Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Snow Woman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 24, 2024

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

Fans of what might be termed some of the "designer labels" of the home video market may know that there are some interesting tethers between Arrow Video and Radiance Films, and either due to commingling or just shared interests, both labels are offering fans spooky collections of Japanese fare as the Halloween season is getting underway. Arrow is out with J-Horror Rising, a compendium of efforts that appeared in the wake of Ringu, and Radiance is offering this trio of somewhat earlier films that the label is touting as "three of Japan's most famous ghost stories that have haunted people for centuries".

Films like I Married a Witch and television outings like Bewitched made hay out of the concept of a union between a magically empowered individual and a mere mortal, though both of those particular properties tended to play things for laughs, or at least whimsy. Something at least somewhat similar is in play in The Snow Woman, though this is a decidedly more serious take on the basic setup.

A supplement on this disc overtly mentions that a focal female ultimately identified as Yuki (Shiho Fujimura) is not a ghost (despite her appearance), but more of a, well, witch. One way or the other, while not yet known as Yuki, this character's first appearance is as the titular "snow woman", who arrives at an isolated cabin where two woodcutters have holed up in a storm. She basically floats through the door in the dead of night, with an emphasis on that dead part, as she quickly freezes one of the hapless men to death. She then "pardons" the second man, Yosaku (Akira Ishihama), as long as he promises to keep her existence a secret.

The story then segues forward a couple of years and through a series of probably overly convenient plot machinations, beautiful young (and seemingly normal looking) Yuki ends up meeting Yosaku (again), and the two ultimately end up married, with a beautiful young son named Tarô (Shinya Saitô) as living evidence of their happiness. There has already been an introduction of a nefarious lord who is basically there to provide conflict, and that character's continuing involvement in the tale of course leads to Yuki having to reveal her "true" self.

What's so fascinating about The Snow Woman is how it's basically the story of a family suddenly beset with outside forces threatening their happiness. To maybe joke just a little, it is in fact a bit like the Stephens in Bewitched becoming suddenly afflicted with the interloping of Gladys Kravitz, though in this property, things are actually surprisingly emotional and bittersweet as Yuki has to make some devastating decision in order to protect her husband and son. This is another entry that may admittedly not provide consistent "horror" elements, but which is nonetheless unexpectedly moving and very moody.

The Snow Woman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Snow Woman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Radiance's insert booklet lumps all three films in this set together in one relatively brief blurb about the transfers, as follows:

The Ghost of Yotsuya, The Snow Woman and The Bride from Hades were restored in 4K by Kadokawa Corporation. Each film is presented in its original aspect ratio with original mono audio.

This is a pretty stunning looking transfer, and thankfully it has few of the odd color timing variances that can be spotted in The Ghost of Yotsuya. The palette is nicely suffused and the brightly lit outdoor material in particular pops with considerable authority. Even some of the effects shot both early in the film and then later that have Yuki (or whatever her witch name might be) in almost complete darkness with snowflakes flurrying around her offer surprisingly fulsome detail levels, though there may arguably be a few moments with fairly murky shadow definition. Fine detail on the period costumes and sets is typically excellent. Grain resolves naturally throughout.

The Snow Woman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Snow Woman features LPCM 2.0 Mono audio in the original Japanese. The track is rather vibrant sounding, and there are quite a few audio effects surrounding the witch's activities, including a ferocious storm early in the film that does reveal just a bit of thinness at the very upper frequency reaches. Otherwise, though, scoring and effects are offered with problem free fidelity and a reasonably full bodied sound. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Snow Woman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Masayuki Ochiai (HD; 15:50) features the director of Hypnosis discussing The Snow Woman. Subtitled in English.


• The Haunted Mind of Lafcadio Hearn (HD; 6:47) is a rather fascinating visual essay by Paul Murray (narrated by Tom Mes) about the author whose story provided the basis for the film.


• Trailer (HD; 2:16)

The Snow Woman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The supplement about author Lafcadio Hearn included on this disc mentions how he did not suffer "fools" who didn't believe in the supernatural gladly, and in fact those without some at least tolerance for unexplained phenomena may find this a rather strange film. The family dynamic in this film is rather beautifully developed and ends up giving this story a surprisingly powerful denouement. Technical merits are solid and the two main supplements worthwhile. Recommended.