Yabu no naka no kuroneko
Tags: cruelty, murder, horror, flashback, romantic, tragedy, revenge

Plot synopsis:
Yone (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law Shige (Kiwako Taichi), who live in a house in a bamboo grove, are raped and murdered by soldiers, and their house is burned down. A black cat appears, licking at the bodies.
The women return as ghosts with the appearance of fine ladies, who wait at Rajōmon. They find samurai and bring them to an illusory mansion in the bamboo grove where the burnt-out house was. They seduce and then kill the samurai like cats, tearing their throats with teeth.
Meanwhile, in northern Japan a battle is taking place with the Emishi. A young man, Hachi (Nakamura Kichiemon II), fortuitously kills the enemy general, Kumasunehiko. He brings the severed head to show the governor, Minamoto no Raikō (Kei Sato). He lies that he fought the general under the name Gintoki. He is made a samurai in acknowledgement of his achievement. When he goes looking for his mother and bride, he finds their house burned down and the women missing.
Raikō tells Gintoki to find and destroy the ghosts who are killing the samurai. Gintoki encounters the two women and realizes that they are his mother and wife. They have made a pact with the underworld to return and kill samurai in revenge for their deaths. Because Gintoki has become a samurai, by their pact they must kill him, but the bride breaks her pledge to spend seven nights of love with Gintoki. Then, because she has broken the pact, she is condemned to the underworld. Gintoki lies to Raikō that he has destroyed one of the ghosts.
Gintoki encounters the other ghost again at Rajōmon trying to seduce samurai. After seeing her reflection as a ghost in a pool of water, he attacks her with his sword, cutting off her arm, which takes on the appearance of a cat's leg. She flees but then returns to retrieve the arm, then disappears by flying through a roof. Finally Gintoki is left flailing his sword around in the illusory mansion. The mansion disappears, and the film ends with Gintoki lying face up in the snow with his sword in hand.

Review: The inhabitants an elderly woman and her daughter in law are both subjected to continuous rape as each Samurai takes their turn, the others plunder the women's food stocks.After the Samurai have satiated their appetites,they leave the women, now unconscious for dead and set fire to their home as they flee.When the fire eventually burns out all we see are the burned and battered bodies of the women and their helpless black kitten as it licks their wounds.
The Daughter in laws husband Hachi, we learn has been at war for three years and has still not returned The daughter in law then proceeds to seduce the Samurai, before she brutally attacks him, devouring his throat and sucking his blood..for we learn that the two women are in fact the newly embodied spirits of the dead women murdered by the Samurai who have made a pact with the Evil Gods/Spirits, who have allowed them life, on condition that they murder all Samurai who pass their way.
Far to the East, a sole warrior named Hachi is all that remains after a massive and bloody battle.Hachi returns home to find his home burned and his family missing, he seeks employment from the Samurai leader at Rajomon Gate named Raiko, who after hearing Hachi's brave stories takes him on.
The underlying tragic story of lost love is also dealt with brilliantly by Shindo who is on fine form again.the story is compelling except for the first twenty minutes which became a bit repetitive as Samurai after Samurai was seduced and killed by the women, but this ploy was used to bring the story forward so I wont criticize too much.All in all, a worthwhile buy if you like Onibaba or Asian Cinema,but the DVD despite the films stunning print is very bare..
Terrifying Black Cat. 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).
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.
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.
Although somewhat similar in both tone and presentation to director Kaneto Shindō's earlier masterpiece Onibaba (1964), Kuroneko (1968) - which translates roughly as "the black cat" - adds a more theatrical, expressionistic element to the overall design of the film, which here works towards reinforcing the more obvious spiritual/supernatural elements of the story and that unforgettable sense of nocturnal, dreamlike abstraction.
As is often the case with Japanese supernatural horror stories, the plot of the film is an incredibly simple and moralistic one, dealing primarily with the notions of revenge and retribution re-cast as a pointed supernatural metaphor, with much emphasis placed on the overriding ideas of coincidence, karma and fate.
In keeping with these particular ideas, Shindō creates a slow and atmospheric work that takes full advantage of the stark, unearthly ambiance suggested by the high-contrast black and white cinematography, which really helps to further underline the creation of this barren, war-torn period setting, filled with danger and despair.Unlike Shindō's two most famous films of this period, the aforementioned Onibaba and his earlier classic The Naked Island (1960), Kuroneko sees the director moving even further away from his earlier interest in naturalistic environments - and the use of those unforgettable landscapes to underline the unspoken elements of the drama - and instead illustrates an interest in studio-based production, in a clear attempt to capture the sense of desolate, otherworldliness presented by the claustrophobic netherworld that the spirits of the film inhabit.
