The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)

From Japanese horror-master Nobuo Nakagawa, best known in the west for his literal cinematic depiction of the Buddhist hell, Jigoku, comes this stylish take on a traditional Japanese ghost story. The callous and arrogant samurai Iemon and his lackey Naosuke kill off the father of a girl the former wants to marry, and rope her and her sister on a wild quest all over the country. But when Ieomon soon discovers that his new wife is more serious than he is, he decides to bump her off as well, and his friend in an elaborately concocted scheme. Like with Jigoku, the first two thirds is rather misleading and sets up what looks like your typical J-melodrama before taking a sharp turn into surreal territory. In some ways Nakagawa's films have not aged terribly well. He really liked to build up his movies around spectacular finales at the sacrifice of the narrative elements. But when it comes to spectacle, he delivers in spades. That last twenty minutes is as sickeningly shocking, screwed-up, and bombastic as anything you will see in a modern horror flick. The 'Scope and Technicolor cinematography is eye-popping, and the special effects stomach-churning. A must-see for fans of J-horror.