Monday, October 7, 2013

The Living Skeleton (1968)

Shochiku
Directed by  Hiroshi Matsuno
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

Gangsters massacre the passengers and crew of a ship then make off with its load of gold bullion. Years later, each member is terrorized by a ghost of one of the victims and some pesky bats. However, it's possible the twin sister of the victim is just pretending to be a ghost, I really couldn't figure that part out. She is adopted by a Japanese priest, which is unusual in itself, but it turns out he isn't really a priest. They end up on the "death ship" where more ridiculous plot twists await. The murky plot and poor special effects (strings plainly visible on the bats, unconvincing miniatures, underwater toy skeletons) sink this early "J-horror" effort, although the widescreen black and white cinematography redeems it somewhat.

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