Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters

Definitely a movie of quite noticeable ups and downs.

To start with the cons/get through the negatives first, it's a bit of a slog at times thanks to pacing issues, the story is unfocused, and there's not enough monster shenanigans.

The pros are that when the monsters do appear on screen, they're a lot of fun, and the effects are quite creative. It's also anti-landlord, which is always good to see, and there are a few very visually appealing and eerie shots here and there.

Plus, the final 15 minutes does admittedly go pretty hard. Just feels a little slow-going to get there at times.

This is a bizarre type of movie that I have seen and is pretty unique. The story is basic with a greedy landowner who intends to tear down a local shrine to build a brothel until something bad happens. Things gets interesting when he does a ceremony of different tales of yokai and the evil spirits appear. I wish we could learn more about each yokai in the movie and their backstory to them. But it's bizarre and interesting to see each yokai that appears in the movie and the things they do throughout. The movie has a pretty good atmosphere to it with the music that plays throughout the movie and is built up pretty well throughout. Although the movie takes a while to get going. Also, I felt some yokai are underutilized since it only appeared in one or two scenes, and they don't do that much in the movie. But the climax itself is both crazy and pretty fun to watch with each of the yokai that appear in it. Since the movie is really short, the characters aren't really that fully developed or that interesting. Most of them are one-dimensional and have little to offer from them. He yokai are an interesting type of spirits that I have seen, and they have bizarre designs to them. I really think the effects hold up pretty well for the time it was made. They have a bizarre appearance to them and give off a spooky vibe to them. My favorite yokai is the umbrella one who is both weird and pretty memorable.

100 Monsters is a bizarre type of movie that I have seen that is recommended on the bizarre nature it has in it.

The story is fairly simple as corrupt, greedy, cruel officials meet with fates borne out by their own hubris. Inasmuch as there's more to it than that, the details really just come down to elucidation of the rottenness of the officials and their collaborators, and the nature of how they come to be removed as problems for the townspeople they victimize. It's worth observing that the most fantastical elements of the story are mostly reserved for the last fifth of the runtime, with only bits and pieces flavoring the proceedings before that. Still, the tale is compelling broadly, and where '100 monsters' does embrace the horror of scenario, those scenes are distinctly creepy in the way one would hope as death and madness take over. There is perhaps nothing so striking about this 1968 film as to demand viewership, and it's not the only Daiei production I've seen to struggle a little under a lumbering pace. When all is said and done, though, it's well worth watching on its own merits, and overall a solidly good time.

Setting aside the pacing, this is well made in every capacity. The sets and costume design are just as lovely as one would expect from most any period fare coming out of Japan, and the feature is very easy on the eyes, not least as the warm cinematography of Yasukazu Takemura brings out every detail with a soft yet crisp lens. The cast give admirable performances around commensurate with the material, and I find no fault in Kimiyoshi Yasuda's direction in orchestrating shots and scenes. Perhaps most importantly given the space in which 'Yokai monsters' plays, all the most intense elements of the production look outstanding as they come to bear, mostly within the last stretch. All the stunts and effects that are employed look really great, and the imagination poured into the design of the promised entities is matched only by the enthusiasm with which they were realized by the artists who created the costumes and props and the actors who played them. By and large the result is more "fun-scary" than "scary-scary," but it all comes off very well, and in its own manner provides the flavorful entertainment we anticipate.

Unless one is a major fan of Daiei, or the otherwise many monster flicks that Japan has produced over the years, there isn't necessarily a special reason to check this out. It's enjoyable, but not hugely striking, and it perhaps is not the most robustly invigorating or satisfying title one could watch. '100 monsters' is a classic that remains deserving on its own merits, however, and if one does have the opportunity to watch, this is a fine picture to check out for something comparatively light.

This is one of the three great Japanese Yokai movies that ADV has released. All the monsters in it are based on Japanese folklore and traditional art. It isn't as silly as "Spook Warfare" (Yôkai daisensô), which was more of a kids comedy, but it is still a lot of fun and has some genuinely creepy moments. The plot is about a wicked developer who is brutally trying to drive people out of an apartment building and destroy a nearby shrine. Of course this makes the the Yokai monsters angry and they retaliate. Movies like this are almost as much about the monsters though as the plot. Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters has some funny monsters and great costumes for a 60's Japanese monster flick. I recommend it.

Unscrupulous magistrate Tajimaya (Takashi Kanda) uses theft, coercion, violence, and ultimately murder to take over a tenement house and a shrine with the intent of tearing them down. He also uses his leverage to force Ôkubi (Keiko Koyanagi), the beautiful daughter of the tenement's owner (Tatsuo Hanabu) to become his mistress. Tajimaya's actions and disrespect angers the local spirits, the Yôkai, and soon he and his minions find themselves cursed and harassed by monsters. The film, first in a Yokai trilogy from Daiei Film, is an imaginative fantasy with odd imagery (the 'umbrella monster' features prominently in the advertising) superimposed on a typical Japanese samurai adventure. The monsters (a mix of animation, puppets and costumes) are frequently quite bizarre. I am not familiar with Japanese folklore, but I gather that many of the diverse creatures represent traditional tropes (for example: the umbrella monster ('Kasa-obake') and the long-necked woman (Rokurokubi). 'Yokai: 100 Monsters' ('Yôkai hyaku monogatari') is entertaining and offbeat (at least from a 'Western perspective'), and likely a good introduction to yet another fanciful Japanese film genre. Note: I watched an English-subtitled version that, judging from some of the idioms, seems to have been made several years after the original film was released.