Genocide - War of the Insects (1968)

aka KONCHU DAISENSO aka GENOCIDE aka WAR OF THE INSECTS

Directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu



One of the more intriguing responses to the monster movie (kaiju-eiga) boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s was the one undertaken by Shochiku. The studio was more commonly associated with the prestigious and formally precise productions of Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu, and the burgeoning formal experimentation of the politically motivated Japanese new wave. But in the late 1960’s the studio produced four science-fiction/horror/fantasy productions in quick succession in order to reap the fertile and profitable soil sown by the likes of Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra, King Kong and Ghidorah. 

Onibaba (1964)

aka DEVIL WOMAN aka THE HOLE

Directed by Kaneto Shindô

Legendary Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindô directed his 45th feature film Ichimai no Hagaki in 2010 at the tender age of 98. Born in Hiroshima in 1912 Shindô has also written some 158 screenplays, making him easily one of the most prolific filmmakers in world cinema. Shindô’s failure to secure the type of distribution enjoyed by Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Ozu remains a mystery. His early films are slightly more visible in the West. In recent times we have enjoyed pristine DVD presentations of The Naked Island (1960), Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968) and they have afforded us a glimpse into a highly stylised and expressive formal style that is both challenging and invigorating. The latter two titles have also illustrated Shindô’s ability to meld this formal eloquence with popular genres and past theatrical traditions. However the unavailability of Children of Hiroshima (1952) still remains a mystifying aberration. It is certainly the case that as the 1960’s wore on Shindô’s work became less distinctive and his interest in social purpose took a back seat to explorations of sexuality. But as we saw in Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses (1976), sex in its purest form can be a potent political and social weapon. The success of his quasi historical horror film Onibaba isn’t particularly surprising as it retains just enough generic signifiers to satisfy western audiences, and possessed the added draw of an unusually frank exploration of frustrated sexuality.

Samurai Wolf (1966)

aka KIBA OKAMINOSUKE

Directed by Hideo Gosha

A destitute ronin bearing the name of Kiba Okaminosuke wanders into a tiny, impoverished hamlet run by Ochise, a blind woman who owns a troubled messenger service--a business whose profits barely keep the meager town going. Delivering the corpses of two of her escorts he found on the road, Ochise explains her dire and desperate situation to the wandering samurai. Not long after, a duplicitous and conniving businessman named Nizaemon comes to Ochise with a new job to deliver 30,000 ryo to the magistrate's office in Imagawa. Nizaemon has designs on Ochise's business and this new plot leads him one step closer to crushing the staunch blind woman. Kiba agrees to help her with this enormous task. But Nizaemon isn't the only obstacle in the way as Akizuki Sanai, a formidable swordsman and a guileful brothel madam have plans of their own.

Goke, Bodysnatcher From Hell (1968)

aka KYUKETSUKI GOKEMIDORO aka BODYSNATCHER FROM HELL aka GOKE THE VAMPIRE

Directed by Hajime Sato

Ordered to return to Haneda Airport after a bomb is reported to be somewhere aboard a passenger plane, an assassin makes his presence known and demands they change course for Okinawa. Shortly after the sky turns a blood red color and a number of suicidal birds dive into the windows, the plane encounters a UFO. Crashing in a remote location, the varying personalities bicker over what to do till the assassin comes to and escapes into the night. Happening upon the glowing UFO, the hired killer is beckoned inside where his body is overtaken by a blobular creature. Now possessed by an alien force that thrives on the blood of its victims, this space vampire proceeds to stalk and suck the blood from the remaining survivors who wait desperately for a rescue party to arrive.

Kuroneko (1968)

THE BLACK CAT aka THE BLACK CAT FROM THE GROVE

Directed by Kaneto Shindô

Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindo is best known to western audiences for his shattering and moving tribute to the survivors of atomic destruction in the drama Children of Hiroshima (1952) and his sultry and sensual historical horror film Onibaba (1964). The latter is an evocative and oppressive allegory of Japanese class and social divisions and the tragic effects of a corrosive sexual jealousy. For Kuroneko Shindo recycled the basic premise of Onibaba (in which two resourceful women lure samurai to their death for material gain) and retained the same historical setting, war torn landscape and aesthetics of hunger. Kuroneko is a more conventional horror film in the sense that it foregrounds aspects of the supernatural, demon curses, and the quasi-mythical image of the cat. It makes use of the Kaidan or avenging spirit motif which unites much traditional Japanese horror and is brought to atmospheric life by beautiful monochrome cinematography and a formal eloquence that marks it out as one of Shindo’s most visually elegant productions. Despite these familiar signifiers however the film is still strange and otherworldly, and in its attention to traditional theatrical modes of narrative address possesses an inherently alien quality which is eminently fascinating.