Ghost of Kasane Swamp Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Ghost of Kasane Swamp Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 8, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories Vol. 2 collection from Radiance Films.

Almost exactly a year ago, Radiance released Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories, which kind of interestingly came out simultaneously with another at least tangentially related release from Arrow, J-Horror Rising. As was discussed in my Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories Blu-ray review, I found the Radiance aggregation to be more compelling than the Arrow collection, and even without any "competing" release from Arrow this time around, this offers another appealing trio of ghost stories, though it may frankly be some "extracurricular" contextual elements rather than the films themselves that engender at least some of the interest, especially when viewing this trio through the prism of Daiei kind of slowly stumbling toward bankruptcy in 1971.

Unsurprisingly, all three of the films in this newest volume from Radiance share certain elements in common, including quasi-literary imprimaturs that in some cases can be traced back for untold generations to original folk tales. Curses are also evident in at least two of the three offerings, including this one, but rather interestingly, this film, which is based on a story which has evidently been adapted multiple times for decades, departs in at least some ways from the original source and even from subsequent earlier film adaptations, including rather interestingly one by the very director of this film, Kimiyoshi Yasuda. The essay about the film in Radiance's insert booklet accompanying this set is entitled "Sins of the Father", which may unavoidably recall Biblical pronouncements like those found in the Book of Exodus (other parts of the Old Testament take an opposite tack, insisting what might be termed "intergenerational karma" is moot and everyone is responsible for their own decisions despite the vagaries of fate).

While the broad outlines of the story are in place, at least according to what I've been able to glean from reading about the original tale and earlier adaptations, it's what might be termed the perspective here that is a bit different, arguably more focused on interior worlds and moral turpitude than in the influence of some outside force. In this iteration, rather than an amorphous "curse" determining the sad trajectory of at least one major character and then various offspring, rather than the curse being the focus, it's bad behavior, which does indeed seem to pass from parent to child, and which then contributes to more mayhem by what might be jokingly called "the next generation". The underlying motivation here might somewhat similarly be a bit comically tied to another Bible proscription, this one from the New Testament (1 Timothy), namely that the love of money is the source of evil. The basic outlines of the original tale were given a more celebrated adaptation in 1957's The Depths and even an earlier 1960 film called Ghost Story: Depth of Kasane by this film's director Kimiyoshi Yasuda.

Ghost of Kasane Swamp Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ghost of Kasane Swamp is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Radiance's insert booklet lumps all three films together on a page providing technical information, and has the following information on the transfers:

Demon of Mount Oe, The Haunted Castle, and Ghost of Kasane Swamp were scanned in 4K resolution at Imagica laboratory in Tokyo, Japan. The films were restored by Radiancea t Heavenly Movie Corporation using the Phoenix system to remove dirt, debris, scratches and other damage to the image. Colour grading was performed using DaVinci Resolve. Audio restoration was performed using Izotope. The films are presented in their original aspect ratios with original mono audio.

This is a nicely organic looking presentation that offers an intermittently gritty looking grain field, but no real resolution issues. A lot of the story plays out in fairly dim environments with minimal lighting, and shadow detail can therefore vary slightly at times. The palette is really rather robust looking in at least the more brightly lit moments, and even in some of those aforementioned dim moments there are very bright pops of color on things like costumes and whatever sections of a set can be seen. A surplus of midrange and close-up framings help to elevate fine detail levels.

Ghost of Kasane Swamp Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ghost of Kasane Swamp features an LPCM Mono track in the original Japanese. There's some noticeable hiss and then a bit of crackling during the big percussion battery accompanying the production masthead, but a lot of the ensuing spooky scoring which combines ethnic instruments with western orchestral sonorities is striking and doesn't exhibit severe problems, though occasional clipping and minor distortion can be discerned. Some of the goofier scoring choices which include effects from something like a Flex-a-Tone reminded me somewhat hilariously of the sound effects on the old My Favorite Martian sitcom. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available. My score is 3.75.

Ghost of Kasane Swamp Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Scene Specific Commentary by Lindsay Nelson


• Noria Tsuruta (HD; 17:36) features the "father of J Horror" discussing the origins of the story and the many adaptations of it. Subtitled in English.


• A Legacy of Ghosts (HD; 12:16) features Japanese ghost story scholar Zack Davisson also addressing the history of the tale and its many adaptations through the years.


• Trailer (HD; 2:21)

Ghost of Kasane Swamp Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perhaps the biggest problem some may have with Ghost of Kasane Swamp is that everyone is pretty reprehensible and there's no one to really root for, meaning any karmic retributions, whether generationally inspired or self inflicted, kind of come off as a good thing. This still has a palpable and unsettling mood and offers some striking visuals. Technical merits are generally solid (video more than audio) and the supplements enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.