramatic Kabuki-style acting. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member It isn't exactly profound, but this ghost story by Japanese gorehound Nobuo Nakagawa is both creepy and fast-paced, making it a nice little spooker for a cold night. The farfetched story concerns a man named Iemon (Shigeru Amachi) and his lust for a woman named Iwa (Katsuko Wakasugi), which leads him to murder a few people who stand in his way (although his seeming pleasure in said murders lead one to believe that Iwa was just the convenient excuse for blood-let that he had been waiting for). But after she becomes his wife and gives him a child, he loses interest in her and sets his sights on another woman entirely. The man hatches a sinister plan to dump his baggage, but Iwa has a few tricks up her own sleeve. What results is a story of revenge and the supernatural, and it is filled with magnificent special effects, predicting the gore wave that George Romero and Sam Raimi would join many years later. Nakagawa uses color and darkness in eerie ways, and the final twenty minutes of the film are bone-chilling. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Awesome ghost story of just revenge filmed with the use of stylized sets and brilliant color. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Ghost of Yotsuya

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