Kaidan (Kwaidan) (Ghost Stories) (1964)
92%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Exquisitely designed and fastidiously ornate, Masaki Kobayashi’s ambitious anthology operates less as a frightening example of horror and more as a meditative tribute to Japanese folklore.
Kwaidan is a hauntingly beautiful film that will leave you feeling both enchanted and spooked. Director Masaki Kobayashi weaves together three eerie stories that are both classic fables and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The avant-garde flourishes and surrealistic splendor of the film’s settings are breathtakingly captured by the cameramen and art directors. The film moves slowly and deliberately, but it holds you in its grip so completely that you’ll find your pulse racing madly in rhythm with the images on the screen. If you’re a lover of the offbeat and eerie, Kwaidan is a must-watch.
Production Company(ies)
Daiei
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
1964
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 29, 1964 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 10, 2000
Genre(s)
Horror/Fantasy
Keyword(s)
starring Rentarô Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Tetsurô Tanba, Katsuo Nakamura, Keiko Kishi, Osamu Takizawa, directed by Masaki Kobayashi, written by Yoko Mizuki, horror, fantasy, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Wanda Hale, William J Nazzaro, Kevin Thomas, Michael Billington, Joseph Gelmis, Clifford Terry, Brian Eggert, Chris Plante, Arlene Billinkoff, Jacob Siskind, R.H Gardner, Stanley Eichelbaum, produced by Shigeru Wakatsuki, MPAA rating, Japanese folklore, anthology, ghost story, penniless samurai, tragic results, stranded in a blizzard, saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, rescue at a cost, blind musician, forced to perform for an audience of ghosts, author, relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior’s reflection in his teacup
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Michiyo Aratama – First wife
Tetsurô Tanba – Warrior
Katsuo Nakamura – Hoichi
Keiko Kishi – Yuki
Osamu Takizawa – Narrator
Director(s)
Masaki Kobayashi
Writer(s)
Yoko Mizuki
Producer(s)
Shigeru Wakatsuki
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (4)
An artistic triumph for the director Masaki Kobayashi, his cameramen and his art directors.
September 20, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Wanda Hale
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
Kwaidan is not for everyone. It is for the lover of the offbeat and eerie. It is a film you will not soon forget.
September 20, 2021
William J. Nazzaro
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
This awesome and enthralling Japanese [film] weaves a spell of enchantment with its weird stories, which unfold amidst settings of surrealistic splendor that have been photographed in the most breathtaking color since Gate of Hell.
September 20, 2021
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
All three stories are weird and wonderful, and under Kobayashi’s direction, the film casts its own exotic and highly colourful spell.
September 20, 2021
Michael Billington
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Judged purely as an expensive mood piece, the film could be considered a great success. The best thing about Kwaidan is its otherworldly, haunted atmosphere.
September 20, 2021
Joseph Gelmis
Newsday
TOP CRITIC
[Kwaidan] combines the fantastic color of Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits with Poe-like burstings of Gothic horror.
September 20, 2021
Clifford Terry
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
A film of methodical pacing, theatricality, and avant-garde flourishes, which work in harmony to acknowledge that something lies beyond any grounded understanding of reality.
February 12, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
The stories themselves fall somewhere between classic fables and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. And the feeling? There’s nothing quite like it.
October 25, 2021
Chris Plante
Polygon
Director Masaki Kobayashi effectively makes use of color, concentrating on whites, greys and beiges to impart his eerie atmosphere.
September 20, 2021
Arlene Billinkoff
Winnipeg Free Press
Kwaidan moves slowly and deliberately and yet holds you so completely in its grip that you find your pulse racing madly in rhythm with the images that flood the screen.
September 20, 2021
Jacob Siskind
Montreal Gazette
A trilogy of Poe-like horror stories, it is, at the same time, one of the eeriest and most beautiful films ever made.
September 20, 2021
R.H. Gardner
Baltimore Sun
In the course of the film, Kobayashi treats us to an unrivaled visual experience.
September 20, 2021
Stanley Eichelbaum
San Francisco Examiner…
Plot
Kwaidan is an anthology of four Japanese folk tales, including a penniless samurai who marries for money, a man saved by the Snow Maiden, a blind musician forced to perform for ghosts, and an author who sees a warrior’s reflection in his teacup.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The blind musician Hoichi is played by Katsuo Nakamura.
Masaki-Kobayashi.jpg
