Spooky Movies: Kwaidan

The name Kwaidan means “ghost stories,” and this 1964 Japanese film contains four of them: a man who divorces his wife and returns to find her quite changed; a man who makes a promise to a strange woman in the snow who spares his life; a blind singer whose best performance might be for an audience of ghosts; and a man who sees a face in his cup of tea. Nominated for an Oscar for best foreign-language film, Kwaidan feels a bit like a stage play because of its elaborately detailed sets that seem meant to mimic the natural world if it were a bit more orderly. The pace is slow compared to modern films, but it’s absolutely worth taking the time to relax and sink into the painstakingly created world the film presents. If you allow yourself to get caught up in it, Kwaidan is both lovely and creepy.