This film consists of four ghost stories inspired by Japanese folk legends.
"Black Hair" (Kurokami): a poverty-stricken samurai abandons his beloved and marries another woman for money, but the marriage is disastrous and he decides to return to his first wife.
"The Woman in the Snow" (Yuki-onna): during a snowstorm a woodcutter encounters a spirit with the features of a woman who spares his life on the condition that the boy does not talk about the event.
"Hoichi the Earless" (Miminashi Houichi no hanashi): Hoichi is a talented blind musician and the ghostly imperial court of an extinct dynasty asks him to sing the epic ballad of their glorious battle. The monks tattoo a sacred mantra on his body to protect him from the spirits.
"In a cup of tea" (Chawan no naka): a warrior is challenged to a duel by an image reflected in his tea cup.
Kwaidan is a classic of Japanese horror cinema with unspeakable modernity, a film that elegantly draws on fairy tales (the narrator's voice, the claustrophobic and spooky environments, the gothic and fantastic atmosphere suspended between reality and dreams) and Japanese tradition resulting in an almost theatrical work.
The ever-changing photography and set design (while evidently unreal), encapsulate an unmatched and sinister charm.
A film with lyrical tones (love, death, grief, loneliness, remorse) rooted in visual images, hallucinations and almost whispered music that tend to magnify inner nightmares and ghosts.
Probably the finest cinematic horror film of all time.
Fun fact: The second episode "The Woman in the Snow" was certainly an inspiration to John Harrison for the making of the third episode of The Black Cat Crimes (Tales from the Darkside).
