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Yotsuya Ghost Story (Yotsuya Kaidan)

by Birks on September 05, 2005 in Movies - Email This Post Email This Post


Yesterday, Donj and I were able to watch one of the Jap Horror Films showing at the Shangri-la Plaza Mall. We watched the Yotsuya Ghost Story. Since the screening time was 5pm, we went there as early as 3pm for our tickets. Admission is free which is why at 3pm, a lot of people have already lined up at the ticket booth. It was an R-18 movie so some of the teens who were lining up weren’t allowed to be given tickets unless they had ID’s proving that they are already 18 yrs. old or older.

The Yotsuya Ghost Story or Yotsuya Kaidan is a classic Japanese ghost story which is based on a true story. The film was made in 1959 and runs about an hour and 24 mins. The story concerns the haunting of a female ghost whose face was disfigured and wanted to avenge her death. This ghost was Oiwa’s ghost, a beautiful woman who had a husband named Tamiya Iemon. Tamiya, an unemployed samurai, was also loved by a rich, young and beautiful woman (Oume) who wanted to pursue him as her husband. But Tamiya can’t marry her because he already had a wife. So Naosuki, one of Tamiya’s buddies and works for Oume’s father who was a wealthy merchant, tried to help Tamiya “get rid” of Oiwa so that Tamiya can marry Oume, hoping to get a share of the wealth that Tamiya inherits as a result of his union with Oume. Naosuki sends Oiwa a poisoned medicine (Oiwa was getting weak due to a miscarriage). Oiwa drinks the medicine and soon suffers from the ill effects of the poison which horribly disfigures her face. Tamiya was disgraced when he came home and saw his wife’s frightful face. He accidentally kills her when he pushed her and she falls upon a sword, slashing her neck and bleeding to death. That was when Oiwa turned into a ghost and haunted her husband and the others involved in her death.

Unlike in the more modern asian horror movies where flashbacks are commonly used to tell the story of how the ghost hauntings came to be, in this particular film, there were no twists or complications in the way the story was told. But even if hi-tech digital effects weren’t present in the film, its visual and sound effects were still quite effective. The movie as a whole wasn’t too scary, in my own opinion. The scary parts didn’t even begin until about 1/3 at the end of movie. But still, it was an interesting movie and it was worth watching.

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