#Kwaidan

[goryhorroor]

horror sub-genres: folk horror

[slayerbuffy]

'怪談' Kwaidan 1964 | dir. Masaki Kobayashi

[matyas-ss]

Kwaidan (1964)

Directed by Masaki Kobayashi

Cinematography by Yoshio Miyajima

[zegalba]

Takato Yamamoto: Kwaidan (2023)

[elegieenbleu]

JAN ŠVANKMAJER /

Kwaidan Collage, 2011

[ourlittlesister2015]

"As long as I live… I'll continue to play the biwa. I'll play with all my soul to mourn those thousands of spirits who burn with bitter hatred."

Kwaidan [怪談] (1964), dir. Masaki Kobayashi

[weirdlookindog]

Kwaidan (Kaidan, 1964)

[cesarescabinet]

(this is spacekrakens lmao) dude idk anything about like 1950s Japanese cinema, do you have any recommendations? looking for stuff to toss on the watchlist now that I'm a bit burned out on horror (unless you have some horror recs)

Hey! If you’re curious about Japanese cinema (particularly 1950s), there’s a lot of avenues to explore! Musicals, crime, horror, historical—it all depends on what mood you’re in. (Putting this under a read more because I'm DEFINITELY going to be long posting about this!!!) Hope this is useful to you lol.

(Also noting if anybody wants to add to this list with their own recommendations feel free!!)

With old school Japanese cinema, I’ll always recommend Akira Kurosawa (obviously). He’s made some of the best Japanese movies (and arguably, the best movies of all time imo) and I feel like his work is a good gateway. It’s readily available on physical media/streaming too.

Specifically ‘50s stuff; Hidden Fortress (1958) is a good adventure flick whose structure was swiped for Star Wars, Throne of Blood (1957) is Japanese Macbeth if you like Shakespeare, and if you don’t mind a longer movie Seven Samurai (1954) includes Toshiro Mifune acting like this;

Gotta admit, though—my personal favorites from Kurosawa don’t come from the 1950s; Drunken Angel (1948) and Yojimbo (1961). One has a pathetic gangster as the main lead, the other is just a solid, breezy proto-action film (also has my beloved Unosuke but that's besides the point)

Some personal favorites of mine from the 1950s:

Life of a Horse Trader (1951) is a bittersweet story about a man trying to be a good single father to his son in the backdrop of Hokkaido. He tends not to be great at it. Stars Toshiro Mifune, the most famous face of Japanese cinema and for good reason!

Conflagration/Enjo (1958) is a single Buddhist acolyte’s fall into quiet insanity. Raizo Ichikawa is another amazing actor who I love! Also includes Tatsuya Nakadai who is the GOAT (in my heart).

Godzilla (1954) is AMAZING! If you liked Gozilla Minus One, it took a lot of familiar cues from this movie. It also technically counts as horror, depending on your definition.

Japanese horror from the 1950s:

Ugetsu (1951) (Not one I’ve seen personally, but it’s on Criterion)

The Beast Shall Die (1958) (American Psycho, but in Showa Japan. Tatsuya Nakadai is terrifying in this and absolutely despicable—stylish movie tho!)

Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) (Old-school Japanese ghost story. Honestly, there are so many different versions of this story on film that you can pick which version to watch and go from there—I’m partial to the 1965 version myself, because of the rubber rats and Tatsuya Nakadai playing a crazy person).

The Lady Vampire (1959) is the OG western-style vampire movie from Japan. Plays around with the mythos a lot, but hey our Dracula looks like this;

Misc movies that I think are neat or good gateway movies:

The Samurai Trilogy by Hiroshi Inagaki, which stars Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi. Found that people otherwise uninterested in Japanese cinema really enjoyed this!

You Can Succeed, Too (1964) is one of my favorites from the ‘60s, also directed by Eizō Sugawa. A fun satire on the corporate world that's super colorful with catchy songs.

The Sword of Doom (1966) is also another favorite of mine, starring my beloved Tatsuya Nakadai as another bastard man (seriously though Ryunosuke is FASCINATING to me--). Fun gore effects and action scenes!

Kwaidan (1964) is an anthology of Japanese folk tales, labeled a horror film but in that kinda sorta old-school way. Beautifully shot by my favorite Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi (who, if you like this you should seriously check out his other work!)

[ginkovskij]

Tatsuya Nakadai as Minokichi, Kwaidan (1964, dir. Masaki Kobayashi)

[boydswan]

KWAIDAN (1964) dir. Masaki Kobayashi

[goryhorroor]

“60s horror movies reflect an era of rapid change and uncertainty, and a yawning generation gap. the social stability of the post-war years crumbled as attitudes to everything from hemlines to homosexuality underwent a seismic shift. horror movies, especially those made for low budgets outside the mainstream studio system, offered ways to process and interpret the rapid pace of change. they often served as cautionary tales about the dangers of abandoning traditional values.”

[horror-aesthete]

Kwaidan (怪談), 1964, dir. Masaki Kobayashi

[forever70s]

scenes from "Kwaidan" (1964)

[oneinchbarrier]

Hoichi the Earless | Kwaidan