ILLUSION OF BLOOD

(Yostuya Kaidan)

1965 – Color - 105 min. – LETTERBOX

               Starring: NAKADAI Tatsuya, OKADA Mariko

                                IKEUCHI Junko, OZORA Mayumi

                                 HIRA Mikijiro, TONO Eijiro

Directed by: TOYODA Shiro

COURTESY OF KUROTOKAGI

A BLOOD-CURDLING JAPANESE GHOST STORY

A corrosive tale of betrayal and revenge, Illusion of Blood is also one of the greatest ghost stories to emerge from Japan. Based on a nineteenth century Kabuki play and recreated many times for the cinema, this version directed by Toyoda Shiro (Portrait of Hell) is one of the goriest, but also the most erotic. Madness, obsession, horror and retunees from the grave… all mixed in with a caustic view of Japanese society… these ingredients go to create an experience with resonances far deeper than might normally be expected from a ghost story.