Illusion of Blood

Set bound in the tradition of "Kwaidan" with a similar spooky traditional Japanese music soundtrack, Illusion of Blood is a competent and atmospheric period ghost story.

Set in an unsettled time in Japanese history, Tatsuya Nakadai plays a ronin who's wife is ordered back home by her father after he's lost his job as a samurai. Starving and forced to make paper umbrellas for a living, the ronin, Iuemon almost sells his sword but renege on the sale and decides to claim his wife back. Unfortunately her father is a cad and is forcing his daughters to prostitute themselves to feed him as he's a ronin also. The father reveals that he'll never agree to let his daughter back and he also knows that Iuemon stole money from their lord. Iuemon cracks and kills him. Meanwhile Iuemon's best friend has eyes for Iuemon's sister-in-law and he kills her husband the same night. Iuemon and his friend use the bodies to concoct a crime scene that points to an fictitious assailant. A changed man, a sulking, guilt ridden Iuemon mistreats his wife and his newborn baby. He connives to dump her so he can marry into a rich family and regain a samurai position. He obtains a "medicine" that causes instant facial deformity (!) and give it to his wife. The idea that if she's hideous he can dump without guilt. The medicine works too well and she dies in agony. The infant dies as well. This sets the stage for ghosts and haunting for the rest of the film.

Like many other Japanese films, there are few "good" guys to be found in this particular world. The two sisters are essentially the only good people but are endlessly abused and tormented by the evil around them. Another character can only do good when forced to the edge of terror or guilt. The film is very dark, much of it happens at night or indoors in shadows. The sets are very obvious and the special effects will be laughable to some. The story calls for rats. And for the rats to do things that real rats wouldn't do so there's a number of rat dolls being pulled around by wires. What carries the film is the performance of Tatsuya Nakadai. He is fascinating to watch. The story is contrived with way too many plot point coincidences but on an enjoyment level it comes out reasonably well. The film is a bit long at 105 minutes, I can't see what would be in a 190 minute version. I have doubts that there is one.

Interestingly the ending bears some similarity to another Tatsuya Nakadai film from the same year, "Sword of Doom".

Interestingly bleak film, you might like it. The director's "Portrait of Hell" is a better film.

Ronin Iyemon Tamiya (Tatsuya Nakadai) returns home to find that his pregnant wife Oiwa (Mariko Okada) has been forced to work in a brothel by her father; in order to get his wife back, Iyemon resorts to murdering his father-in-law. Meanwhile, Iyemon's buddy Naosuke (Kanzaburô Nakamura) kills Yomoshichi Satô (Mikijirô Hira), who stands in his way of wooing Oiwa's sister Osode (Junko Ikeuchi). The men cover up their crimes and vow to avenge the murders.

Iyemon soon realises that being a husband and father to a newborn son isn't all he thought it would be -- finding a position as a samurai is actually more important to him. To achieve this, he aims to marry the daughter of a rich, influential man who can recommend his services to a lord, but first, he must get rid of Oiwa. Iyemon gives his wife some special medicine that he has been told will make her ugly, thereby giving him a reason to leave her; instead it makes her very ill. When Oiwa learns what Iyemon has done, her husband sticks her with his sword and dumps her body, but being dead doesn't stop his wife from taking revenge.

I get the feeling that I am expected to like Illusion of Blood more than I do simply because its Japanese, has a respected cast and director, and is from the'60s; unfortunately, I found the whole thing very labored, not very scary, and overlong, with a narrative that doesn't flow all that well. Even the much-touted visuals failed to impress me, although this may well have been due to the rather lousy picture quality of my DVD. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it is a boring film, but I definitely struggled to remain engaged, and was relieved when it was finally all over.

Tatsuya Nakadai has played in a lot of superior films over his career. Among them Kiru, Ran, and Yojimbo. Here he plays in a fantasy/horror film that results from murder.

Iuemon (Nakadai) loses his lord and becomes a ronin and is not allowed to marry Oiwa (Mariko Okada), the girl of his dreams. He loses his temper and kills Oiwa's father and two companions. All is not lost as Naosuke (Kanzaburo Nakamura) witnesses the fight and has plans on Oiwa's sister Oume (Mayumi Ozora). However, he hasn't a penny and Takuetsu (Masao Mishima) is in the way.

So, Naosuke convinces Iuemon to blame the killing on someone else. While they are off seeking revenge, they kill Takuetsu. Now, they both have the women they desire.

It would have been a standard thriller, but it goes in another direction. Iuemon and Naosuke have a taste for blood and can't stand being broke. They hatch another plot to kill Oiwa and marry Iuemon to a rich girl. This is when the fantasy/horror part begins as Oiwa will not stay dead and comes back to haunt Iuemon. He manages to kill off his new family while being haunted.

Oume finds out what happens to her sister and joins forces with Takuetsu, who survived, to seek vengeance.

Tatsuya Nakadai does a very good job as a tortured soul who lets another lead him in the wrong direction.

While the US were pounding out wall to wall Westerns, Japan (Most notably Toho) were making Samurai movies from epics to action films to horrors like Illusion of Blood.

Based on a tale that had been adapted many times before it tells the story of a samurai tormented by the death of his ex-wife which he had part in. Gradually he begins to lose his mind as he is besieged by haunting visions.

I can only hope that the other adaptations of the tale are better because in no way did I appreciate this one. It failed to engage, the story is a mess and engulfed in side plots that ultimately contribute little.

Tatsuya Nakadai leads, a man I found obnoxious as the antagonist of Sanjuro (1962) but that's what they were going for. Here he's just annoying, it's hard to dislike a character when you simply can't find it in yourself to care.

The visuals are strong, the performances are passable but the story was shoddily told.

Even a studio like Toho can drop the ball sometimes, but based on the rating I can appreciate I'm in the minority thinking this.

The Good:

Looks the part

The Bad:

Tatsuya Nakadai is not on form

Story is dreadfully crafted

The lead actor is regarded as Japan's Laurence Olivier, and is perhaps Japan's top Shakespearian. I've seen several terrific performances of his, including in the outstanding SEPPUKU.

Which makes this film all the more of a let-down. Upfront, I must declare that I watched this film on a VCD with Chinese subs only, and without my resident translator, which, of course, means I clearly missed much of the fine detail and perhaps some subtleties. However, I believe that good film (and, for that matter, bad film as well !) tends to transcend language barriers.

I think the main problem is the script. The story is very uneven. Apparently normal life goes on for quite a while, then spooky things start to happen, then normal life returns and stay for ages, then a few more spooky things happen. There appears to be none of the buildup that one expects from a good scary ghost tale, regardless of whether it's in Japan or Hollywood. And Tatsuya's acting is unrestrained, which is okay when his character is getting scared, but he lays it on too thick for too long.

I note with extra horror that there is a Japanese version of this film which goes for over three hours. That is truly horrifying.

It is with some sadness that I say that I cannot recommend this film.