By mixing these two styles together - cutting from a location to a studio to illustrate the characters moving between the two different worlds of the film - Shindō is able to create a further degree of heightened atmosphere, tension and theatrical abstraction that is further illustrated by the expressive use of costumes and kabuki-like make-up effects, combined with the director's continuing experiments with sound design and atonal musical composition.The harsh tone of the film is established right from the very beginning, with the opening scene still standing as one of the most shocking and memorable of 1960's cinema, as Shindō takes us right back to the unforgettable images of Onibaba and a scene of deplorable brutality that will reverberate throughout the rest of the film.
Shindō holds the shot for an incredibly long time, establishing the incredibly slow and deliberate pace that the rest of the film will employ, before we finally see an armed warrior emerging from the bushes.
The soldiers descend on the hut, much to the shock and surprise of the two women who try desperately to force the intruders away; however, eventually realising that the supply rations of the hut are meagre and unsatisfactory the soldiers gang-rape the two women, and burn their hut to the ground.Here, Shindō films a violent scene that could have easily become lurid and exploitative with a pervasive sensitivity; establishing the brutality to come before cutting to an exterior shot that he once again holds for a number of minutes, creating a tragic subversion of the previously tranquil setting that opened the film.
As the smoke begins to pour from the hut and the soldiers, once again, ghost-like and oppressive, filter back into the tree line we know that the film has crossed a threshold into darker territory from which it simply cannot return.
However, whereas Bergman used this aspect of the plot to riff on spirituality and a suffocating, existentialist riddle; Shindō is instead more interested in mining a path of slow-building terror and blood-thirsty retribution.To reveal any more would spoil the impact of the film and the odd, erotic atmosphere that Shindō skilfully creates through the combination of stylised photography, choreography, production design, lighting, music and editing.
If you're already familiar with Onibaba (one of the greatest films ever made), then you'll have some idea of what to expect from the direction of Kuroneko, with the incredibly atmospheric use of black and white cinematography - making full use of that expansive, Cinemascope frame - augmented by an intelligent approach to production and location design and the slow, evocative atmosphere of nocturnal nightmare and fever dream obsession created by the story itself..
It has gorgeous black and white cinematography, an exotic Japanese feudal setting, and a wide variety of visual and emotional effects.
The characters move with the ritual formality that I love in certain Japanese films, and the story moves on with the ruthless intensity of a Noh drama.The final scene is thrilling.
Director Kaneto Shindô is most famous for his 1964 ghost story Onibaba; and anyone that enjoyed that film will certainly enjoy this one.
The two films are very similar in style, and that's a good thing for both as the thick and surreal atmosphere created by the director creates a perfect atmosphere for a horror story to take place in.
The title of the film translates in English to 'The Black Cat' - a staple of the horror genre ever since Edgar Allen Poe penned his classic story; although this film has nothing to do with the writings of Poe and is an original story written by the director.
The film takes place in feudal Japan and our focus is on a mother and daughter-in-law living alone in the swamp.
Naturally the lord of the land comes to the conclusion that a monster is behind it, and sends a young hero to deal with the problem.Kaneto Shindô is keen to fill his film with rich symbolism and striking visuals; but also finds time for some visceral horror.
The opening scenes are shocking and later the films builds into some truly memorable and surreal sequences that, when combined with the atmosphere, do manage to be quite frightening.
The swamp location is a really great place for the film to take place also; and the director makes the best of it, especially during the parts in which the younger of the two women is leading the stray samurai's to their death.
The film is more than just the central story; and we also follow things going on around it; such as the eventual hero's fight that earned him the right to seek out and kill the demons.
Overall, The Black Cat is not quite as great as the director's masterpiece Onibaba; but it's certainly a very good horror film..
A group of samurai breaks in the house of the peasants Yone (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law Shige (Kiwako Taichi) to loot their food and they rape and kill the women.
Soon the women returns as ghosts posing as geisha and Shige lures samurais late night at Rajômon asking for protection through a bamboo grove.
What will happen when Gintoki discovers that the ghosts are Yone and Shige?"Yabu no naka no kuroneko" is a Japanese ghost story of love and revenge.
The plot is basically about the revenge of two women who are raped by samurai warriors and then killed.They come back from the grave as cat vampire ghosts who suck the blood of samurai warriors.The parts with the vampires floating through the air are awesome and when they climb trees like cats are very memorable also.
KURONEKO is simply one of the best ghost/horror films ever made.
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.
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.
The basic premise of this film is simple: two peasant women are brutally set upon by a band of low-grade samurai who rape them and burn down their house, killing them.
Do they choose love, or vengeance?"Kuroneko" is a workmanlike entry in the long tradition of samurai ghost story films.
The maker of "Kuroneko," Kaneto Shindo, worked extensively with Mizoguchi, but he does not seem to have absorbed the master's talent sufficiently to bring "Kuroneko" up to the level of "Ugetsu." Even Shindo's own "Onibaba" (from just a few years earlier) is a much better movie than "Kuroneko," in my opinion.In summary, "Kuroneko" is diverting, but it is not a masterpiece of postwar Japanese cinema.
