Three further Japanese gothic takes from Radiance Films. (See review of Volume 1 here.)
The Demon of Mount Oe (aka Ooe-yama Shuten-dôji) (1960)
Samurai team-up to fight a supernatural creature. This one is a boatload of fun while not feeling all that gothic. Yes, it has gothic moments and some supernatural elements, but by about the midway point, the film becomes more of a kaiju fighting adventure. That being said, it’s fun, the monsters are beautiful, old school practical effects that have a ton of charm and make great foes for the army of samurai fighting them. The restoration on this one is downright beautiful and helps show the quality of the effects and the work of the wardrobe department on top of showcasing the good to solid acting from the cast. The writing here is old-school and just right and a whole lot of fun. The acting works well and really livens up the whole film. This one doesn’t feel gothic, but it’s so entertaining, it doesn’t really matter.
The Haunted Castle (aka Hiroku kaibyô-den) (1969)
The sister of a murdered monk goes the supernatural route when she imbues her spirit into a cat for revenge purposes. This one is a bit nuttier than the other entries in these sets, almost feeling like it could be a predecessor to films like The Cat from the 1990s while being more horror and gothic than science fiction/comedy. There is some good creepy moments here but they may not be what one would expect. The writing is good, the direction solid and very much of the era, and the acting works really well with the story. The restoration looks great on Blu-ray and the sound is as good as it is going to get.
The Ghost of Kasane Swamp (Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi) (1970)
A remake of a 1957 film, this entry is the last film ever made by Daiei Studios and one that plays with a classic tale of a jilted spouse killing the one who broke their heart as well as that person’s lover. Here, it leads to a ghost story of course where the ghosts are vengeful and the bodies sorta pile up. The film here is unfortunately the least memorable of the three in this set. It’s not bad, but it’s also not great and feels like something is missing. The writing is ok, and so is the direction; the acting works as best as can be with those elements. The film does look good, and the restoration looks and sounds more than decent.
The extras here are more than decent with each film having their own extras, some more interesting than the others. For The Demon of Mount Oe, the best extras are the new interview with Taichi Kasuga and the video essay by Tom Mes, for The Haunted Castle, they are the new interview with Mari Asato and the visual essay by Zack Davisson, and for The Ghost of Kasane Swamp, they are the interview with Norio Tsuruta and the audio commentary by Lindsay Nelson on select scenes. The set also includes a lovely booklet with two original ghost stories.