- Actors: Edward Albert, Susan George, Doug McClure, Amy Barrett, Mako Hattori
- Directors: Kevin Connor
- Writers: James Hardiman, Robert Suhosky
- Producers: Martin B. Cohen
- Format: Colour, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language English
- Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: R (Restricted) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
- DVD Release Date: 20 Sep 2005
- Run Time: 88 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000A7LR9G
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 16,074 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
another movie i saw on video first time around. the transfer to dvd is very crisp & clean with a spooky japanese koto music.
the movie kicks off with the wife of a samauri doing the dirty with one of
his students & guess what? he catches them at it & strikes them dead with
his sword then commits harikiri on himself ,really graphic start! i was going to have ketchup on my chips ,ugh ! that scene was 142 years earlier now
we go to present day japan .
a couple & their daughter stay in this rented house & are told it is
haunted .they dont seem to mind but visions of the former occupants appear
the wife (susan george!)has an affair with her husbands friend ,doug mclure & it turns nasty when he finds out ! the love making scenes go on
far too long ,"is this soft porn or horror?" i ask myself .but then the
horrible scene when the giant crabs scare their daughter stupid were shocking,the dvd was not rated ,i could see why when this girl of about
ten was screaming climbing up a tree to escape these nasty big monsters !
the film comes full circle when the husband & friend fight over the wife
& the ghosts take them over turning it into a crazy martial arts blood bath ! wont say any more youll have to see it !
the movie kicks off with the wife of a samauri doing the dirty with one of
his students & guess what? he catches them at it & strikes them dead with
his sword then commits harikiri on himself ,really graphic start! i was going to have ketchup on my chips ,ugh ! that scene was 142 years earlier now
we go to present day japan .
a couple & their daughter stay in this rented house & are told it is
haunted .they dont seem to mind but visions of the former occupants appear
the wife (susan george!)has an affair with her husbands friend ,doug mclure & it turns nasty when he finds out ! the love making scenes go on
far too long ,"is this soft porn or horror?" i ask myself .but then the
horrible scene when the giant crabs scare their daughter stupid were shocking,the dvd was not rated ,i could see why when this girl of about
ten was screaming climbing up a tree to escape these nasty big monsters !
the film comes full circle when the husband & friend fight over the wife
& the ghosts take them over turning it into a crazy martial arts blood bath ! wont say any more youll have to see it !
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Director Kevin Connor has made some very intersting movies in his time, chief among them the terrific Amicus anthology of spooky stories, "From Beyond The Grave," in which various items bought or stolen from Peter Cushing's antiques shop trigger the various tales. In a way, this film feels like an extended episode from that film, in that it's a slight enough yarn with some fairly generic elements, but told in an engaged and wholehearted way that makes it fresh and even, at moments, genuinely creepy.
Susan George and Edward Albert arrive in Japan with their daughter and move into an old house which they know to be "haunted". What they don't know is that the ghosts are the result of a samurai love triangle (how perfectly those three words go together) that ended with swords flashing, heads chooped off and blood all over the nice paper walls.
Shot on location in Japan (with local colour that suggests the second unit director may have been Alan Whicker) with the collaboration of Toei studios, the film gains a great deal of its unsettling atmosphere from the overlap of Japanese and American film-making styles. The ghosts wander around the house, visible to us but not, at first, to the newcomers. The female ghost possesses Susan George, trying her on for size as if she's an item of clothing, and it becomes clear that they're intent on replaying the events of their deaths. But to this end they'll need a third party to the triangle. Luckily for them (and you're going to think I'm making this up) family friend Doug (brother of Troy) McClure is at hand.
I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite so strange as the love scene enacted between Doug McClure and Susan George. As lovely as miss George is, I fear the world will never be ready for the sight of Doug's bum.
Speaking of weird, Edward Albert, as the husband, looks like a photograph in a barbershop, circa 1973. Between his moustache and his luxurious seventies coiffure (yes, I know the film was made in 1982) he's sporting so much hair that if he walked through an airport it would almost count as trafficking. His disengaged performance somehow works, though, making real the emotional void necessary for the ghosts to rush in and have their wicked fun. I'll be watching this film again soon.
Susan George and Edward Albert arrive in Japan with their daughter and move into an old house which they know to be "haunted". What they don't know is that the ghosts are the result of a samurai love triangle (how perfectly those three words go together) that ended with swords flashing, heads chooped off and blood all over the nice paper walls.
Shot on location in Japan (with local colour that suggests the second unit director may have been Alan Whicker) with the collaboration of Toei studios, the film gains a great deal of its unsettling atmosphere from the overlap of Japanese and American film-making styles. The ghosts wander around the house, visible to us but not, at first, to the newcomers. The female ghost possesses Susan George, trying her on for size as if she's an item of clothing, and it becomes clear that they're intent on replaying the events of their deaths. But to this end they'll need a third party to the triangle. Luckily for them (and you're going to think I'm making this up) family friend Doug (brother of Troy) McClure is at hand.
I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite so strange as the love scene enacted between Doug McClure and Susan George. As lovely as miss George is, I fear the world will never be ready for the sight of Doug's bum.
Speaking of weird, Edward Albert, as the husband, looks like a photograph in a barbershop, circa 1973. Between his moustache and his luxurious seventies coiffure (yes, I know the film was made in 1982) he's sporting so much hair that if he walked through an airport it would almost count as trafficking. His disengaged performance somehow works, though, making real the emotional void necessary for the ghosts to rush in and have their wicked fun. I'll be watching this film again soon.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This movie is a must for both Susan George fans and for those who just love ghost stories. Don't be fooled by this film's lack of recognition by the critics, or its small budget.
The story is introduced by a very romantic and tranquil beginning featuring the history of a Japanese house and a love story set in the middle of the nineteenth century that turns tragic. The house is then bought by a married couple with one child in the present day (then - when the film was made) 142 years later in 1982. Slowly the film progresses, and the viewer is not only left in suspense, but one could never imagine the shocking twist and climax that comes right at the end! Stay with this one, should you get a little bored. (some viewers may become impatient)
I originally sought this movie out for one reason; I'm a huge Susan George fan, and not because of her 'sex appeal'; George is so under-rated (or can be) like others of her type, who most viewers see only as a 'sex pot'. She's been one of Britain's greatest actresses, and any film she made is worth watching! Many of us who are old enough will remember that Susan George was never off the silver screen during both the 1960s and early 70s.
Top marks!
The story is introduced by a very romantic and tranquil beginning featuring the history of a Japanese house and a love story set in the middle of the nineteenth century that turns tragic. The house is then bought by a married couple with one child in the present day (then - when the film was made) 142 years later in 1982. Slowly the film progresses, and the viewer is not only left in suspense, but one could never imagine the shocking twist and climax that comes right at the end! Stay with this one, should you get a little bored. (some viewers may become impatient)
I originally sought this movie out for one reason; I'm a huge Susan George fan, and not because of her 'sex appeal'; George is so under-rated (or can be) like others of her type, who most viewers see only as a 'sex pot'. She's been one of Britain's greatest actresses, and any film she made is worth watching! Many of us who are old enough will remember that Susan George was never off the silver screen during both the 1960s and early 70s.
Top marks!
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