 |  |  | | | This eerie supernatural fantasy from Japan — a poor man's Kwaidan — is equal parts samurai adventure film and surreal ghost story. Tatsuya Nakadai stars as a desperate, unbalanced ex-samurai who turns to crime to make ends meet. Forced to commit murder during a robbery, he later kills several members of his wife's family after they discover his crimes. Seeking refuge from the law, he hides out in a Buddhist temple, where the ghosts of his murdered in-laws return to avenge themselves — and the film shifts into horror mode. Though not as visually commanding as the classic which inspired it, this film still has its share of nightmarish imagery and cultural richness. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | | Illusion of Blood falls into the tradition of the Japanese kaidan or ghost story. Kaidan are quite different from Western ghost stories - they tend not to center around old dark houses or melodramas from the past being replayed, but rather around people being vengefully visited upon for selfish actions. Further it is usually (although not always) a genre that seems rooted in Japan’s traditional historic past - one where the element of the supernatural is something that disrupts formality and tradition. The play that Illusion of Blood is based on, Yotsuya Kaidan, is one of the most popular of this form and has been filmed a number of times - 1949, 1951, 1969 and 1994. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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