MovieChat Forums > Tôkaidô Yotsuya kaidan (1959) Discussion > Why doesn't Criterion release a DVD of t...

Why doesn't Criterion release a DVD of this?


They acquired the rights to a high quality print of the film years ago but as of yet they still haven't released this on DVD.

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[deleted]

Same here. I mean, here's this really brilliant piece of work--which must have been quite horrifying in a theater, on a big screen--and there are two, I said TWO, discussion threads on it. Meanwhile, go to the page for any Jim Carrey or Will Ferrell movie....

I'm not disparaging all popular films. Some of them are OK, some are better than that. It's just that you see something with this kind of thought and care, a really solid work, and it's all but forgotten, most of the actors in their 70s or 80s or already deceased, etc. There's probably a great film to be made out of that notion itself, I guess--the "all glory is fleeting" or "all the works of man are as the flower of grass" kinda thing.

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I really dug this film too. reminds me a bit of "Onibaba" which I loved. I can see where the Ju-on and "The Grudge" remake films got their inspiration from. I caught it on TCM late and DVR'ed it. will be watching "Jigoku" later as well. :-)

~I love the rhythm it is my methoood!~

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So didya? How'd you sleep? ;-)

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Mehh.... I didn't enjoy "Jigoku" as much as "The ghost of Yotsuya". I felt "Jigoku" became far too complicated and preachy near the end. but I will say this: I was very impressed with the speical effects of the different levels of Hell. quite amazing for the time period. I guess they really broke the bank with that film eh? ;-)

~I love the rhythm it is my methoood!~

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That's pretty much exactly what I thought--a little too one-note and unsophisticated, but the effects took a lot of thought and creativity. I would imagine it took a bit of a budget for the time, yeah.

I thought Yotsuya was better, too. A little bit frightening, even, which I almost never think a horror movie is.

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I give it an A for effort tho. I thought it would be just about the hit and run. I never expected all of the other stuff to happen. the movie as a whole just wasn't my cup of Tea.

Do you recommend any other Japanese horror movies? I may go on a Netflix binge in the near future.

~I love the rhythm it is my methoood!~

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Whoa, sorry, missed your reply way back then. So what else did you see? More modern Japanese horror, or more of the classics?

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@emncaity

There's probably a great film to be made out of that notion itself, I guess--the "all glory is fleeting" or "all the works of man are as the flower of grass" kinda thing.


Interesting thoughts in your post, but the film has been acknowledged as a watershed moment in Japanese cinema, and has gotten some critical hype. So it hasn't been forgotten, at least, by online film reviewers and movie bufs who have seen it. I was impressed with it too---haven't seen the other versions of it yet,but wouldn't mind seeing them.

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In context, to be clear, I meant "all but forgotten" (you left out the qualifier when you quoted me) in comparison to more popular mainstream films. The whole point was that there is so little attention on IMDB to so many great films, not to mention so many great actors and others involved in filmmaking, simply because they're not widely known (again, by the standards of the general population). I agree that online reviewers and movie buffs know about the film, and hardly anybody with a real interest in Japanese cinema wouldn't know it.

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I've never seen this one, but let me add my voice to the ones here requesting a dvd.

See, Criterion? There's at least SIX people interested, here!

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Just watched it, on a copy I got from raredvds4sale. Brilliant film, even if the copy was somewhat flawed.

I want to shake every limb in the Garden of Eden
and make every lover the love of my life

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It's available on Criterion's Hulu channel these days.

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Ah! Nice catch...

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There's a version on Youtube with a watermark on it.

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Good catch #2! (see above...)

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