The Vampire Doll

Kazuhiko Sagawa (Atsuo Nakamura) returns from the USA to Tokyo and immediately travels to the countryside in a stormy night to see his fiancée Yûko Nonomura (Yukiko Kobayashi) in an isolated house in the woods. Her mother Shidu Nonomura (Yôko Minakaze) tells that Yûko died in a car accident two weeks ago. Kazuhiko spends the night in the house and during the night he overhears and sees Yûko in the nearby cemetery. A couple of days later, his sister Keiko Sagawa (Kayo Matsuo) convinces her fiancé Hiroshi Takagi (Akira Nakao ) to seek her brother out at Yûko's house where they disclose the mystery of the Nonomura's family.

"Yûrei yashiki no kyôfu: Chi wo sû ningyô", a.k.a. "The Vampire Doll", is an atmospheric vampire movie produced by Toho studios. It is interesting to see the Japanese view of vampire and how scary the make-up is. The plot is satisfactory and will not disappoint any fan of the genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Boneca Vampira" ("The Vampire Doll")

Note: On 14 August 2021, I saw this film again.

The first film in Yamamoto Michio's "The Bloodthirsty Trilogy" is usually viewed by fans of macabre cinema as the weakest of the three. Personally I find it stunning. Fully titled "The Fear of the Ghost House : The Vampire Doll" ("Yûrei yashiki no kyôfu: Chi wo sû ningyô") , Michio wasn't expected to turn in anything special for Toho (makers of the Godzilla films). just a simple pot-boiler rip-off of a typical European Horror.

Writers Hiroshi Nagano and Ei Ogawa however delivered a script which relied heavily on traditional Japanese ghost stories, which Michio then shot on Gothic style sets (the house, for example, is straight out of a Hammer, with oil portraits and suits of armour) with nods to western vampire tropes. The mix they created is intoxicating: full of atmosphere, genuinely creepy, and, in places, with unexpected scares of the quality of the earlier "Les Diabolics" or the later original "Ringu" ("Ring"). Highly recommended for anyone who likes classic horror, 1960s Hammer, or Asian Horror.

NO SPOILERS

If you like Hammer style Vampire films.Give it a shot.TOHO has three Dracula films.This one, Lake Of Dracula and Evil of Dracula.All three are excellent in their original language versions.Now, don't expect "Victorian Era" vampire horror here, like in the Hammer films.This is Japanese after all.All three films have great atmosphere and some very creepy scenes.I write this review for this particular one because it has no other reviews.And it deserves one. TOHO is better known for its giant monster flicks(Godzilla etc.) I would assume most would shy away from a TOHO "Vampire" flick.Don't!! Its well worth your time.Very much out of character for TOHO and a darn good effort on their part.Its a shame many horror fans don't know of this or the other two titles.Its just one guys opinion that these films belong in any "Vampire" film lover's collection.

Fascinating attempt by Toho to capitalize on recent Western vampire movies like the Hammer flicks. This movie has all the gothic trappings one would expect from its Western counterparts, but folds in a dose of the kind of wacky storytelling the characterizes other Japanese horror movies. The Vampire Doll seems pretty conventional (not in a bad way), until out of nowhere we get a bunch of exposition that tells the strangest, out of left field backstory, which,we learn, led up to the events of the movie.

Stylistically, the biggest mistake here is the overuse of day for night shooting, which also happens to be a failing of a lot of the Hammer movies. Nonetheless, between the fog and the excellent soundtrack with very creepy wailings and wind, this one is well worth seeing for fans of Gothic supernatural horror. Lots of fun.

The Vampire Doll is the first film of what would later on become The Bloodthirsty Trilogy with Lake of Dracula and Evil of Dracula. Produced by Toho Studios, The Vampire Doll was directed by rather unknown director Yamamoto Michio who had been working as assistant director on Kurosawa Akira's Throne of Blood. The lead actresses and actors had also mostly played in low-budget gangster movies or television films. Nobody really expected this take on classic Western vampire stories to be a success but The Vampire Doll turned out being an incredibly atmospheric film that has stood the test of time.

The settings are perfectly chosen for this film that starts on a lonely road in rural Japan on a rainy night. The most important location is the secluded mansion inspired by Western culture with its elegant but old-fashioned decorations. The old cemetery that isn't taken care of blends in perfectly. Even the nearby sleepy village recalls elements of European horror literature and cinema.

The ominous, melodic and gloomy soundtrack fits perfectly as well. The sound effects of a wailing woman and angry birds intensify the atmosphere. The camera work is generally calm and precise and therefore surprises when sudden cuts take place to introduce quite efficient jump scares.

The acting performances are superb. Matsuo Kayo convinces as sympathetic lead actress who is very emotive and willing to risk her life to save her brother. Her more grounded and rational partner played by Nakao Akira complements her excellently. Minakaze Yoko excels as creepy lady who seems to have some skeletons in her closet. Takashina Kaku convinces as deaf employee with a hauntingly creepy look and rude manners. Every single actor and actress involved performs with passion and talent that is unusual for such a low-budget horror movie. It's something that is very rarely seen nowadays.

The story isn't the most creative one and obviously inspired by classic European horror films but it's told in a steady pace that will keep you entertained from start to finish. The movie revolves Sagawa Kazuhiko who had spent six months abroad and wants to see his fiancee Nonomura Yuko again. When he arrives at her family mansion, he is told by her mother that she died two weeks earlier in a tragic traffic accident. About a week later, Sagawa Kazuhiko still hasn't returned home and his sister Keiko starts to be worried. She convinces her fiance Takagi Hiroshi to visit the family mansion where her brother was headed for. When they arrive, they are told that her brother left the day after he was told that his fiancee had died but Keiko senses that strange things are going on in the mansion. Her fiance and she decide to stay to investigate the family's sinister past in a nearby town. The further they investigate, the more their lives are getting in danger.

If you like classic atmospheric horror movies, you will adore The Vampire Doll. The settings, effects and acting are still superb by contemporary standards. It's the best horror film I have seen in a long time and I would both revisit it again soon and recommend it to my friends.