AllMovie

This stylish reworking of the "Bride from Hell" legend from Nikkatsu helped to make director Chusei Sone (a protégé of Seijun Suzuki during the 1960s) one of the studio's most respected in-house filmmakers. Setsuko Ogawa from the Irogoyomi Ooku Hiwa series stars as the beautiful daughter of the shogun's samurai, the most desired woman in the empire. Ogawa falls in love with a young warrior (Hajime Tanimoto from the same year's classic Nureta Kuchibiru), but is murdered by a jealous servant girl before she can marry him. Ogawa's angry ghost comes back from the grave and continues to sleep with Tanimoto, plotting supernatural revenge on her killer. It's a familiar tale for regular viewers of Japanese genre cinema, but Sone gives it some individuality with his almost painterly compositions and enchanting touches of magic realism. Miki Hayashi and Hidemi Hara co-star.