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Kuroneko

Kuroneko

1968
Drama, Fantasy
1h 39m
A woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero, to quell what is evidently a ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women, in an eery, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight. (imdb)
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Kuroneko

1968
Drama, Fantasy
1h 39m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 70.58% from 492 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(491)
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Rated 22 Oct 2021
92
84th
I'm sure I'm missing a lot of cultural nuances since not everything here makes sense, but this is still a very well done supernatural drama (I hesitate to call it horror) that feels very theatrical, especially in its lighting and random dance interludes. Haunting.
Rated 27 Jul 2012
90
92nd
A well-steeped pot filled with traditonal japanese theater, german expressionism, new horror's gore, feminist politics and probably some basil. A risky move, considering it's not tomato-based and is, in fact, a film.
Rated 16 Sep 2011
4
70th
"Moody" and "atmospheric" don't do this film justice. It's every bit as foreboding as Onibaba, but with an emotional complexity and tonal range that film lacked. It even reminded me of Ugetsu to an extent. Shindo and cinematographer Kuroda once again flex their visual muscles; the fog-shrouded forest provides the film with its most memorable imagery, but it's consistently eye-catching, with some excellent effects work as well.
Rated 12 Jan 2015
77
71st
its just so much fun to look at! remains haunting and mesmerizing the whole way through. expertly paced -- felt like it all went by so so quickly but in a good way.
Rated 31 Oct 2017
85
80th
Lighting is obviously necessary but a lot of movies don't call attention to it; here it is a star. Along with that, it might not be that scary but there is a foreboding atmosphere. It's also gorgeous. I think it loses a little as it goes on which is what keeps it from being a 90, but in a technical sense this is definitely brilliant.
Rated 14 Jan 2018
90
82nd
So visually pleasing. I love the solid black void characters are frequently placed against; it's like nothing else exists outside of what is currently on screen.
Rated 05 Dec 2011
83
77th
Shindo uses an impressive array of tricks to set the creepy atmosphere: sparse staging, bold chiaroscuro lighting, avant-garde sound, abrupt cuts, wire work, superimpositions and other special effects. Very atmospheric, almost gothic in tone. Rape is all too common in Japanese cinema, but Shindo uses it as the groundwork for a decidedly feminist agenda. The film does have a few pacing issues and more could have been done with the story, but the visual aspects and the mood make it memorable.
Rated 01 Nov 2015
88
90th
It goes without saying that the B&W cinematography is excellent, but it's the melancholy mood that sells it. There's so much pain and sorrow in the the leads it sells the supernatural completely.
Rated 12 Oct 2015
70
76th
Two women haunt samurai after being raped and murdered. If the entirety of the film was the first 20 or so minutes wherein the women bring men in, talk with them, and murder them, it could have been great. These early scenes are shot with such care -- each shot is beautiful. Instead, the focus switches to that of the son of the murdered mother and how he deals with the ghosts. Still pretty interesting, but not as interesting as the opening scenes.
Rated 12 Sep 2012
92
96th
Amazing.
Rated 10 Jul 2012
90
97th
How this isn't consistently ranked with some of the greatest films of all time is eluding me. Absolutely fantastic in every regard. My only regret is I bought the DVD and not the blu ray.
Rated 02 Oct 2013
92
98th
Beautiful and creepy. A great example of how stunning black and white films can be with decent lighting.
Rated 23 Oct 2015
100
0th
"I mean, there's a cautionary sensibility to it..." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2014/10/illusion-travels-by-streetcar-35.html
Rated 09 Feb 2015
83
71st
I kind of like that typical 60s Japanese folktaley not-quite-horror and, though I'm not huge on such things, this is a clinic in lighting and atmosphere. worthwhile
Rated 21 Feb 2010
35
44th
More like "refrigerator movie 2: imma crackle some ice"
Rated 20 May 2007
65
65th
Shindo directs another Japanese Kabuki-based fairy-tale, which shares many motives with Onibaba. It's nowhere as good as Onibaba, but it does have that slow-burning spookiness, the odd, understated climax and the pretty b/w photography.
Rated 20 Oct 2010
35
90th
"The film morphs into an obsessively regretful dialectic that trips into tragedy after lugubrious, otherworldly speculation." - Joseph Jon Lanthier
Rated 01 Jul 2015
80
65th
Great visuals and an overall enjoyable progression. It's filled with dread from the opening scenes and really doesn't pull any punches. It is never really scary, but it generates an unsettling tone and holds onto it throughout.
Rated 10 Oct 2013
84
85th
Haunting , dreamy scenes and magnificent lighting make for many memorable scenes. I kept expecting the story to become predictable (thanks to modern movies mimicking these older masterpieces), but it never did. I was genuinely engaged from start to finish.
Rated 14 Nov 2013
9
91st
Wonderfully creepy and beautiful.
Rated 22 Jan 2014
70
54th
