Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare

Yoshiyuki Kuroda's 1968 Japanese film is the second part of the Daiei studio's yokai trilogy. A vampire from Babylon arrives in Japan and takes over the body of a local lord. The ghosts and demons of Japanese folklore then gather to fight him. The value is in the design. Traditional creatures such as the kappa, karakasa, rokurokubi and nuppeppo are realised through costume and puppetry; none of them tries to be frightening, and all are endearing and comic. That produced an aesthetic which remained influential in Japanese children's films for a long time. The effects were made with the means of the period and the mechanism is often visible. The film inspired many later productions; Takashi Miike took up the same material again in 2005. Who it's for: those interested in Japanese folklore and classic practical effects. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a serious horror film; this was designed for young audiences.