Kuroneko
In the Sengoku period, a woman and her daughter are raped and murdered by soldiers during a time of civil war. Afterwards, a series of samurai returning from the war through that area are found mysteriously dead with their throats torn out. The governor calls in a wild and fierce young hero to quell what is evidently an Onryō ghost. He encounters the two beautiful women in an eerie, beautiful scene. After spiritual purification, he meets the demon in a thrilling fight.
Read MoreSimilar Recommendations
Onibaba
While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.
Demons
Tells the story of the samurai Gengobe, who seeks revenge after falling prey to the schemes of a geisha and her husband.
Ugetsu
In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
Samurai Reincarnation
After surviving the slaughter of many Christians 350 years ago, a samurai denounces God for ignoring the pleas of believers. He sells his soul to Satan and receives the power to resurrect the dead to join him in a murderous rampage.
Lady Snowblood
Yuki's family is nearly wiped out before she is born due to the machinations of a band of criminals. These criminals kidnap and brutalize her mother but leave her alive. Later her mother ends up in prison with only revenge to keep her alive. She creates an instrument for this revenge by purposefully getting pregnant. Yuki never knows the love of a family but only killing and revenge.
Kwaidan
Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is saved by Yuki the Snow Maiden, but his rescue comes at a cost. Blind musician Hoichi is forced to perform for an audience of ghosts. An author relates the story of a samurai who sees another warrior's reflection in his teacup.
The Ghost of Yotsuya
This horror tale adapts the Japanese legend which tells of a man who faces the consequences of betraying his wife in order to acquire wealth and power.
Return of Giant Majin
The tyrannical Lord Danjo Mikoshiba covets the rich, fertile lands surrounding Lake Yakumo. During a memorial ceremony for the late Chigusa lord, Mikoshiba launches an attack, overthrowing the honorable Lord Juro. Just when all seems lost, Daimajin rises from Lake Yakumo to settle a score of his own.
Blind Woman's Curse
Akemi is a dragon tattooed leader of the Tachibana Yakuza clan. In a duel with a rival gang Akemi slashes the eyes of an opponent and a black cat appears, to lap the blood from the gushing wound. The cat along with the eye-victim go on to pursue Akemi’s gang in revenge, leaving a trail of dead Yakuza girls, their dragon tattoos skinned from their bodies.
Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend
Legend has it that the human race is not the only dominant civilization living on Earth. Two other races exist in this world: the Makai (a demon race) and the Jujinkai (a half-man, half-beast race). Once every 3,000 years, a supreme being known as the Choujin (Overfiend) will emerge and bring balance to all three realms on Earth. In present-day Japan, after 300 years of endless searching, a Jujinkai named Amano Jyaku has discovered the presence of the Choujin inside high school slacker Tatsuo Nagumo. But now, Amano, along with his sister Megumi and their sidekick Kuroko, must protect Nagumo and his new girlfriend Akemi Ito from the Makai, who believe that Nagumo is not the Choujin, but an evil entity bent on destroying all living beings on Earth.
Daimajin
A giant stone statue comes to life to protect the residents of a small town against the depradations of an evil warlord.
Gemini
When his mother's untimely death quickly follows his father's, a doctor begins to believe a killer may be targeting him and his amnesiac wife.
Blade of the Immortal
Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine.
Empire of Passion
In a small Japanese village at the end of the 19th century, a rickshaw driver's wife takes on a much younger lover and the two conspire to murder him.
47 Ronin
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors.
Throne of Blood
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell
With most of his family already dead at Ogami Itto's hands, Retsudo launches one final plot to destroy him, and when that fails, unleashes the fury of every remaining member of the Yagyu clan.
The Hidden Blade
Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend.
Hana
In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.
Ju-On: White Ghost
An apparitions of a young schoolgirl in a yellow rain hat, a family massacre, and a law student's suicide after he fails his bar exam are linked by the ominous recordings discovered on an audio cassette.