The Haunted Castle Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Haunted Castle 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.

A potential alternate title for this particular ghost story might jokingly be That Darn Cat!, though in this case it would probably be best to amend the adjective to damn and probably even more accurately damned, since it is indeed a feline which becomes possessed by the vengeful spirit of a wronged woman which results in a fair amount of carnage. This is in fact a "revenge" film as much as it is a ghost story or supernatural tale, with the murder of a blind monk and threatened servitude of his sister as a concubine which sets things into motion. The sister commits suicide, urging her black cat (you expected any other color?) to lick her blood, which starts the whole possession subplot into motion.

While an almost political subtext suffuses some of the proceedings in terms of the back story of the monk and his sister and their nemesis (and/or nemeses, as the case may be), and the whole supernatural element gives the story an undeniably spooky ambience, it may be the actual presentational aspects that are the most instantly visceral. There's an almost theatrical element to both performances and even camera movements that rightly or wrongly kind of reminded me of kabuki dance traditions at times. That's especially noticeable in some of the cat subtext which informs both "choreography" (or at least the way characters move and/or act) and even to a degree with how director Tokuzo Tanaka snakes his camera in, out and through various vignettes.

The Haunted Castle Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Haunted Castle 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 Radiance at 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.

A really vivid palette may be the first thing to strike videophile's eyes, and from the dripping red blood of the title sequence on, primaries in particular are repeatedly very beautifully suffused and impressive. While this is another story with its fair share of dimly lit moments, shadow detail is probably a bit more consistent here than in some of the other presentations, and even some brief scenes where the black cat can be seen in shaded environments, detail levels on elements like the cat's fur remain remarkably intact. Blacks throughout, not necessarily just those associated with the cat, are repeatedly impressive. In more brightly lit moments, detailing on costumes, sets or outdoor locations (as in an early scene) is excellent. There are some very minor signs of age related wear and tear that can be spotted, as in a brief scratch in the opening narrated sequence. Grain resolves without any issues.

Note: If you put this disc in a PC drive, somewhat hilariously the metadata on the disc lists it as Los Golfos.

The Haunted Castle Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Haunted Castle features an LPCM Mono track in the original Japanese, though it's probably the film's evocative scoring and sound effects that may be the most instantly effective rather than any spoken material. As with the other films in this set, there's some slight but noticeable hiss and pops that can be heard in quieter moments, but the track is still quite vibrant and really doesn't show any extreme damage or major problems, though minor distortion can be heard in some of the more boisterous sound effects, especially those in the upper registers. The use of quasi-cat sounds in both scoring and effects is quite effective. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Haunted Castle Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Mari Asato (HD; 17:08) features the J Horror filmmaker the discussing the film within the Bakeneko ghost cat tradition. Subtitled in English.


• The Strange Case of Ikuko Mori (HD; 5:45) is a profile of Ikuko Mori by Tom Mes.


• Trailer (HD; 2:10)

The Haunted Castle Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm frankly more of a dog person, which may make the fact that The Haunted Castle was my personal favorite in this particular trilogy all the more telling. In some ways it might be arguable this film is an example of style over substance, but that style is so unique and captivating (cat-ivating?) that it probably won't matter to many. Technical merits are generally solid (video more than audio), and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.