New Arrival Kwaidan (#90)

After more than a decade of sober political dramas and socially minded period pieces, the great Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi shifted gears dramatically for this rapturously stylized quartet of ghost stories. Featuring colorfully surreal sets and luminous cinematography, these haunting tales of demonic comeuppance and spiritual trials, adapted from writer Lafcadio Hearns collections of Japanese folklore, are existentially frightening and meticulously crafted. This version of Kwaidan is the original three-hour cut, never before released in the United States.

SPECIAL FEATURES

New 2K digital restoration of director Masaki Kobayashis original cut, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray

New audio commentary by film historian Stephen Prince

Interview with Kobayashi from 1993, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda

New interview with assistant director Kiyoshi Ogasawara

New piece about author Lafcadio Hearn, on whose versions of Japanese folktales Kwaidan is based

Trailers

New English subtitle translation

PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey OBrien