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Reviewed by:

Ian Jane on August 27, 2007.

A poor farmer named Yasuke toils away at his land making a very meager living until his cruel landlord, Chobei Onuma, decides to kick him off the land and use it for his own devices. Shortly after, the unlucky man becomes very ill and, much to the dismay of his wife Sue, and their daughter, Asa, he dies leaving them with a substantial debt to Chobei. After they’ve paid their last respects to their beloved husband and father, Chobei tells the two ladies that he’ll let them live with and work for him until the debt that Yasuke had rang up is paid off.  

Later, Chobei is paid a visit by Yasuke’s spirit and, out of fear, Chobei has Yasuke’s former abode destroyed. When the house is being torn down, the work crew discovers and then kills a snake that was living under the home. As such, a curse is put upon them. Meanwhile, Sue and Asa are being berated and picked on by Chobei’s wife and son who treat them as nothing more than possessions. When a snake is found inside Chobei’s home, Sue sees them kill it. She tries to stop them, but is too late and she winds up being hurt in the process. When her injuries prove fatal, Asa is left alone to work off the family debt. Lecherous Chobei’s son has more in mind for her than manual labor, however, despite the fact that his parents plan to marry him off to the mayor’s daughter. What Chobei and his family don’t know, however, is that the curse that was put upon them is about to come back to haunt them and that Karma really is a bitch. 

Best known for his surreal and haunting take on the afterlife, Jigoku, Nobuo Nakagawa directs Snake Woman’s Curse with careful and determined style, While Jigoku was a nightmarish vision of Hell complete with grisly set pieces and horrifying, over the top visuals Snake Woman’s Curse is a much quieter and more traditional ghost story. That’s not to say that there aren’t more than a few off the wall moments but compared to Jigoku, which would be his most commonly seen film in North America at least, this film is rather subdued. That said, the movie is also quite haunting, full of atmosphere, and the last half of the picture moves at a fairly brisk pace. 

The picture also really benefits from a few striking visuals. A scene that plays out on a cold, empty beach definitely brings to mind some of the more memorable moments from Jean Rollin’s gothic vampire films where the beach seems to be a common setting for tragedy. Of course, all of the scenes involving the snakes themselves and the more physical manifestations of the ghost are quite impressive and while the subject matter may seem a little hokey to western audiences, they play out effectively regardless. The cinematography, lighting and production values are all top shelf, and if nothing else the film always looks fantastic. 

Japanese film expert Jonathon M. Hall provides a very scholarly audio commentary that concentrates quite a bit on the imagery and the symbolism used in the movie. He does a fine job of pointing out cultural quirks that may be lost on western viewers and explaining the significance of certain scenes and set pieces as they pertain to Japanese society. If it sounds highbrow it is, but don’t let that stop you from giving this track a listen as Hall does a very good job of dissecting the picture and giving us a better understanding of what makes it so unique outside of the horror movie elements. 

Also included on the disc is the film’s original Japanese theatrical trailer, a still gallery of Nobuo Nakagawa poster art, a text biography for the director, animated menus and chapter stops. 

Inside the disc is a booklet containing an essay from Alexander Jacoby that covers the history of the film. Jacoby talks about Nakagawa’s legacy of ghost films and he does a fine job of writing about the history of the movie and in pointing out some interesting details. The cover art by Wes Benscotter features a painting influenced by the film, but those who prefer original poster art will be elated to find that the cover art is reversible and that the opposite side does contain a reproduction of the Japanese one-sheet.

An effective, stylish and rather chilling ghost story, Snake Woman’s Curse receives the deluxe treatment from Synapse.

Seizaburo Kawazu, Kunio Murai, Akemi Negishi, Ko Nishimura