Skip to main content

Kwaidan (1964)

 Kwaidan (1964)

RELEASED December 29, 1964 RUNTIME 183 mins DIRECTOR Masaki Kobayashi 

WRITERS Yoko Mizuki (screenplay), Lafcadio Hearn (novel) 

STARS Rentarô Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe

COUNTRY Japan LANGUAGE Japanese 

STUDIOS Bungei, Toho Company, Ltd., Ninjin Club, Toyo Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha 

GENRES Drama, Fantasy, Horror

Streaming on: Criterion, HBOMax




The plot: An anthology of four folk tales with supernatural themes.


Random observations:

  • There are many moments where the sets seem like living paintings.
  • Theydies and Gentlethems, I give you Gothic Rashomon. 
  • I love anthologies. <3

Well, I'm ashamed to say it, but this is a first watch for me. It's been on my to-see list for as long as I can remember, but somehow it kept slipping through my fingers. 

This film is very much style over substance, but the style is unlike anything else. This is the ASMR of horror films. 

Also, this puppy is now on the list of one of the best films I've ever seen. 




1/1 Directing
1/1 Cinematography
1/1 Visual design
1/1 Editing
1/1 Plot 
1/1 Dialogue
1/1 Acting
1/1 Soundtrack/Score/Sound
1/1 Originality
1/1 Rewatchability
Total: 10/10 Binge Bones




The verdict: A must see!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Peter Gunn 1x16 The Fuse (1959)

 Peter Gunn 1x16 The Fuse (1959) AIRED January 5, 1959 12:00 AM  on  NBC RUNTIME 25 m COUNTRY United States LANGUAGE English GENRES Crime A union boss's birthday starts off with a bang, and the crime boss who is the chief suspect wants Pete to clear his name before the situation gets even more explosive. Starring: Craig Stevens, Lola Albright, Herschel Bernardi Guest starring: Ross Martin Streaming on TubiTV, Hoopla, Roku, PlutoTV This TV show has one of the best theme songs ever, so at least watch for that. The quality is much better than it has any right to be for a 50's TV show. 0.7/1 Directing  0.8/1 Cinematography 0.9/1 Visual design 0.6/1 Editing 0.7/1 Plot  0.9/1 Writing 0.6/1 Acting 0.8/1 Soundtrack/Score/Sound 0.7/1 Originality 0.6/1 Rewatchability Total: 7.3/10 Binge Bones (Great) The verdict: I definitely want to watch more of these now. Very crisp noir-esque crime show.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mad Monster (1942)

  The Mad Monster (1942) RELEASED May 15, 1942 RUNTIME 77 mins  DIRECTOR Sam Newfield  WRITER Fred Myton (screenplay)  STARS Johnny Downs, George Zucco, Anne Nagel  COUNTRY United States LANGUAGE English  STUDIO Sigmund Neufeld Productions GENRES Horror Streaming on: Amazon Prime, Epix, FlixFling, TubiTV, Sling TV, DIRECTV The plot: A simple-minded handyman (who can only be described as "the obvious inspiration for Torgo") gets turned into a revenge exacting werewolf by a mad scientist. Random observations: After watching 1921's Destiny directed by Fritz Lang this morning, it's quite noticeable that the film quality of this movie has degraded greatly since the '40s and could do with a facelift. However, part of the charm of the early 40's b-movies of this budget lies in the imperfections themselves.  If you watch this film on Amazon, please note that there are no closed captions available. The soundscape of this film is akin to an arctic wolf sanc...
Post a Comment
Read more