Black cats are supposedly common in Japanese history, and this film makes a creative use of the animal.Two women, left alone by the drafting of their son/husband to fight the wars raging in Japan at the time are raped and killed by a marauding band of samurai.
Much to his surprise, it is his mother and wife.It is a great combination of horror and fantasy and also a beautiful love story.
Some obvious similarities to Shindo's earlier ONIBABA, as a woman and her mother-in-law are raped by samurai, and turn to supernatural forces to seek their revenge.
Shindo uses an impressive array of tricks to maintain the unsettling, creepy atmosphere -- sparse Noh-style staging, bold chiaroscuro lighting, avant-garde soundtrack, abrupt time cuts, wire work, superimpositions and other special effects.
"Kuroneko" is a fascinating picture, with a languid and dark atmosphere, dreamlike, that catches the viewer's attention from the very beginning.The movie starts when some samurai kill and rape two women, leaving the bodies to burn with their house.
But the women come back as vengeful ghosts that kill and drink the blood of samurais.
The lord of the region decides to do something and gives the job to stop the spirits to one of his men.The movie has a very simple plot, but the work of everyone involved makes watching it a special experience.
Mother and daughter upon waiting for their father's return from war are raped by cruel samurai and killed.
Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.Manohla Dargis describes the film as "a ghost story that's more eerie than unnerving, and often hauntingly lovely".
Despite being released by no less an authority than the Criterion Collection, I don't think this is a very well-known Japanese horror film.What is really striking for me is the use of the eyebrows.
"Kuroneko," or "Black Cat" begins with a mother and daughter in a remote Japanese forest being raped and murdered in their home by a group of samurai.
Their home burns to the ground, and their black cat arrives on the scene, after which the women's spirits apparently become infused in those of the feline.
This mode of storytelling is effective and at times ambiguous, but it doesn't take a genius to understand what is happening here.The most engaging aspect of "Kuroneko" is without a doubt the cinematography; Shindô makes ample use of the ink-black forest, where the ghostly daughter leads doomed samurai soldiers to her spectral house for a meal and a murder.
"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.
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.
Even more than Onibaba it is clearly heavily influenced by traditional theatrical forms - the setting is literally theatrical at times, particularly in the ghostly house where the demons, in the form of dead women raped and murdered, take their revenge on samurai.While the story is stilted and owes more to folklore than conventional movie making narrative, it is full of memorable and chilling imagery.
This is as much an art movie as a horror story, but its all the more effective for it.
Kaneto Shinudo was truly a master at this type of movie making, and it is a must-see for anyone interested in Japanese film - or horror films for that matter.
A host of depraved and food-deprived ronin pillage the food and rape a woman and her daughter-in-law, Yone(Nobuko Otowa)and Shige(Kiwako Taichi), setting their hut on fire as they lie unconscious..soon their bodies lie badly scorched, a black cat(..a recent pet found roaming their premises)licks from their bleeding wounds.
It's simply an atrocious act set amongst an uncivilized time where war is ravaging the land, but Shindô presents it quietly, two bodies lain in the middle of the rubble of what was once their homestead.Making a deal with an evil god from the netherworld, seeking revenge, Yone and Shige are allowed to return from the dead in human form from dusk till dawn, to rip apart the throats of Samurai, feeding from their blood, behavior and abilities akin to a feline, the black cat.
It's simple at first, Shige uses her beauty to lure Samurai, now in fine garments(..still loathsome on the inside, which emerges after much Sake)to a fictitious home which exists only for the hours the ghosts roam, where they get them drunk and feed from their blood.
And, even worse, Gintoki must kill them or die at Raiko's sword.Kaneto Shindô depends on several visual techniques in shaping his ghost tale of revenge mainly through the use of fog and repeated images of Yone in flight and on the attack.
Early on in this movie there are three scenes that go like this:First: A samurai meets a pale woman in a white kimono.
There is a domestic scene, he is lured into making love to her and meets a grisly end.Second: A samurai meets a pale woman in a white kimono.
(Okay, we get it.)Third: A samurai meets a pale woman in (Okay, we get it!)On repeated viewings, the above sequences gets a little tedious, even though in the domestic scenes there is information revealed that is vital to the movie.
Here's the good news: that is my only beef with Kuroneko.Kuroneko is otherwise a very good, atmospheric Japanese ghost story with a revenge angle to it.
Director Kaneto Shindo (who is also credited as the writer) presents his take on an ancient supernatural folktale (circa post Heian) involving the rape and murder of two rural women (a wife and her mother in-law) by wandering samurai with the former promoted to ghost status to kill wandering (and any other) samurai.
Shindo's photo-play does not telegraph (in advance) how plot points will turn out (unusual for filmed folklore), but the ending is not a happy one (which is the usual result for movies of this genre).
(Apparently, deceitful, vengeful, dangerous, and murderous male ghosts were in short supply during ancient times!) Restoration and cinematography (2.35 : 1, black and white) are excellent.