Kaneto Shindo pushes the Japanese folk tale even further with the erotic horror Kuroneko, once again making victims out of the once-revered medieval samurai. A mother and daughter-in-law are raped and killed by a band on ronin, only to return as ghosts who seek vengeance by seducing and slaying samurai. An elegant and shocking film, the film foregrounded sexuality and gender politics amongst its fog-swirled mise-en-scène. Combined with Shindo’s vivid lyricism, the film conspires to make a darkly satirical condemnation of war and militarism in every form.
