KURONEKO (1968, BLACK CAT) – Episode 201 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“The son of a b**** was strong as hell! Like a demon with an iron club! I was sure I’d wind up as rust on that club.” Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Dirk Rogers – as they take in this Japanese classic from writer and director Kaneto Shindô, who brought us Onibaba (1964). The film is Kuroneko (1968, Black Cat), also known by its original title, Yabu no naka no kuroneko.

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 201 – Kuroneko (1968)

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ANNOUNCEMENT
Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL
Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era!
Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website.
Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.
https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

Synopsis: Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon, they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.

• Written/Directed by: Kaneto Shindô
• Composer: Hikaru Hayashi
• Cinematographer: Kiyomi Kuroda
• Selected Cast:
  • Kichiemon Nakamura as Gintoki
  • Nobuko Otowa as Yone (Mother)
  • Kei Satô as Raiko
  • Rokkô Toura as A Samurai
  • Kiwako Taichi as Shige (Daughter-in-Law)
  • Taiji Tonoyama as A Farmer
  • Yoshinobu Ogawa as Raiko follower
  • Hideo Kanze as Mikado

Kuroneko (1968, Black Cat) is a stunning and beautifully shot film by writer/director Kaneto Shindô, who also brought us Onibaba (1964), Children of Hiroshima (1952), and The Naked Island (1960). Originally titled Yabu no naka no kuroneko (translation: A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove), Kuroneko tells a heart-wrenching story of love and loss, set within a tale of rape. murder, samurai, demons, vengeful ghosts, and assassinations. The film is set in feudal Japan, but don’t expect the samurai to be depicted as admirable characters. That’s not the way Shindô sees them. The Classic Era Grue Crew had a lot of fun with this one!

At the time of this writing, Kuroneko (1968) is available to stream on The Criterion Channel and various pay-per-view options. It is also available on physical media as a standard Blu-ray-formatted disc from Criterion.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Jeff – is The Devil Bat (1940), a PRC production directed by Jean Yarbrough. The film features Bela Lugosi as a mad (aren’t they all?) scientist who develops a way to grow ginormous bats and creates an aftershave lotion that incites the bats to attack its wearers. Diabolical! So much fun!

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To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”