Kuroneko - Masters of Cinema series [DVD] [1968]

Shindo's stylish black-and-white ghost story forms a companion piece to his earlier film Onibaba. Once again we have a woman and her daughter-in-law preying on a lone samurai. But the mood here is a little gentler and more poignant than we are accustomed to. The two women are victims of a brutal gang of samurai: they are raped and killed and fire is set to their hut. But when their cat licks the blood from their corpses, they are transformed into shape-shifting demons that favour the form of black cats. Waylaying benighted warriors, they wreak their revenge. A champion samurai is sent against them, but he finds the monsters he's hired to destroy are his own wife and mother. Shindo skilfully builds an atmosphere of eerie menace--draperies waving in the wind, Hikaru Hiyashi's score mimicking the desolate caterwauls that precede each killing. Shindo, faithful as ever to his left-wing principles, includes a strong measure of barbed social comment in his portrayal of the arrogant samurai class. --Philip Kemp

Kaneto Shindo's Kuroneko — released to great acclaim in 1968 — is a sparse, atmospheric horror story, ascribing to the director's philosophy of using beauty and purity to evoke emotion. Eccentric and more overtly supernatural than its breakthrough companion piece, Onibaba (1964), Kuroneko revisits similar themes to reveal a haunting meditation on duty, conformity, and love.

Newly restored high-definition transfer, anamorphic 2.35:1 OAR • Optional English subtitles (new translation) • Production stills gallery • 24-page booklet with a new essay by Doug Cummings, and more...

In this magnificently eerie and romantic film — loosely based on the Japanese folktale The Cat's Return — a mother and daughter-in-law (Nobuko Otowa & Kiwako Taichi), who were raped and murdered by pillagers, return from the dead as vampiric cat spirits intent on revenge. As the ghosts lure soldiers into the bamboo groves, a fearless samurai, Gintoki (Kinichiemon Nakamura), is sent to stop their reign of terror. Kuroneko remains a standout film of the kaiden eiga genre of period ghost stories often based on old legends or kabuki plays. Marking Shindo's first use of wire work as Yone and Shige battle against samurai blades, the film is subtly complimented by Kiyomi Kuroda's award-winning chiaroscuro cinematography, Hikaru Hayashi's vibrant score, and riveting performances from many of the greatest actors of Japan's Golden Age of film. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Kuroneko on DVD for the first time in the West.

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: Japanese ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Booklet, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Remastered, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Set in feudal Japan, this atmospheric and violent ghost story (whose title literally translates as The Black Cat in the Bush) begins with the brutal murder of two women by a band of mercenary samurai, whose leader is subsequently tracked down, seduced, and murdered by a young woman possessed by the shape-shifting specter of his victim. Called upon to avenge the warrior's death is none other than the woman's former husband, who has been ordered by his superiors to assassinate the guilty party. Plot twists abound as the older, vengeful spirit seeks to exact poetic justice despite the younger ghost's reluctance to destroy the man who once loved her. Though not on the epic level of Kwaidan or Onibaba, this adaptation of an ancient folk tale benefits from the same cultural richness, as well as a touch of social allegory. ...Kuroneko ( Yabu no naka no kuroneko ) ( Black Cat from the Grove )