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Akira Kurosawa’s legacy is getting the 4K treatment with a massive U.S. festival. Film Forum in New York City will be hosting a special retrospective to honor the late auteur, including the U.S. premieres of a slew of 4K restorations of Kurosawa’s most beloved films.

From July 18 to 31, Film Forum will screen the new 4K restorations of “High and Low,” “Throne of Blood,” “Stray Dog,” “Ikiru,” “Yojimbo,” “Sanjuro,” and “The Hidden Fortress.” The festival coincides with Spike Lee’s reimagining of Kurosawa’s 1963 crime drama “High and Low,” titled “Highest 2 Lowest,” which debuted at Cannes 2025.

Kurosawa’s acclaimed “Seven Samurai” recently celebrated its 70th anniversary with a 4K restoration and theatrical re-release in 2024. The restored film debuted at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival; the festival also honored Kurosawa’s contributions to cinema by incorporating a still of “Rhapsody in August” in the official Cannes poster that year.

Japanese horror, often referred to as J-horror, has captivated and terrified audiences worldwide with its distinct approach to the genre. Unlike its Western counterparts, which frequently rely on overt violence and jump scares, J-horror typically excels in creating a pervasive atmosphere of dread, tapping into deep-seated psychological fears, and exploring the unsettling realm of the supernatural. This unique sensibility has earned Japanese horror films global recognition and significant influence, particularly during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This article aims to delve into the pantheon of Japanese horror cinema, identifying the most consistently acclaimed films, examining their key features and cultural significance, and exploring their enduring legacy on the international stage.

Defining the Apex of Fear: Identifying the Top Japanese Horror Films

Determining the definitive “best” Japanese horror movies of all time is a subjective endeavor, yet a consensus emerges when examining numerous reputable sources, including film review websites,...

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If you are a horror fan then there is a big chance that you might have heard about the horror streaming service Shudder, and if you have its subscription you might be wondering what’s in store for you in October 2024. Don’t worry there is a host of new and old horror movies coming to the service in the upcoming month and we have listed the 10 best movies coming to Shudder in November 2024.

Curse of Chucky (November 1)

Curse of Chucky is a supernatural slasher horror thriller film written and directed by Don Mancini. The 2013 film is sixth entry in the Child’s Play franchise and it follows Nica after her mysteriously dies and she begins to suspect that the red-haired doll her niece has been playing with is behind the killings. Curse of Chucky stars Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti,...

The most rudimentary research into the creative origins of the groundbreaking 1977 sci-fi flick "Star Wars" will reveal to the reader that creator George Lucas was inspired by "Flash Gordon" serials from the 1930s, as well as Akira Kurosawa's 1958 epic "The Hidden Fortress." Kurosawa's film famously opened with two clownish characters (Kamatari Fujiwara and Minoru Chiaki) who aimed to earn their fortune as samurai. After several misadventures, the peasants unwittingly become embroiled in a much larger plot about a missing princess (Misa Uehara), a war, and a brave protective warrior (Toshiro Mifune). "Star Wars" borrowed that film's structure, introducing audiences to its sci-fi action through the eyes (lenses?) of the robotic characters C-3Po (Anthony Daniels) and the non-humanoid R2-D2. 

C-3Po was a prissy, fastidious droid who seemed impatient with the foibles of the organic beings he lived with, and was frequently panicked and afraid. The only time...

Announced by Arrow Video this morning, Ju-On: The Grudge Collection is due out this December, featuring a brand new 4K restoration of Japanese classic Ju-On: The Grudge.

This one is a UK Release, headed our way on December 19, 2022.

“Ju-On”: the name given to a deadly curse spawned when someone dies in the grip of a violent rage. All who come into contact with it are doomed… Collected together for the first time, writer-director Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge series represents the flesh-crawling pinnacle of Japanese chillers that swept the globe at the turn of the millennium.

The films introduce the anonymous family house in the suburbs of Tokyo where an unspeakable evil lingers alongside its residents, the ghastly mother-son pairing of Kayoko and Toshio Saeki. Shimizu’s disconcerting approach to plotting, unnerving eye for the uncanny details in the dark corners of the frame and an innate talent...

After his dramatic feature “The Lower Depths”, Japanese auteur Akira Kuroswa returned to the jidai geki genre with his 1958 effort “The Hidden Fortress”. While the movie would continue his exploration of the human condition, in particular, its expression during times of war, this work also marks the first time Kurosawa would use the widescreen-format, a technology which would continue to influence his future works. Besides the often quoted “Rashomon” or “Seven Samurai”, to name just two examples, “The Hidden Fortress” may just be one of the director’s most influential features as it inspired the likes of George Lucas and his Star Wars-movies.