Shindo is a master when it comes to lighting and black & white cinematography, but the story here is a bit lacking. At times it becomes repetitive as though Shindo is padding it to make it a full length feature, leaving it to come across as nothing more than Onibaba lite.
Rated 19 Jul 2013
85
66th
Cats are always getting into trouble: climbing into boxes, scratching furniture, raising the vengeful spirits of the dead...
Rated 26 Nov 2017
75
85th
Beautifully shot and well paced, it feels very stagey which isn't a bad or good thing it's just a thing. It's not the best Japanese vengeful spirit film of this period. The whole thing is steeped in tragedy and melancholy and yet still manages to be quite erotic. I wasn't really a fan of the music but it didn't distract me too much.
Rated 11 Oct 2008
30
20th
This is silly
Rated 21 Oct 2016
92
89th
An incredibly spooky Japanese ghost story about two women who are raped and killed by a band of samurai and return as ghosts to seek revenge. Kuroneko is one of the most visually striking films I've ever seen. Some movies like Lawrence of Arabia are a feast because of their grand scale and sprawling landscapes. Kuroneko accomplishes so much with a small set and fog. The contrast is so high that black shades are pitch black, making the whites positively glow. Music and lighting are fantastic.
Rated 24 Feb 2012
86
71st
A good ghost story with a healthy respect for women and an instinctive contempt for samurai. It's hard to tell if the spooks are really women at all or just a cat-monster pretending to be the murdered women--but that makes the whole thing even more interesting and unsettling. The haunted forest scenes are abstract and dreamlike. Great atmosphere and cinematography,.
Rated 04 Apr 2012
40
35th
Cool concept, some stunning b/w photography and camera movements. I can also dig the dreamy/spooky tone. The film has a great set-up with a lot of potential, but ultimately devolves into some sort of "kabuki" based, overly-theatrical melodrama, which is a shame. Much preferred the first half (or maybe 1/3rd) of the film to the latter.
Rated 30 Jun 2016
5
93rd
A sketch similar to Onibaba, folkloric horror about two women who prey on samurai in the thick of a sultry wilderness. Between at least these two films, a cynicism for the privileged class and their glorification of militarism earns Kaneto Shindo recognition alongside Kobayashi and Oshima. I do prefer this to the earlier film. What an aesthetic treat: the ghostly chiaroscuro, warped spaces, and feline finesse of choreography. This movie is just cool as hell, and a lot of fun to watch.
Rated 03 Nov 2013
70
31st
Kuroneko is definitely one of the films with the best lighting I've ever watched. So many beautiful scenes, music that gives you the shivers, the appearance of the ghosts, the successful combination of lighting and dark accompanied with the grove settings compose a wonderful direction. I just have the feeling that the acting got slightly tiring and "too much" at some point - although it is definitely amazing, as well as some unnecessary dialogues.
Rated 02 Oct 2018
95
87th
Chiaroscuro is the word for this movie. It's more of a fable or a fairy-tale than a traditional horror flick, but the extreme contrast gives it a striking and surreal visual character that pushes it over the edge.
Rated 25 Jun 2019
90
61st
Pretty good. Nice atmosphere and good camera work
Rated 16 Aug 2019
65
45th
Featuring a strong & surprising feminist angle, strong characters, and fine performances all set around feudal Japan, it's a haunting and fascinating ghost story that plays out like a classic folklore tale in (mostly) the best way. Where it struggles is in the final act, where the plot starts to fall apart a bit and the finale feels just a little drawn out. All in all, it's a very enjoyable ride despite its flaws that leaves a lasting impression, and the black & white style benefits it greatly.
Rated 24 Oct 2020
85
90th
Stylistically a close relative of Onibaba, but while Onibaba's strength is the suffocation of a single setting, this takes the form of a sprawling ghost story that showcases the tremendous range of Shindo's filmmaking. Chilling horror, beautiful melodrama, and incisive political piece, all depicted with deeply evocative theatrical staging.
Rated 26 Mar 2021
75
56th
It's beautiful and haunting, but also a bit slow-paced. I guess if you are a film student you'll appreciate all its artsiness a lot more.
Rated 27 Apr 2021
80
62nd
Spare, haunting atmospheric piece feels like a throwback to the Val Lewton horror flicks of the 40s, though spiced up with a surprising amount of overt eroticism mixed with violence, rather forward thinking for the 60s era. Perhaps a little too much style over substance, with a final act reaching for a genuinely emotional and cathartic finale that the abstract and skimpy characters can't really support, but this is still a memorable and in its way quite powerful and unsettling effort.
Rated 24 Oct 2021
82
90th
The play of light and darkness is fantastic, and it works so well in B&W. Very haunting and beautifilly shot, it works to blur the line between the monster and the victim. It's got some weirdo nightmare qualities to it for sure, so while I wasn't as enthralled by it as I was by Onibaba (a comparison that's going to happen no matter what), it did keep me invested in the story and the strong visuals all the same.

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