Radiance Films
Blu-ray Release: October 29, 2024
Video: 2.35:1/1080p/Color
Audio: Japanese LPCM 1.0 Mono
Subtitles: English
Run Time: 88:35
Director: Satsuo Yamamoto
Note: This disc is currently only available as part of Radiance’s Daiei Gothic Blu-ray collection, which also includes The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) and The Snow Woman (1968).
Japanese ghost stories – or kaidan (sometimes translated as kwaidan) – are rooted in an ancient pantheon of conventions, stock characters, and narrative tropes. These established, often unaltered stories date back way before motion picture cameras to the Heian period (794–1185) and records of public exhibitions date back to the Noh and Kyogen theater of the 1300s, Bunraku puppetry, and the kabuki theater of the 1600s. Japanese horror filmmaking dates back to the silent era, though many early features have been lost to time. During the Second Sino-Japanese War and WWII, the authoritative government labeled genre movies frivolous, nearly halting the production of kaidan pictures. After the war, occupying US forces discouraged period dramas, known as jidaigeki, assuming that they would cultivate national pride and encourage dissent. Since the majority of the established ghost stories took place in an older historical era, horror continued to be largely ignored.
Kaidan films finally had their renaissance during the 1950s, as US political authority waned and the region’s motion picture output was redefined by a mix of Edo era ideals and western cultural influences. This surge in horror produced several highly acclaimed films that were popular even outside of Japan, including Masaki Kobayashi’s Academy Award-nominated Kwaidan (1964) and Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968). While Toho stole much of the glory during the ‘60s, Daiei Studios got in on the boom early with strong showings from Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu (Japanese: Ugetsu Monogatari, 1953) and Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950), which features a ghost among the many witnesses of a central crime.
The Bride from Hades (1968)
On the first night of Oban, Hagiwara Shinzaburô (Kôjirô Hongô) begins a whirlwind romance with a beautiful young woman named Otsuyu (Miyoko Akaza). Soon after, he realizes that she and her loyal attendant are actually dead spirits.
While not quite as popular as Ghost of Yotsuya, Botan Dōrō, aka The Peony Lantern, is a cornerstone of classic kaidan. It came to Japan via China and was first adapted by Shin Buddhist priest Asai Ryoi in 1666. Then, in 1892, popular storyteller San'yūtei Enchō adapted Ryoi’s telling for the kabuki stage as Tales of the Peony Lantern (Japanese: Kaidan Botan Dôrô), leading to the release of at least five (now lost) silent film versions between 1910 and 1930. Satsuo Yamamoto’s The Bride from Hades (Japanese: Botan-dôrô; aka: Peony Lantern, 1968) is the most celebrated surviving film adaptation, though Chūsei Sone’s 1972 Nikkatsu Roman Porno variation, Hellish Love (Japanese: Seidan botan doro), also has its fans.
The Bride from Hades is, at its base, another kaidan morality play, one that warns young men against trusting strange women (horny/lovelorn ghosts are common throughout Japanese and Chinese folklore), but puts nearly as much onus on society by highlighting the cruelty of the caste system and the horrors of greed. Yamamoto’s greatest trick is making us feel bad for Otsuyu, despite knowing the danger that she poses, and understanding how Shinzaburô could be so beguiled. The film maintains an oppressive gloom of Gothic and melancholia, even during scenes of dopey comedic hyperbole. On the scary side of the equation, the minimalist, skeletal make-up provides a few solid shocks and the deliberate momentum in which the ghosts float through the sets is deeply unsettling.
Yamamoto had been making movies since the 1930s and was conscripted into making government propaganda during WWII. During the ‘50s, he established himself as an independent anti-authoritarian filmmaker of note, railing against war, corruption, the oppression of women, and corporate greed. His union ties and Communist beliefs kept him away from major studio work for a time, but he eventually relented, making commercial films in the latter part of his career. His other Daiei work includes the first two films in the long-running Shinobi no mono series (1962, ‘63), Ivory Tower (Japanese: Shiroi Kyotō, 1965), and the 16th film in the Zatoichi franchise, Zatoichi the Outlaw (Japanese: Zatôichi rôyaburi, 1967).
Bibliography:
Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema by Jasper Sharp (Scarecrow Press, 2011)
Introduction to Japanese Horror Film by Colette Balmain (Edinburgh University Press, 2008)
Outlaw Masters of Japanese Cinema by Chris D. (I.B. Tauris, 2005)
Video
Previously, your only chance to see The Bride from Hades was a Japanese DVD with zero English subtitles released under the title Tales of the Peony Lantern. Radiance Film’s Blu-ray and English-language home-video debut features a new 1080p, 2.35:1 transfer sourced from a new 4K restoration. This might be the best transfer in the Daiei Gothic collection. Grain and other textures are perhaps a bit soft, but otherwise tidy. Chikashi Makiura’s elegant cinematography emphasizes contrast in a soft, sometimes foggy manner that could easily turn to blocky mush with too much compression. The palette is bleak and limited, but there are plenty of rich red and green highlights throughout. Dynamic range is strong, despite slightly greyish blacks.
Audio
The Bride from Hades is presented in its original mono Japanese and uncompressed LPCM sound. Dialogue levels feature only minor hiss and the omnipresent buzz of cicadas bolsters that oppressive atmosphere during daylight scenes and the quiet echo of ghostly voices is a nice touch. Shigeru Ikeno’s Bernard Herrmann-esque score really helps sell the scares and benefits from the lack of compression. There’s quite a bit of singing throughout, as well, which manages to sound consistent at higher volume levels.
Extras
Commentary with Jasper Sharp – The author of Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema, among other Japanese genre tomes, reads from an English translation of the original story and explores its history, the larger careers of the cast & crew (with emphasis on Yamamoto), common kaidan themes, and the history and late ‘60s struggles of Daiei Studios.
Interview with filmmaker Hiroshi Takahashi (17:39, HD) – The screenwriter of Ringu (1998) discusses the lasting lineage of kaidan, leading all the way to the J-horror wave he was a part of, and praises Bride from Hades, admiring its technique, its cast, and comparing it to Mario Bava’s work and the Russian folk horror classic Viy (1967) at one point.
Japanese trailer
The images on this page are taken from the BDs and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.
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