Hell Strange

Directed by
 Budget

Hell Strange (also known as Hell: Portrait of Hell) is a 1969 toho horror film,Directed by Shiro Toyoda.

## Plot

in the Heian period of history, depicts the conflict between Korean painter Yoshihide (Nakadai) and his Japanese patron, the cruel and egotistical *daimyō* Hosokawa (Nakamura).

Horikawa demands that Yoshihide decorate the walls of his new temple with an image of Buddha, but Yoshihide refuses, insisting that he cannot paint what he does not see. In Hosokawa's realm, Yoshihide can see nothing but the suffering of peasants. He creates several gruesome images that appear to have some sort of magical power. (For example, a painting of a man killed by Hosokawa's soldiers at the beginning of the film gives off the stench of a rotting corpse.) These all appall Horikawa, and he demands that the paintings be destroyed.

Ultimately, Yoshihide asks that he be allowed to portray hell on a screen for the wall of the temple, and Horikawa agrees. Yoshihide asks for one thing to be in the centre of his painting: a burning carriage with Horikawa in it. Hosokawa agrees to this, but to provide a model for the scene, he has Yoshihide's daughter, Yoshika (played by Yoko Naito), chained in the carriage. Yoshihide watches in horror as his daughter is burned alive, before going on to paint his masterpiece.

Before the completed screen is unveiled, Yoshihide hangs himself. When Hosokawa looks at the screen, he is horrified to see himself portrayed in hell. The climax of the film is slightly vague, but the audience is led to believe that Horikawa becomes trapped in his own private hell through the power of the portrait.

## Cast

* Nishinosuke Nakamura (Great Hall of Horikawa)
* Tatsuya Nakadai (painter Yoshihide)
* Yoko Naito (Daughter, Yoshika)
* Shun Oide (Disciple, Hiromi)
* Tatsuhei Shimokawa (Disciple, Narita)
* Yoshiro Uchida (disciple, Kinshige)
* Yoshijuro Nakamura (President)
* Haruo Suzuki (Aide)
* Hideyo Tenmoto (family member)
* Masanobu Okubo (messenger)
* Kumeko Otowa (wife)
* Mitsuyo Inomata (small wife)
* Ikio Sawamura (Taishi)
* Masao Imafuku (old man)

## Staff

* Production: Tomoyuki Tanaka
* Director: Shiro Toyota (as Shirō Toyoda)
* Script: Toshio Yasumi
* Music: Yasushi Akutagawa
* Editor: Yoshimin Kuroiwa

## Release

Portrait of Hell received a roadshow theatrical release on September 20, 1969 by Toho. It received general release in Japan on 27 September 1969.

The film was released by Toho International with English subtitles in the United States on 18 November 1969. It was re-issued by Toho International theatrically again in April 1972. The film has been released under other titles, including A Story of Hell and The Hell Screen.

## TV Drama

Dance hall "Hell Screen" ( NHK Educational TV ) 1962 (1962) June 2 days 21 hours 00 minutes - 22 hours, 00 minutes

* Screenplay: Yukio Mishima . Drama: Takeo Matsuura . Director: Takaei Saegusa
* Cast: Bando Minosuke , Eijiro Yanagi , Yachiyo Otori , Tomoko Fumino , Mamoru Hirata , Minoru Uchida
* \* Broadcast as a dance drama. After that, Yukio Mishima will appear and talk with Kotaro Saito announcer.

## DVD

On November 1, 1997, Toho released VHS video software containing this work.