Kuroneko (1968) written and directed by Kaneto Shindo
Feudal Japan is plagued by war. A mother and daughter are raped, killed, and their house is burned down by a band of samurai who happened to be passing through. The women come back as vengeful spirits, luring random samurai deep into a bamboo grove where that samurai meets his doom. A war hero is brought in to deal with the demons, though he has his own problems both with the head samurai (who naturally wants the demons gone) and with the demons themselves.
This simple plot is made into a fantastic movie by the atmospheric cinematography and sound design. The ghosts are surprisingly mundane until they turn against whichever samurai happens to fall into their clutches. The women, even in demon form, are very sympathetic and strong, providing an interesting foil to the completely unheroic and selfish samurai in the film.
The story has an unexpected twist about a third of the way into the film that moves the plot in an unexpected direction. This move creates a lot of suspense about where the story is going and kept me riveted to the screen.
I enjoyed the movie a lot and am thankful to the B-Movie Catechism guy for flagging it up in one of his posts.
Recommended, especially for Halloween viewing or a chilling Christmas Eve ghost story like they have in Britain.
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