Even today this 1964 film by artist-turned-director Masaki Kobayaski remains a masterpiece. Whether viewed as a psychological horror, a histogram of creepy folktales or a fantasy, Kwaidan remains hugely influential in Japanese film even today and echos of Kobayaski's style appear in modern anime with his pioneering use of stark colours and subtle messaging that mixes fable and parable. The film is a compendium of four stories based on the stories of Lafcadio Hearn - Black Hair, The Woman in the Snow, Hoichi the Earless and In a Cup of Tea. Each has its eerie and supernatural aspects and of the four the first and third work the best. Hoichi the Earless is a profound segment that blurs the lines of history when a story teller's ability to recount the past has the ghosts of the past trying to recruit him.
Essential viewing for any Japanese film fan, Kwaidan gets my rating of 9 out of 10.
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