Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 7, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Yokai Monsters Collection.

Louis Malle's 1958 film The Lovers has nary a spirit or monster in it, and yet it provides a kind of interesting entrée into the world (or at least the term) of yōkai. In one of the more contentious and perhaps even weirdly amusing decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court, in a 1964 case known as Jacobellis v. Ohio the Court famously (some might say infamously) reversed some lower court decisions in Ohio which had held a theater owner liable for exhibiting "pornography" when he screened the sexually provocative Malle opus. While the vote was a relatively lopsided six to three in favor of reversing the theater owner's conviction, there was absolutely no agreement among the justices as to why the film wasn't obscene, or tangentially why the state could or could not regulate what kinds of "pornography" could be shown. In a phrase which has since entered the public vernacular, Justice Potter Stewart, in trying to explain his rationale for deeming The Lovers as not being pornography, perhaps hemmed and hawed just a bit, before announcing that while there may not be an all encompassing or agreed upon definition of what or what not constitutes so-called hard core pornography, "I know it when I see it" (which of course may beg the question as to what kind of material Potter was watching in his spare time, and, yes, that's a joke). In somewhat the same way, there seem to be about as many definitions of yōkai as there are people offering those definitions, and in fact both the insert booklet and a number of supplements included on the discs in this set offer various interpretations of what exactly yōkai are. While there may indeed be no ultimate agreement on the term, the often whimsically entrancing films included in Arrow's set may help viewers to "know it (and/or them) when they see it (and/or them)".

One of the questions some may have with regard to the overall definition of what a yōkai is might be whether or not the so-called Daimon (Chikara Hashimoto) might even be considered one, though apparently it (he?) belongs to a different class of quasi-vampiric beasts, apparently from ancient Babylon. This film boasts a kind of fun if occasionally slightly bloody plot where Daimon basically assumes the identity of a local warlord Hyogo Isobe (Takashi Kanda) (after having bitten him on the neck), and only a mishap (actually a mishat, but I digress) awakens a so-called Kappa (Gen Kuroki), who can see through Daimon's disguise. In the meantime, the humans who interact with the lord are seriously confused about his sudden changes of behavior, which include him desecrating his home's religious shrines.

Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters may have slightly exaggerated the "count" of yōkai featured in it, but Spook Warfare pretty much moves the "monsters" front and center as a host of yōkai team with local hero Mayama (Yoshihiko Aoyama) to vanquish Daimon before more people are "turned". The fact that Daiei offers some almost Hammer-esque blood letting in some of the "Daimon bite" scenes, Spook Warfare is a rather sweet natured film that manages to create a significant amount of magic despite some special effects that will no doubt look "quaint" to modern day eyes used to the blandishments of flawless CGI.

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet aggregates all of the films in this set together on its page devoted to information on the transfers:

100 Monsters, Spook Warfare, and Along with Ghosts are presented in their original 2.35:1 aspect ratios with their original mono soundtracks.

The Great Yokai War is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with its original 5.1 Japanese soundtrack as well as a 5.1 English dub track.

The High Definition masters for 100 Monsters, Along with Ghosts, and The Great Yokai War were supplied to Arrow Films by Kadokawa Pictures; Spook Warfare was restored in 4K resolution by Kadokawa Pictures and supplied to Arrow Films.

Additional optimization on all four films was completed at R3Store Studios, London.

Probably due to the 4K restoration mentioned above, I found Spook Warfare to be the strongest presentation of the sixties era films in this set. The palette is nicely robust throughout virtually the entire presentation, and detail levels are consistently strong as well, helping to offer really precise looks at some the finery on costumes and even textures of the yōkai themselves. As with the two other sixties era films in this set, it seems like there was a deliberate stylistic choice to cloak a lot of the scenes featuring yōkai in shrouded, forested conditions, and there are some deficits in shadow detail in some of the darkest scenes. Grain resolves naturally throughout.

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare features a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track in the original Japanese. There's some slight but noticeable crackle just as the opening credits music starts, and occasionally in the more bombastic moments (typically score related), just the hint of distortion can creep in again. Dialogue and effects make it through the gauntlet without any major problems. Optional English subtitles are available. My score is 3.25.

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged this set with Spook Warfare and Along With Ghosts together on one disc.

• Theatrical Trailers

  Spook Warfare (HD; 2:12)

  
  

  Along With Ghosts (HD; 2:13)

• US Re-release Trailers

  Spook Warfare (HD; 1:55)

  
  

  Along With Ghosts (HD; 1:19)

• Image Galleries

  Spook Warfare (HD)

  
  

  Along With Ghosts (HD)

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare was my personal favorite of the three sixties era films in this set, perhaps because the yōkai were so prominently featured. This presentation has what to my eyes was the strongest presentation of the vintage films, though audio has some minor problems. The supplements on this disc aren't especially numerous, but overall Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare comes Recommended.