Broadway (billed as “Sumiko Susuki”) in a stage adaptation of The Story of the Cat Monster of Fair Saga, “Koi-no Yozakura” (Passion of the Night Cherry Blossoms). She soon became associated with these supernatural tales and appeared in several Kaibyo roles, first in the 1937 Shigeru Kifuji production of THE LEGEND OF THE MONSTER CAT OF SAGA (Saga Kaibyo Den) and, in her last film in the role, 1958’s GHOST CAT OF THE CLOCKWORK CEILING (Kaibyo Karakuri Tenjo), directed by Kinnosuke Fukuda. Her 1938 vehicle, THE GHOST CAT AND THE MYSTERIOUS SHAMISEN (Kaibyo Nazo-no Shamisen, 1938), directed by Kiyohiko Ushihara, was recently screened in the UK on November 8, 2011, as a selection of the 25th
Leeds
International Film Festival. But in Japan, the actress most associated with the role is
Takako Irie (1911-1995), one of the biggest stars of the pre-war era. A former Miss Nippon, Irie began acting in 1927, appeared in over 160 feature films during her long career, starred in Kenji Mizoguchi’s THE WATER MAGICIAN (Taki-no Shiraito, 1933), and even founded her own production company. Irie’s first foray into the Kaibyo films was in the 1953 production of THE GHOST OF SAGA MANSION (Kaidan Saga Yashiki), directed by Ryohei Arai, which was shot back-to-back with Arai’s follow-up with Irie, GHOST CAT OF ARIMA PALACE (Kaibyo Arima Goten), and released only three months apart. Her other Kaibyo films include
A man about to make a very poor (and final) decision in 1968’s GHOST CAT OF THE CURSED MARSH.
Bin Kado’s GHOST CAT OF THE OKAZAKI UPHEAVAL (Kaibyo Okazaki Sodo, 1954), GHOST CAT AT THE DEVIL’S CROSSROAD (Kaibyo Ouma-ga-tsuji, 1954), and Kado’s GHOST CAT OF THE 53 WAY STATIONS (Kaibyo Gojusan- tsugi, 1956). She reprised the creature for Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of HOUSE (Hausu, 1977), in the 1938 made-for- television movie, THE ELEGANT CAT’S GHOST (revised and released theatrically in 1998). Both actresses have been featured in films directed by Akira Kurosawa. Unfortunately, while there have been scores of films produced
about the Kaibyo, the vast majority of those produced before the 1930s, with few exceptions, have been lost. However, the opposite is true for those films produced in the post-war years. Besides the aforementioned films starring Missus Suzuki and Irie, there are a number of very outstanding post-war films of this sub-genre, which are highly regarded in the annals of the Japanese Horror Cinema. Here are three exceptional titles, one of which has just been issued on Blu-ray in North America. First and foremost is BLACK CAT MANSION (Bourei Kaibyo
Yashiki, 1958), directed by Nobuo Nakagawa (1905-1984), the Japanese Master of Horror. The color production combines the classic The Story of the Cat Monster of Fair Saga with that of Ghost Cat & The Red Wall (Akakabe Myojin Kaibyo Kidan, 1918)—wherein the murdered victim is sealed behind a wall, and the killer begins to see a red stain begin to grow through—and adds a modern-day prologue and epilogue shot in Mario Bava- esque Black & White. While the film probably won’t scare anyone by today’s standards, it is still quite a unique entry—for both the combination of stories and the aforementioned bookends. This title is reportedly under license to Janus Films, which also released Nakagawa’s delirious JIGOKU (1960) on DVD through The Criterion Collection. Tokuzo Tanaka’s THE HAUNTED CASTLE (Hiroku Kaibyo
30
FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND • JAN/FEB 2012 GHOST CAT OF OTAMA POND (1960)
Den, 1969) is a lavishly produced variation on The Story of the Cat Monster of Fair Saga as its foundation, with plot conventions from several other Kaidan stories for good measure. The narrative follows a brave samurai (played by Kojiro Hongo, who also starred in the Kaidan Eiga THE BRIDE FROM HADES), who attempts to hunt down the creature, while he secretly investigates his own lord, Nabeshima, for the murder of a blind Monk. While the film follows the old conventions, it adds several layers, and
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