Kaidan

Kaidan, which from what I understand translates to "ghost stories," is an effective horror-romance period piece set during the Edo period. The film opens with a dramatic scene from the past, then shifts to the present, where it follows Shinkichi, a tobacco seller who falls deeply in love with an older but beautiful woman named Oshiga.

Both Shinkichi and Oshiga are deeply flawed characters, and the story between them is well developed. It genuinely feels like a ghost story from another era, yet still manages to be unsettling. The atmosphere and emotional weight linger long after the film ends.

Review written by artist jayakumar jrain.

Kaidan (2007) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a wandering man who was orphaned as a child when his parents were killed by a samurai who owed them money. The young man now sells tobacco on the streets and one day falls in love with a brothel owner. He tries to leave her when he realizes their relationship is bad for her business. He discover leaving her is going to be harder than it appears, especially after an unfortunate accident. This movie is directed by Hideo Nakata (Dark Water and Ringu 1 & 2) and stars Kumiko Asô (Pulse), Leona Hirota (Endless Waltz), Hitomi Kuroki (Dark Water) and Kikunosuke Onoe (47 Ronin). This movie is entertaining from beginning to end. They do a fantastic job setting up the storyline and delivering the backstory of the family and lake. This movie has great character development and delivery of both the main and side characters. The writing is excellent displaying how a lack of malice and intention can lead to absolute malice nonetheless. The circumstances are interesting and unpredictable and the horror elements are a slow build but once they get going are very good. I loved the ghost elements and the conclusion was outstanding. This is a very well written and well done movie that is definitely worth your time. I'd score this an 8.5/10 and strongly recommend it.

I enjoyed "Kaidan", don't get me wrong. But I couldn't like it more simply because the story seemed overly burdened with too many plot elements and was unnecessarily circuitous. I really believe eliminating a few plot points would have actually made for a better film.

The story begins unusually. There is a prologue but it's presented like a play--with obvious sets and a narrator. The tale involves a money lender who is viciously murdered by a samurai in order to avoid repaying an honest debt. As the man dies, he curses the man--saying that his child will one day exact revenge on the murderer's family. Believe it or not, none of this is actually needed for the film. When the murderer's son is eventually accorded his fate, it really is NOT because of his father's sins but his own, as Shinkichi is an evil and selfish man in his own right. Plus, he ends up destroying the daughter of the man his father murdered--and for this and his subsequent actions, he really deserved EVERYTHING he deserved. But, enjoyable as it was, it sure took a long time to get to this point. Very stylish, very beautiful but also too many things that got in the way of point A and point B. Good but flawed.

After falling in love, a salesman allows his wife's death to occur igniting a powerful ghostly curse that befalls him and whomever he loves that carries on through the years and must find a way to break the curse.

Overall this was a pretty disappointing effort that should've had a lot going for. What is so enjoyable about this one is the fact that this one manages to perfectly expose the time-period setting here as feudal Japan in the background serves as quite an impactful location for all the ghostly activities. The cramped villages, the formal society and the countryside air provide a spectacular place for a traditional old-school ghost story to take place and that makes for a chilling setting here when they start occurring in the second half. That's really where this gets good as the fruition of the curse start coming into play as the ghostly hauntings that prevent his search for normalcy are incredibly enjoyable and truly chilling, as the encounter at the lake with his second wife are quite creepy with the stomping footsteps of someone approaching, the ghostly eyes and the possessed attempting to strange him resulting in the chilling realization of his actions being a fantastic encounter along with the a later scene of him appearing to his son only to realize his cursed ghost is in the room with him and drags him into a ghostly portal and emerging at a lake where he falls victim to another chilling ghostly trap that continues on the curse. The finale works well with the action-packed chasing and brutal slashings on his pursuers allowing for plenty of graphic bloodletting to go along with that frantic action to end this on a high note, but otherwise this was pretty troubling. The biggest issue here is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of interesting horror elements going on here, for the first half of this contains absolutely nothing at all beyond setting up the doomed romance that starts the curse. That this takes up to fifty minutes before even starting the situation, there's plenty of times here where it just doesn't get going with any sort of urgency or immediacy in signaling the ghostly activities that crop up, and it tends to feel more like a tragic romance than out-and-out horror even throughout the later half when he finds himself continually struck under the confines of the curse. This drags on for quite a few times here as the time and period setting here undermine the horror efforts with their strictly rigid society and completely impersonal approach which tends to let this go for the truly chilling set-ups. The other big flaw here is a completely confusing and unnecessary prologue that tells of a samurai's actions leading to a curse involving a mysterious lake in the area which has no part in the rest of the film at all for their familial status doesn't impact them, the lake isn't shown until the finale and it's his actions that drive the curse more than anything so to put that there is a little awkward. These tend to lower this one enough when it could've been great.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language, a sensual sex scene and mild drug use.

"Kaidan" was a rather odd mix of movies. It blended together elements from typical Japanese horror, then threw in elements of samurai movie, supernatural element and ordinary drama movie. The end result, well, that was a mixed result, at least for me.

I enjoyed the movie in the sense that it was a nice step away from the traditional (and often stereotypical) Japanese horror movies that have a tendency of resembling one another quite a lot. That being said, then it should also be said that "Kaidan" is not at all scary. There are no scare moments that makes you jump out of your seat. Instead, "Kaidan" is running on psychological terror and that of a traditional curse. As the viewer, we know the curse that is put upon the main character, and as such, sit around knowing that something bad will happen, despite him trying to atone for his wrong-doings.

Being set in ancient Japan, "Kaidan" was a nice change of scenery for a Japanese horror movie. It was nice to see a horror movie set in this age, because of the simplicity and purity of that age and surrounding. A nice step away from the neon-lit Tokyo of the 21st century. And being set in that time, it was easier to buy into a curse actually being present and taking effect.

There was something majestic and grand about the movie. Perhaps it was the way it was shot, combined with the age in which it took place, plus the set and props were really great. Lots of nice detail and the scenery was so nicely made. It was like you were right there with the people. It was really a beautiful movie to watch.

The story, well, it moved onward at a fairly slow pace. But somehow the storyline picks you up and leaves you wanting to see what happens next. Story-wise, then don't expect too much of a complex story or too much adrenaline-filled thrills, because that is not here. The movie is slow and builds up suspense, and it works well enough.

As for the acting, then it was nice to see a movie with all actors and actresses that I can't recall having seen elsewhere. At least not off the top of my mind. And the people did good jobs with their given roles.

If you watch "Kaidan" for thrills and scares, then you are in for somewhat of a disappointment. However, if you want a Japanese horror movie that is somewhat out of the ordinary you see in Japanese horror movies, then "Kaidan" might be a great choice. Just prepare yourself for a psychological horror movie that is not fast-paced. Despite it being a good enough movie, with amazing setting, then I somehow think that the movie didn't accomplish all that it could have. There was something missing from the movie to make it unique. And that was a shame, because "Kaidan" could really have left a mark and set a new standard for Japanese horror movies.