The basic premise of this film is simple: two peasant women are brutally set upon by a band of low-grade samurai who rape them and burn down their house, killing them. After this horrible crime spree, the women's spirits return and they use their feminine wiles to trick and murder as many samurai as they can get their clutches on. This samurai killing machine works flawlessly until the son and husband of the two vengeful spirits shows up after a long absence. The son/husband is, himself, a samurai. Obviously, this career choice puts the two women in quite an uncomfortable bind. Do they choose love, or vengeance?"Kuroneko" is a workmanlike entry in the long tradition of samurai ghost story films. Attractively filmed with spirits flying everywhere in a manner that prefigures "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," it isn't boring to watch. However, "Kuroneko" definitely lacks the secret sauce that separates a decent movie from a great one. What's lacking? I think the acting isn't so great, and the story and direction aren't top drawer either. It just didn't live up to the hype for this viewer.If you watch "Ugetsu Monogatari" by Kenji Mizoguchi, you will see a much higher order of filmmaking devoted to a similar subject. The maker of "Kuroneko," Kaneto Shindo, worked extensively with Mizoguchi, but he does not seem to have absorbed the master's talent sufficiently to bring "Kuroneko" up to the level of "Ugetsu." Even Shindo's own "Onibaba" (from just a few years earlier) is a much better movie than "Kuroneko," in my opinion.In summary, "Kuroneko" is diverting, but it is not a masterpiece of postwar Japanese cinema. Manage your expectations carefully, and you can enjoy its charms without suffering too much disappointment. However, if you are a cat lover, the prominence given to felines in this movie may help to make up for its other shortcomings.

Two women are raped and killed by samurai soldiers. Soon they reappear as vengeful ghosts who seduce and brutally murder the passing samurai.Manohla Dargis describes the film as "a ghost story that's more eerie than unnerving, and often hauntingly lovely". Maitland McDonagh writes that it is "darkly seductive" and "sleek, hair-raisingly graceful, and ready to take its place alongside the other landmarks of Japanese horror history". I appreciate that the phrase is "take its place", implying it is not already there. Despite being released by no less an authority than the Criterion Collection, I don't think this is a very well-known Japanese horror film.What is really striking for me is the use of the eyebrows. A simple use of makeup, but it makes for a very creepy and offsetting feeling. The women become somehow other than human.

Early on in this movie there are three scenes that go like this:First: A samurai meets a pale woman in a white kimono. The woman leads him home. There is a domestic scene, he is lured into making love to her and meets a grisly end.Second: A samurai meets a pale woman in a white kimono. The woman leads him home. There is a domestic scene, he is lured into making love to her and meets a grisly end. (Okay, we get it.)Third: A samurai meets a pale woman in (Okay, we get it!)On repeated viewings, the above sequences gets a little tedious, even though in the domestic scenes there is information revealed that is vital to the movie. Here's the good news: that is my only beef with Kuroneko.Kuroneko is otherwise a very good, atmospheric Japanese ghost story with a revenge angle to it. It's a very visual movie. Lovely sets, good camera work, good direction, good acting. The first time through the repetitive bits I griped about don't detract much but do keep me from giving this a slightly higher rating.Check it out.

Some obvious similarities to Shindo's earlier ONIBABA, as a woman and her mother-in-law are raped by samurai, and turn to supernatural forces to seek their revenge. Shindo uses an impressive array of tricks to maintain the unsettling, creepy atmosphere -- sparse Noh-style staging, bold chiaroscuro lighting, avant-garde soundtrack, abrupt time cuts, wire work, superimpositions and other special effects. It's a very atmospheric kaidan, almost Gothic in tone. Rape is of course a disturbingly common occurrence in Japanese cinema, but here Shindo uses it as the groundwork for a decidedly feminist agenda. The film does have a few pacing issues, particular during the erotic portions in the middle (although some of it is lovely). I thought more could have been done with this story, but the visual aspects and the mood make it memorable.