"Black Cat" is a really enjoyable and disturbing ghost story.**SPOILERS**Traveling to a remote village, Raiko Minamoto (Kei Sato) and his samurai gang find Yone, (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter Shigei, (Kiwako Taichi) alone in the village, then rape and murder both of them before setting fire to their home and continuing on. When a black cat arrives at the scene afterward, the other members of the samurai group, out on their own traveling the land by themselves, all come upon the same situation of having to rescue a woman from a creepy forest and taken back to her mother's house, before meeting the same grisly fate time and time again. When he learns of the treachery to his men, revered warrior Gintoki, (Kichiemon Nakamura) is enlisted to launch a battle against the malicious ghosts who have tormented his friends.The Good News: This was a really enjoyable and entertaining ghost effort. One of it's better parts is the incredibly strong and brutal opening. Showcasing nothing at all, done totally in long, silent takes and focusing not on the acts themselves, but the crazed animalistic expressions of the troops as they go about the act, it sets a tone for the film that is perfect and captures the perfect balance for the rampage later. There's also a lot to like from this one's visual images, which is always one of the main parts of these films. Perhaps some of the best is displayed by the eerie and almost ghostly journey through the forest shown early on, as the white-dressed woman almost floats through the scenery while the horseman struggles to follow behind, even losing her in the trees at one point. The forest is presented as a dark, dangerous place, and with the strange way they're presented makes for a great scene. His later monologue in their house, where the background turns into a ghostly forest superimposed over it as he recounts his story makes for an impressive visual. The fight scene from the one smart enough to avoid the ghosts originally, with them both whipping around the air and the rapid slashing at them is a really great way to up the fun here. Even the very beginning, where the slow-burning fire is shown taking out the village hut and consumes it in a giant fire with their burnt bodies still inside laying in the wreckage of the burning wood is a fine sight. The later scenes of the ghost's rampages are so much fun that they're some of the film's best moments, especially when the dupe-less samurai are lead into the house time and again to meet their deaths by the ghosts, and then the main one, where the head samurai discovers that he knows who they are and resort to a relentless series of mind-games to torment him is just a blast. With the different ways that they go about it, with the dancing and different rituals that are presented, it becomes quite expressive and incredibly enjoyable. There's also some nice action scenes in here, with the fight against the barbarian in the reed-filled swamp being a particular highlight. The film also generates some fun from it's rather bountiful gore, which is quite big for the time. Most of the group is taken out by a ripped-out throat, with close-ups of the aftermath, as well as some really nice stabbing, a wicked decapitation, one has their arm chopped off and the shots of the burnt women after the fire are all worthwhile. The ghost make-up at the end is nothing short of impressive either, as there's some real chills to be found from their look in these scenes. These here are the film's best points.The Bad News: Frankly, the most irritating is the fact that this one really just has the same thing happening in it's middle section over and over again without any difference. The daughter shows up in distress, leads the unwary party back to the house while engaging in a tea-ceremony with her mother before the untimely end, which is the exact same thing that happens to each of the men. It doesn't change the formula at all, except for one of them to discover the treachery and at least fight back, but there's still nothing new that this develops. That its one of the last ones does help somewhat, but the montage of the ones previously isn't all that great. The other part of this that doesn't really stand out is the extremely slow-going pace to it. There's some really long scenes in here that don't really serve much for this one beyond giving it some length, yet it has a lot of talking in them anyway. The near-incessant talking becomes a little too much to bear at certain points, especially the eternally-agonizing revelation scene where the ghosts reveal their intentions. It just drags on forever, lasting twice as long as it should've been but it just talks it's way through everything, letting it last a little longer than it should. These, though, are the only flaws in this one.The Final Verdict: While not the fastest-moving film around, there's still plenty of stuff here to like about this one, making it one of the top entries around. Give it a shot if you're into that kind of film or a fan of Asian horror cinema, though those who can't enjoy the films should seek elsewhere.Rated R: Violence, Language, Nudity, a lengthy, tame Sex-Scene and an inexplicit Rape scene

Shot in black and white, this film has some unique imagery to accompany the creepy haunting. Very much in the style of Kwaidan and other Japanese supernatural films of the 1960's. And very much a traditional Japanese ghost story where ghosts and evil spirits inhabit a world of logic alien to the real world. Western ghosts stories usually have the spirits think as living people do. Japanese spirits behave in bizarre ways that are much more disturbing.The film follows the two spirits of a murdered wife and mother-in-law as they proceed to kill and drink the blood of any samurai that passes their neighborhood. The film, while very well made, is slightly routine at this point. When the husband returns a war hero, the film becomes poetic as he is assigned the task of eliminating the "monster" that is killing samurai. His encounters with his now demonic wife and mother comprise the rest of the film.A truly excellent film. Any fan of the new Japanese horror films should see where they come from.

First of all, I would LOVE to know why this classic of Japanese 60's cinema is NOT in VHS or better yet, DVD, format in Region 1 format???It's a real shame, as it is a perfect pairing with Onibaba(which was a terrifying double bill in San Francisco in 1978, thereabouts). It explores the touchy subject of revenge, revenge for terrible deeds done to the women, and how perfectly they exact their revenge from the grave. Guaranteed you will never hear the rustling sounds of bamboo ever the same again.This is a movie for adults, as the subject matter is intense. It is an indictment of how women were and are treated in warfare, and the horrifying toll it takes on everyone.I highly recommend this film. If you can locate it-for some odd reason it is extremely hard to get, and it deserves a much wider audience.

While watching 'Kuroneko,' I must admit I was a little distracted by what were, to me, anyway, stylistic issues: The beautiful black-and-white photography was so vivid and made clear so many little details, in contrast to which the story and the action was delivered in broad, stylized strokes. Something about this didn't work for me - the image, somehow, was too unforgiving on the simply conceived story...not to mention the makeup effects. When a shot of thrillingly real roaring fire at the opening is followed by a shot of the burned bodies, two actresses with, essentially, charcoal rubbed on parts of their arms and legs, and lumpy fake blood spread on their throats...well, it hurt my ability to get into the world of the movie. As did sequences of the plot where the characters' actions didn't follow normal human psychology ("But if he recognized her, wouldn't he say something?") If the image hadn't been so vivid I wouldn't have had to keep thinking of them as actors in a stilted, stylized script. But I did. So sue me. Maybe that's culture clash - maybe the dramatic stylization is direct from the Japanese tradition and would have felt natural in its own way to someone from Japan. Well. I'm not Japanese.But the important thing here is that, while the movie's horror, while I was watching it, was negligible because of all the above...in the days following, I found myself more and more haunted by some of the truly eerie imagery and the undertones of the plot. To return home, having become a man, and find that your family has turned to demons - demons who might sometimes, partially, still be your family, but will never talk about it...there are shadows of a powerful nightmare in there.The fight sequence in the rushes, and the slow processions through the bamboo grove, in particular, reverberate in my mind. These scenes, among others, were well supported by the excellent musical score.I don't know what to make of the last few scenes - the movie had spent itself several times over by that point, though, and in a sense, the exact twists and turns of the plot were only of secondary importance. Watch it for its uniquely eerie atmosphere (and lovely photography), and then enjoy as it slowly settles in to your subconscious.