This is the first of three "Yokai" films made in the 1960s by Daiei, which also gave the world Gamera and Giant Majin. Like the later, YOKAI MONSTERS: 100 monsters has a period setting that suggests a samurai film and emphasizes a human drama in which, ultimately, only the intervention of a supernatural monster (in this case, "yokai," or spirits) can resolve the conflict satisfactorily. The plot is built around a wealthy man who exploits a poor village, purchasing a local shrine that he intends to destroy. The villagers do their best to stop him, but their attempts are futile. Fortunately, the villain is undone by his own hand, hiring a storyteller whose tales of Yokai invoke the real thing, which bring about doom to the rich developer and his plan.

The title derives from the idea that there is a particular ritual to telling of Yokai tales, with a series of 100 stories followed by a final recitation that puts the evoked spirits to rest. The developer - who sees the stories only as entertainment, not as that solemn ritual that it is - refuses to sit through the final recitation, thus unleashing the ghosts.

100 MONSTERS cleverly weaves these stories into the larger framework of the movie, illustrating several of them in neat little vignettes. The result is that most of the appearances made by the monsters are clearly not meant to be real, and even when they finally do intrude upon reality, there is still a careful ambiguity maintained, with the panicked villains dispatched in such a way that they may merely be killing themselves while suffering a delusion.

Overall, the film is effective and colorful. The story is engaging, and the human characters are handled nicely. The simple special effects techniques for the Yokai (including puppets on wires and men in make-up and suits) are not always convincing, but they are usually effective, within the context of the story.

The Yokai themselves are a diverse group. Some are genuinely eerie (the snake-necked woman); others are intentionally silly (the goofy umbrella-shaped thing that licks the simple-minded son of the developer). As a result, the film often feels more like an imaginative fantasy than an outright horror film, but several genuinely creepy sequences emerge. The highlight arrives near the end when an entire troop of Yokai materializes inside a home, attacking with a slow-motion choreography that suggests Cirque du Soleil gone to the dark side. Continuing the circus-like atmosphere, after they defeat the villains, the film ends with an entire parade of Yokai leaving the mortal realm behind - a scene that achieves a delirious, almost Fellini-esque surrealism.

DVD DETAILS

ADV's DVD release of YOKAI MONSTERS: 100 MONSTERS features a beautiful widescreen print of the film, along with Japanese-language dialogue and English subtitles. Also included are trailers from the two "Yokai" sequels that followed, along with trailers from other ADV home video releases.

RELATED ARTICLES: Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare (a.k.a. "Yokai Daisenso," 1968) - Yokai Monsters Along with Ghosts - Yokai Daisenso (2005)