As mentioned before, the story is set during a time of war, after a significant battle has caused the near defeat of House Akizuki and its leaders. After their escape from imprisonment, two farmers and petty thieves names Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matashichi...

The Hidden Fortress

Written by Ryûzô Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Akira Kurosawa

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Japan, 1958

By the time Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress was released in 1958, it was more or less settled that the Japanese filmmaker — the only Japanese filmmaker most average moviegoers had heard of at that point — was among the world’s best. This was after Rashomon, after Ikiru, and after The Seven Samurai. Kurosawa’s talent was beyond question, and his global cinematic prominence was growing. However, his last three films, while positively received by critics, did not do so well with audiences. He needed something that would combine quality with commercial success. “A truly good movie is really enjoyable, too,” he once said. “There’s nothing complicated about it.” He would meet this condition with The Hidden Fortress, out now on a new Criterion Collection Blu-ray/DVD combo. While not containing the narrative innovation,...

Combining brilliant action sequences (filmed for the first time in sumptuous widescreen black and white Tohoscope) with fanciful characters out of a Japanese storybook, Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 “chambara” (sword fighting) comic-adventure deserves to be remembered for much more than simply its inspiration for the plot of Star Wars. Starring the irreplaceable Toshiro Mifune as the heroic samurai and Misa Uehara as the feisty princess in disguise. Kurosawa won Best Director at that year’s Berlin Film Festival. The 137 minute original was cut to 90 minutes for its 1962 Us release, since restored.

The post The Hidden Fortress appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week

"Frozen"

What's It About? Anna (Kristen Bell) doesn't know why she and her sister Elsa (Idina Menzel) have grown apart over the years. Doesn't she want to build a snowman like they used to do when they were kids? Actually, Elsa is a little too good at building snowmen, because she's the gosh-darn Ice Queen and turns everything to frost when she gets mad or stressed out. Anna goes on a mission to save her sister, along with a dude named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his beloved reindeer, and a talking snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad) who just wants a hug.

Why We're In: This is one of the best Disney movies to come out in years. Even adults are secretly listening to Menzel belt out the Oscar-winning song "Let It Go" on their headphones.

Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week

"The Hidden Fortress"

What's It About?...

Criterion re-releases Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 adventure The Hidden Fortress for a ravishing blu-ray update this month, following hot on the heels of a similar refurbishing for Throne of Blood (1957). Long hailed as a “primary” influence on George Lucas’ Star Wars, there are indeed notable structural similarities, but they’re quite superficial, as those attracted to the title based on this tidbit alone should take note. An entertaining adventure comedy that utilized widescreen technology to breathtaking effect (and represents Kurosawa’s first time using Toho Scope), it’s an impressively structured endeavor on its own, and was actually the first substantial hit for Kurosawa since 1954’s Seven Samurai.

At its core a re-dressed version of The Prince and the Pauper, two peasants in war torn feudal Japan, Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matakishi (Kamatari Fujiwara) escape as prisoners of war and attempt to make their way back home to their own province.

It seems whenever Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress is mentioned it is invariably linked to George Lucas and Star Wars. The connection has been discussed for many years, perhaps best kept alive by an interview with Lucas discussing the film and its influence, which has first released on the 2001 Criterion DVD release. The interview is included once again on this new Blu-ray re-release of the film in which Lucas says the main influence Hidden Fortress had on Star Wars was the decision to tell the story from the perspective of the narrative's two lowliest characters. In the case of Star Wars that would be C-3Po and R2-D2, in Hidden Fortress it's a pair of bumbling and greedy peasants who stumble upon a general (Toshiro Mifune) and a princess (Misa Uehara) attempting to smuggle royal treasure across enemy lines. You could point to the use of long lenses, wipes...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 18, 2014

Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95

Studio: Criterion

Toshiro Mifune is on the lookout for action and adventure in The Hidden Fortress.

The 1958 action-filled The Hidden Fortress is a grand-scale adventure as only Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai) could make one.

The Hidden Fortress stars the inimitable Toshiro Mifune (Throne of Blood) as a general charged with guarding his defeated clan’s princess (a fierce Misa Uehara) as the two smuggle royal treasure across hostile territory. Accompanying them are a pair of bumbling, conniving peasants who may or may not be their friends.

This rip-roaring ride is among the director’s most beloved films and was a primary influence on George Lucas’s Star Wars.

The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa’s trademark deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action, and compassionate humanity.

Presented in Japanese with English subtitles, Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack of the classic contains...