Kuroneko (1968)

The Japanese director Kaneto Shindo was born in 1912 and is still active, although probably not that well-known outside his country.  He did, however, in the 1960s make two classic ghost stories, "Onibaba" and this elegant feature.  A mother and her daughter-in-law are raped and murdered by pillaging samurais; they make a pact with evil spirits and turn into vampire black cats sworn to suck the blood of soldiers which they do by night when they can assume human form and seduce wayfarers. Enter the son/husband of the pair who was conscripted three years before and who is now a great warrior encharged with destroying the murderous spirits.  He falls in love with his wife all over again and she dooms herself to hell by returning his love, whilst his mother maintains her pledge to destroy every samurai.  All of this is played out in sparkling black and white cinematography where each frame is beautiful to behold.  At the same time the film does not skimp on its horror elements which are brief but chilling.  This movie is a worthy precursor of the current J-horror boom, but at the same time an arthouse gem worth seeking out.