Kimiyoshi Yasuda Movies

Kimiyoshi Yasuda directed this loose remake of Nobuo Nakagawa's classic 1957 film of the same title, released in the U.S. as Ghost Story of Kasane Swamp. The story deals with the daughter of a blind masseuse, who becomes a spiteful harridan when her face is hideously burned because of her father's sins. The Kasane Swamp legend -- first brought to the screen by Kenji Mizoguchi in Kyoren No Onna Shisho (1926) -- revolves around the sins of a father cursing his descendants, and it gets a modern boost from additional sex and violence in the screenplay by Shozaburo Asai. Unfortunately, this film was made under rather hurried conditions, as Daiei studios was in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings at the time, and the production suffers from inconsistencies and a very rushed, almost unfinished look. Ritsu Ishiyama, Saburo Date, Maya Kitajima, Reiko Kasahara, and Matsuko Oka are among the cast. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

A Samurai warrior and giant monster are combined to create the mighty Majin in this Japanese fantasy set during a medieval civil war. The trouble begins when a ruler and his wife are murdered by the chamberlain. Fortunately, the young prince and princess escape the murderous fellow and are able to flee to a mountain. The new ruler is cruel and promptly enslaves the villagers. While the prince and a servant endeavor to sneak back to town, his sister begins praying to the warrior god, Majin. The prince is captured, and Majin roars to life. Soon the prince is saved, and the chamberlain killed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

From high atop a mountain, an ancient statue casts a watchful gaze over the small town nested in the valley below as centuries pass and the citizens thrived under the rule of a fair and just emperor. When an evil usurper takes the life of their leader and turns the onetime paradise into an evil empire, the oppressed citizens cry out to the heavens in hopes that God will hear their tormented voices and intervene. Awakened by the prayers of the suffering innocents crushed under the weight of their corrupted oppressor, the mighty stone statue descends the mountain to mete out justice and punish those who would bring harm to the Lord's followers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu), the blind swordsman, encounters an elderly man who claims to be his long-lost father. The nomadic warrior, who has never had any personal ties to anyone as an adult, believes that he may finally have found a bond with his past. Only later does he discover that the man is an imposter. In contrast to most of the movies in this long-running series, Adventures of a Blind Man, by the very nature of its plot, offers a look into the background of the blind swordsman. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi