Kaidan hebi-onna (1968)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Nobuo Nakagawa

Writer:

Nobuo Nakagawa (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Landlord | Snake | Meiji | Revenge | Farmer

Cast

Junzaburo Ban	...	Fusatarô
Yukie Kagawa	...	Kinu Ônuma
Seizaburô Kawazu	...	Chôbê Ônuma
Sachiko Kuwahara	...	Asa - Yasuke's daughter
Kunio Murai	...	Sutematsu
Hideo Murota	...	Saiji
Akemi Negishi	...	Masae Ônuma
Kô Nishimura	...	Yasuke
Reiko Ohara
Gôzô Sôma	...	Man A (as Gôzô Sôma)
Tetsuro Tamba	...	Police Chief
Chiaki Tsukioka	...	Sue
Shingo Yamashiro	...	Tekeo Ônuma

Also Known As:

Ghost Story of the Snake Woman
Snake Woman's Curse (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Toei Tokyo

classy, eerie ghost story from Japan

A wealthy land owner (landlord) has repossessed the farm of an old man and his family. When the old man runs along beside the carriage in which the landlord is riding, begging for his land not to be taken back, he is thrown to the side and injured, and dies from his injuries. After that, his wife (Sue) and daughter (Asa) are taken by the landlord to work for him for 10 years to pay off the old man's debts. Sue is killed after trying to prevent the killing of a snake, and her ghost (along with that of the old man) haunts the landlord. In fact, Sue's influence seems to make it look like other people are turning into snakes, too, including the bride of the landlord's son, and others. Asa is raped by the landlord's son after he concocts a story to have her deliver a letter to someone in the nearby town so he can get her away from the homestead, and after spending the night in the forest in a rainstorm, she's never the same. There are all kinds of snakes popping up here and there, in a rice bowl, as part of another human being, etc., so eventually the landlord and his family are pretty disturbed by the goings on. Eventually the landlord is driven to see things that aren't there to the point where justice triumphs and he gets his due. This all takes place in the late 1800's, it seems, and is fairly classy but not without creepiness. If you're a fan of creepy ghost stories, Asian style, you'll probably love this. 8 out of 10.