Kuroneko (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Previous reviewers have justly praised this film at length, and I'm glad to add my praise to theirs. Simply put, this Japanese tale puts modern attempts at horror to shame. Filmed in gorgeous black & white, utilizing the most basic of special effects, and suffused with a powerful erotic & psychological current that strikes to the heart of the viewer, it draws you in deeper & deeper until the eerily still & silent end.What makes it so memorable?First of all, it offers strong characters with powerful, contradictory emotional drives. Torn between family, honor, religious & social demands, they recognize the trap they're in, one determined by outside forces they've internalized. Yet they're unable to resolve those contradictions & save themselves. This sense of the inexorable only grows stronger as the story progresses.So our young farmer-turned-samurai is faced with the bloodthirsty ghosts of his wife & mother, who have vowed to destroy all samurai, but retain enough of their memories & humanity to want to spare him. For his part, he relishes his rise in social status, yet desperately wants to be reunited with his wife & mother, partly out of guilt for not being there to save them.Then there's the cinematography & the bold direction of Kaneto Shindo, making superb use of dense masses of shadow & sudden pools of unearthly light. There's a minimum of gore & gratuitous shock; instead, the emphasis is on atmosphere & tension, brought to a slow & almost unbearable boil. It has a dreamlike quality, one that can turn from haunted beauty to outright nightmare in an instant. In a way, I'm reminded of Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" -- there's the same sense of some ancient folk tale retold in strangely intimate terms -- but where Cocteau properly brings his film to a deserved fairy tale conclusion, Shindo ventures into darker & more ambiguous territory.As with his previous "Onibaba" (which is the perfect companion to "Kuroneko"), Shindo's sympathies are with the women. For all their visual beauty, his films don't glamorize the samurai, or men in general. His concern is more with those who have to suffer the consequences of living in a world shaped by masculine hungers; thus even his historical films speak eloquently to the present.Most highly recommended!

This is a beautifully photographed tale of 2 women's revenge on those who inflicted horrific pain, both physical & mental, upon them. The lesson of this film is be careful what you wish for, because the end result may not be what you hoped for. Hate breeds hate and these women are trapped in a cycle of entrapment, revenge; here is no way out when loved ones reappear. The cinematography is superb and the transfer to blu ray is truly lovely, even in the scenes of horror. A neglected classic.

A mother and daughter-in-law are in their hut, eating, when the Samurai come. These Samurai are not the clean minded, clean shaven, warriors on horse back, with polished swords and banners attached to their backs. No, this are grunts. Mud covered, half-naked, front line troops that want water, food, and women. They swarm into the hut, taking what they want. They leave, setting fire to the hut, a hut empty of food or life.And so the ghost story begins with rape, murder and the family's black cat mewling next to two bodies.The story is simple, tragic, lovely. A wonderful piece of art that I bought from Amazon.com on a whim. And I am so happy I did. In some ways it reminds me a tad of Rashomon, as it suggests more than one view point or story is going on at the same time. Or maybe it is because I can't help but feel sorry for the ghosts. Or are they cat demons?A Samurai is asked to kill the ghosts. How will he handle it? How do you kill ghosts? And what happens if he decides the ghosts were once his own family...?If you liked this one may I suggest  Rashomon (The Criterion Collection) ?

I first saw this film when I was a college student in 1974. I regard this film as one of the truly great vengeful ghost stories. Filmed in black and white, it has an atmospheric quality of mist and darkness, that combines with ghostly Japan and elements of Noh drama that make this a visual feast of the macabre. The plot is of two peasant women who are robbed, raped, and murdered by a band of rogue samurai. Shortly thereafter dead samurai with their throats ripped out are being found by the rajomon gate in kyoto. The samurai lord is ordered by the emperor to stop the killings (kill the demon). He has a new vassal who is distinguished in war, and gives him the task. The vassal samurai finds to his horror that the demon(s) are his dead wife and mother (murdered by the rogue samurai) taking vengeance by drinking the blood of samurai. The ensuing conflicts of love, oaths, and duty, make this a great story, which packs some palpable chills.Whether you are a student of japanese cinema, or looking for a spooky movie that delivers, this is worth a viewing.

05-11-2018 Update to earlier review of Kuroneko below:I contacted Eureka MofC to see if they would help me and they've said that they will sendme a replacement disc free of charge.Top quality customer service from them and thanks to Stephen whodealt with this matter for me.I hope this copy is as generally described.By the way, "Gate of Hell is fine".Purchased/delivered to me in Sep'2018, along with "Gate of Hell".Unfortunately, I've only just viewed it (Nov,2018) and am therefore unable to return it.The rating is for the picture quality which is utterly appalling, except for a few minutes here and there - this is more like VHS standard.How it can be labelled as Blu-Ray, I'll never know.This is the second time a Eureka MofC film was so disappointing for me.I'm dreading what I'll make of "Gate of Hell" when I get around to viewing it.As for Kuroneko itself - this is a superb (5 star) film and I urge you to view it if possible. But not on Eureka!It is imaginative, moving and ultimately heartbreaking, in the way that, to me at least, only Japanese films seem to be.I believe that this would come across as a visually stunning film if handled correctly.

I have most of the Japanese Masters of Cinema series and was looking forward to this after their amazing release of Onibaba by the same director. Unfortunately the picture quality is the worst I have experienced on a Blu-ray- regular horizontal lines run across the whole of the screen and throughout the film. Assuming that I had a faulty disc I contacted MoC but they confirmed that the picture quality was due to the master they had available. I watched the DVD version the following day and this was a more pleasant experience- its an excellent film. I struggle to understand why they released this in a dual format edition.

After watching the extraordinary Onibaba and The Naked Island, both by Kaneto Shindo, Kuroneko is a disappointment. The vigour and novelty of his two earlier films are not present in Kuroneko, which is an uninspired ghost story and gave me the impression of being a potboiler made to to cash in on the success of Onibaba and The Naked Island. Plodding, languid, lacklustre, I felt that everyone concerned in the making of this film was just hoping to make a quick buck when the movie hit the US art house circuit. It seemed like a Hollywood production, everyone going through their paces but no one carried away. Interesting though, to see and contrast with his two great earlier works: the very failure of Kuroneko to grip the viewer puts into perspective the extraordinary power of Onibaba and The Naked Island.Neville Britten

A lovely transfer of this classic film, Fantastic performances from the cast. Its a slow burning film, which I love and the dreamlike quality makes it so haunting. It was for me very satisfying to see these Women taking revenge on "war mongering Samurai" A tragic story of Love and revenge. I loved it.

such a cool movie...highly recommended for lovers of japanese cat movies. i love these eureka dual format releases.