4 Star

Bad Men, an Ancient Daemon and the Yokai.

From the writer of the Daimajin trilogy (Tetsurô Yoshida, Hoodlum Soldier: Looting and Pillaging) who has been inspired by folk-lore of the Japanese people throughout history and brings them to life with the help of directors Kimiyoshi Yasuda (Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Satan) and Yoshiyuki Kuroda (Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell). All three films were released within a year, which is amazing as there are plenty of special effects to do in post-production. The franchise was given a second life, some thirty plus years later by the visionary director Takashi Miike (Audition, The Happiness of the Katakuris, First Love, Yakuza Apocalypse, Blade of the Immortal) who brings things up to the present day with lavish special effects that thrill and terrorize all at the same time.

Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters

A landowner, Reimon Tajimaya (Takashi Kanda, Dynamite Doctor Returns) is a ruthless man, and he has plans for an ancient shrine and the tenement block next  to the shrine, he wants to tear it down and build himself a very lucrative brothel in its place.

The residents are shocked when Tajimaya’s men turn up to start tearing the shrine down, but the old caretaker Gohei (Jun Hamamura, Gamera: The Giant Monster)stands up to them. However he is beaten by the men which leads to his death, stopping the demolition for now. Tajimaya has greased all the wheels, and he gets permission to tear down the shrine as it is a lesser known spirit and an obscure one at that.

This is Edo, where it is said the land is worth its weight in gold.

Tajimaya gets his way and down comes the shrine, and this is when the proverbial hits the fan for those that tore down the shrine. The Yokai come out of the woodwork and start to terrorize the workers, across town Tajimaya has his own problems as he has not followed the rules to the 100 Yokai stories and performed a cleansing ritual to get rid of any spirits that may have turned up during the telling.

 

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare

In ancient Babylonia an evil spirit decided to take residence in an ancient tomb to hibernate, and it was prophesized that four thousand years would pass before it would wake. This happens when grave robbers try to take an ancient sceptre they dig up. Wherever this monster goes, a violent storm goes. That is what happens on the coast of Japan to a magistrate and his family on their fishing trip as it is getting dark and a storm brews.

This is the arrival of Daimon (Chikara Hashimoto, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars) the ancient vampire rudely awakened and now wanting a position of  high office and the lord magistrate is the first person to do battle with this formidable vampire. It turns out that this vampire can take on the appearance of his victims.

Which confuses the residence and his daughter as his mild demeanour suddenly changes to one of violence as he wants all shrines to be removed and burnt. During an outburst he gets the attention of the river Yokai Kappa who can see through the mask of the vampire. Now it is up to the Yokai to defeat this foreign imposter, but it won’t be easy.

Yokai Monstera: Along with Ghosts

This continues the theme as we see  an old man praying at a grave shrine as a group of yakuza gather to ambush a courier for their boss. They are carrying incriminating evidence against their boss, so they are prepared to do the worst, and the old man can tell they are up to no good and warns them not to draw their swords as this spot is sacred to the spirits and today is the day that the Yokai are going to gather at this spot.

Needless to say that the warning is ignored and blood is shed, the document is taken, and they go to leave when the boss discovers the document has disappeared, only to end up by the young girl Mijo. A witness. She must be silenced. This is Mijo’s story as she tries to evade the Yakuza and search for her lost father as the Yokai deal with the nasty men after her.

The Great Yokai War

In essence, this is a remake of the second Yokai film Spook Warfare, but with all the bells and whistles that thirty-seven years worth of technology in the film industry can throw at a fantasy-horror. Well worth it.

Written in retrospect, a young boy lies in a devastated Tokyo, he has been through a major trauma.

Tadashi Ino (Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mary and the Witch’s Flower) has moved from Tokyo to live with his mother and Grandpa after his parents divorced. His slight figure leads him to being bullied by the local boys and when they have their annual festival for the Kirin they tease him about being bitten by the Kirin and become the Kirin rider, the guardian of peace for the next year. Well he is bitten, and he now has the tittle of Kirin rider. But he knows nothing of the local legends, and it is down to grandpa to explain that the Kirin rider must go into the mountains and find the Great Goblins sword and if he is worthy he will be able to wield the Great Goblin  sword in defence of the world. Simple.

But there is someone who is very miffed with the modern people of Japan as they casually throw things away and discard objects that still have life in them. This is Lord Yasunori Kato (Etsushi Toyokawa, Midway) and he wants to bring about the destruction of Tokyo, and to help him to do this is Agi (Chiaki Kuriyama, Kill Bill 1&2) a vicious woman who has captured lots of Yokai and is using the Lords diabolical factory to turn the Yokai into crazed mechanical monsters in his bid for destruction. Only the Kirin rider can save the day.

This Limited Edition is a must for any horror fan of the Japanese folklore, you won’t find anything else like it, me thinks. It is great to see these films brought to Blu-ray for the next  generation, as the next instalment is on its way thanks to Takashi Miike.

Yokai Monster Collection Limited Edition is available on Blu-ray

 

 

LIMITED EDITION BOXSET CONTENTS

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all four films
• Optional English subtitles on all four films
• Illustrated 60-page collectors’ book featuring new writing on the series by Stuart Galbraith IV, Raffael Coronelli and Jolyon Yates
• Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jolyon Yates
• Postcards featuring newly commissioned artwork for each film by Jolyon Yates
• Foldout ‘yokai guide’ poster illustrated by Jolyon Yates

DISC ONE – 100 MONSTERS
• Original uncompressed Japanese mono audio
• Hiding in Plain Sight, a brand new documentary giving a primer on yokai for Western audiences, featuring interviews with experts Matt Alt, Zack Davisson, Kim Newman, Lynda E. Rucker and Hiroko Yoda
• Theatrical trailer
• US re-release trailer
• Image gallery

DISC TWO – SPOOK WARFARE / ALONG WITH GHOSTS

• Brand new 4K restoration of Spook Warfare by Kadokawa Pictures
• Original uncompressed Japanese mono audio for both films
• Theatrical trailers for both films
• US re-release trailers for both films
• Image galleries for both films

DISC THREE – THE GREAT YOKAI WAR

• DTS-HD MA 5.1 original Japanese and dubbed English audio
• Brand new audio commentary by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes
• Archive interviews with the cast and crew, including Takashi Miike
• Short Drama of Yokai, two shorts detailing the further adventures of the yokai
• Another Story of Kawataro, two shorts featuring the continuing story of the kappa character in the film
• World Yokai Conference, a publicity event where Miike speaks about the film
• Promotional Events, video of the press conference to announce the start and completion of filming, as well as the premiere in Tokyo
• Documentary on the film’s young star, Ryunosuki Kamiki, and his experience making the film
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery