[Film Review] Yokai Monsters Trilogy (1968 - 1969)

To talk about the Yōkai Monsters trilogy, now available on Shudder after a great Arrow box set release last year, it’s necessary to give an idea of what yōkai actually are. However, it’s a little difficult to say as most definitions fall short in encompassing the role that they play in Japanese folklore. The word Monsters is often used, as with the title of these films, but that doesn’t really cover the less physical beings. Demons is another, but that is even more wrong as it paints them with a similar kind of morality as the traditional Judeo-Christian sense of the word and Yōkai can range from malevolent to mischievous to even benevolent. They are spirits, they are creatures, they are even objects. They are also something that evolve and have changed over time, these days encompassing various urban legends. 

Yōkai experienced something of a boom in the 1960s, partially due to the popularity of manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. His works featuring yōkai, and particularly the series GeGeGe no Kitarō which told the story of a yōkai boy and the various adventures of him and his friends, became some of the most recognised and even definitive depictions of certain creatures. Daiei Studios rode the popularity with the Yōkai Monsters trilogy, and they proved to be both a hit with their mixture of jidaigeki “period drama” and tokusatsu “special effects”. They were also quickly  produced as the first film was released in March of 1968 in a double feature with a one of Daiei’s Gamera series, the second in December of the same year in a double feature with Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch (review here), and then the last in March 1969 with another Gamera movie.

100 Monsters

We begin 100 Monsters appropriately with a story. Storytelling is a major part of all oral traditions of folklore, and this is no exception, but what we see happening is specifically Hyakumonogatari or “100 Tales”, and this is part of the movie’s Japanese title Yokai Hyakumonogatari “100 Yokai Tales”. There are a few variations but often it is done in a room filled with 100 candles, each one being extinguished as each story ends, with the belief that when the 100th story is told, a spirit will be summoned. After telling a story about an encounter with a tsuchi-korobi (think like a one-eyed haystack) it’s a little while before we have our first monster encounter. The core plot of the film is that of a greedy businessman Tajimaya who with the help of a corrupt magistrate attempts to forcefully evict the residents of a tenement building so that he can demolish both that and a nearby shrine and build a brothel on the land. That combined with the tenement residents looking to the help of an initially reluctant ronin, a masterless samurai, feel more like a typical samurai drama. An entertaining one though, unsurprising when director Kimiyoshi Yasuda had made several jidaigeki films before, including the popular Zatoichi series. 

The yōkai come back when Tajimaya hosts a Hyakumonogatari as a means of showing off to his benefactors. During this we get a story of two fishermen who ignore warnings to not fish in a forbidden pond and pay for it with an encounter with a rokurokubi, a woman whose neck grows to a horrifying length. Afterwards, instead of performing any rituals, he decides that good old-fashioned bribery will suffice by handing out stacks of money. It’s a pretty on the nose theme of greed and corruption in the name of “progress” being indulged in instead of paying respect to traditions. The yōkai begin to terrorise the businessman and magistrate along with their henchmen, making them pay for their disrespect and wicked deeds. The exception is the Tajimaya’s adult son who seems to have a developmental disability and still acts like a child, who enjoys a playful friendship with a kasa-obake umbrella monster in a scene which blends practical effects with traditional animation to entertaining effect. Practical effects, camera tricks, puppetry, and staging and lighting are all used to great effect to bring the yōkai to life. While it may not fully satisfy that monster movie itch, it’s still a worthwhile watch for a simple story of the bad guys getting their just desserts and the good guys win, even if said good guys are pretty one-note and oblivious to the supernatural elements happening around them.

Spook Warfare

Luckily Spook Warfare, or Yokai Daisensō, “The Great Yōkai War” which is a title shared by a story arc from the GeGeGe no Kitarō manga, gives us more of everything; more monsters, more mayhem, more blood. A monster from ancient Babylon called Daimon is released and terrorises people and yōkai alike after taking the form of a local lord. There’s a distinctly vampire-like element to Daimon which, combined with the delightfully lurid shade of fake blood, makes this almost feel like Daiei’s take on a Hammer Horror film. Director Yoshiyuki Kuroda’s background was more focussed on special effects with Spook Warfare being his first directing work, and that is clear from the bigger attention on both the action and the yōkai themselves. They look more detailed, the kappa water imp in particular is a great combination of makeup with some puppetry components to make his eyes move. The kasa-obake and rokurokubi appear again, along with yōkai including Nuppeppō, a strange and smelly but harmless blob of flesh, and futakuchi-onna, a woman with two faces (who bizarrely here also has an absurdly long arm nose). They are initially reluctant to get involved, thinking that the kappa is making it up, but are eager to defend their home once the threat of Daimon is established. 

The film has been read as nationalistic with Daimon standing in for outside influence that could affect and damage Japanese values, but it can also be similar to 100 Monsters in focusing more on the power of respecting traditions as its through the efforts of both the humans and the yōkai that Daimon is defeated. The humans feel much more involved here, and actually have some interaction with the yōkai, although none apart from perhaps young samurai Shinpachiro have much resembling a personality. As such, even though I wouldn’t call Spook Warfare a major upgrade from 100 Monsters, it refines the good elements of that film and makes the yōkai feel more a part of the plot than just a supernatural backdrop.

Along with Ghosts

Along with Ghosts, Tōkaidō Obake Dōchū “The Haunted Journey Along Tōkaidō” is one is the least monster-heavy of the trilogy, and for the most part is straightforward as a lone swordsman Hyakutaro protects a young girl Miyo from criminals after they kill her grandfather. The Yōkai are there, and they definitely show up at times that are useful for the human characters as they usually show up when Miyo is captured of chased (this happens a lot), but where 100 Monsters felt like a blending of jidaigeki and monster movie, here the yōkai almost feel like an afterthought. It even has a Western (as in cowboys) influence with the music as Hyakutaro and Miyo travel across the landscape. This film was co-directed by both Yasuda and Kuroda, but definitely leans more towards Yasuda’s more grounded style. That is by no means a bad thing, as Hyakutaro makes for a decent hero, there is a comical scene of mistaken identity with a dim-witted but well-meaning sumo wrestler and a young maid, and one sequence of thugs getting terrorised in a graveyard is a highlight. It’s if you come here specifically for the monsters that you might feel a little let down. Maybe it was a side-effect of the quick production turnaround, but the designs and special effects don’t have as much of an impact here as the previous movies apart from a wanyūdō, a burning wheel with a face sent to punish the wicked. If you watch it as a samurai movie, it’s fine, but Spook Warfare is definitely the one out of the three that delivers on its yōkai promise the most.

The main takeaway from the Yōkai Monsters trilogy is of just being a great bit of fun. The scares are low, but the overall effect of the films is like a funfair haunted house; cheesy but full of charm. If you have an interest in special effects or Japanese folklore I would call these films an absolute must.

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