Considered perfect viewing for the 'Obon' festival in Japan... or as we like to call it here, Halloween. This release marks the first time ever for this title on domestic home video. Brand new factory sealed dvd, widescreen transfer mastered in HD from vault materials.
Original Japanese language with removable English subtitles. Director Nobuo Nakagawa has been considered the father of the modern Japanese horror film, and this is among his last works.
This ghostly yarn charts the damage, both physical and supernatural, wrought by vicious landowner Chobei (Seizaburo Kawazu). He destroys the life of one of his peasant farmers, Yasuke (Ko Nishimura), whose passing leaves a wife and daughter (Sachiko Kuwahara) to pay off his debt, so he makes them his personal servants.
Chobei has big plans for his family, but the callous killing of a snake that the widow had been protecting opens up the floodgates for a nasty supernatural curse which only amplifies with another death and a series of hauntings. He begins to lose his grip on sanity as he begins experiencing horrible hallucinations. He also begins to believe that his son's beautiful new bride reminds him disturbingly of the dead snake.
The anamorphic transfer is a knockout, with rich colors and beautiful scope framing making this a real treat from start to finish. The optional English subtitles are well written and convey the story nicely enough, meaning this is a must for anyone who tried to puzzle it out in the past without the aid of subs on those bootleg versions.
The cover is reversible so you can display the original Japanese poster artwork.