Peony Lantern

I watched this movie last night and I found it great! If you get tired of watching Hollywood movie, try movies from around the world. Hollywood movies have been duplicated and very boring.

I recently watched Bride from Hades (1968) on a random streaming service. The storyline revolves around a young man on the outskirts of town who, engaged to be married, falls in love with a young lady at a local festival, unaware that she's a ghost with a tragic past and cruel intentions.

Directed by Satsuo Yamamoto (The Bogus Policeman) and featuring Kôjirô Hongô (Satan's Sword), Kô Nishimura (Yojimbo), Mayumi Ogawa (Shin Godzilla), and Takashi Shimura (Ikiru).

This famous kabuki tale is brilliantly told. The settings, attire, and props vividly capture the imagination and are enhanced by great use of lighting and fog machines. The background music for adds to the intensity. The acting is phenomenal, and the horror effects surpass expectations. Creepy scenes with the ladies, well-executed face change scenes, and effective use of skeletons contribute to the film's eerie atmosphere. Haunting and levitation scenes are also impressive, making this a compelling watch.

In conclusion, Bride from Hades is a well-crafted horror tale with effects that have aged remarkably. I would give it an 8/10 and strongly recommend it for its captivating storytelling and eerie atmosphere.

Nice little Japanese ghost story that never really scares but the two lady ghosts are very eerie. Would have been more effective shot in black and white.

Shinzaburo (Kôjirô Hongô, who will be familiar to fans of the titanic turtle 'Gamera'), a young samurai rejected by his family for refusing to marry his brother's widow, falls in love with the uncanny but beautiful Otsuyu (Miyoko Akaza), only to discover that she is the resurrected spirit of a chaste courtesan who committed suicide after being forced to marry against her will. The lovely ghost can only remain on Earth for the three-day Obon festival, at the end of which Shinzaburo must decide whether to abandon her to an eternity of loneliness or marry her and join her in the otherworld. The film is based on the classic Japanese ghost tale 'Botan Doro' ('Peony Lantern', named for the paper lantern that Otsuyu carries) and seems to have been released under a number of different titles*. Satsuo Yamamoto's cinematic version is a beautifully made supernatural romance with an outstandingly creepy vibe, especially the scenes of Otsuyu and her equally deceased mistress Oyone, drifting through town without apparently walking. There are a few effective 'BOO!' moments but generally the chills come from the film's uncanny feel and clever use of make-up on the sepulchral pair. Comic relief is provided by Shinzaburo's bumbling employee Banzo (Kô Nishimura), the first to see the mysterious women as they really are, and his grasping, shrewish wife, who wants him to demand 100 ryo from the spirits in exchange to removing the sacred scrolls that are keeping them from visiting Shinzaburo. The pair are amusing and their not-unexpected comeuppance was a lot harsher than I expected considering their near slapstick roles. A perfect companion piece to 1968's 'The Snow Woman' for a night of sushi, sake, and vintage Japanese spookies. *The version I recently watched on TUBI was entitled 'The Bride from Hades'.

The seduction of death itself (in the form of an alluring ghost) is familiar enough territory in Japanese ghost stories (Ghost Story Of Yotsuya, Kuroneko, etc), the twist here being Communist director Yamamoto's playful depiction of the villagers' efforts to thwart the ghost's advances towards their middle class school teacher, Shinzaburou.

As with most Yamamoto films, the emphasis here is on the ensemble playing of the cast rather than any leads. That said, the roles of Banzou and his wife do seem rather overplayed, probably betraying their origin as kabuki grotesques.

Handsomely shot (Chishi Makiura) and scored (Sei Ikeno) to evoke a vivid sense of the dark, sticky nights of Obon, this is a curious and thoughtful horror film that somehow manages to give Bhuddism, capitalism and family a good kicking within the restrictions of the genre and the source material.