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Evil landgrabber Tajimaya (Takashi Kanda) plans to tear down a shrine and a neighbouring tenement house he cheated its rightful owner Jinbei (Tatsuo Hananuno) out of - which would leave all of the tenants homeless. However, thief Yasutaro (Jun Fujimaki) is on the side of the tenants, and soon enough he steals the money Jinbei owes to Tajimaya from Tajimaya himself so Jinbei can repay his debt ... but unfortunately, once Tajimaya has received the money, he has Jinbei killed and claims he has never seen the man. As a last resort, Jinbei's daughter Okiku (Miwa Takada), whom Tajimaya has laid his eyes on, agrees to become his wife if only he leaves the shrine and the tenement house in peace - but once Tajimaya has his dirty hands on her, he orders to tear down the shrine and house all the same. However, Tajimaya has made one mistake: When a storyteller (Shozo Hayashiya) came by to tell the mysterious Hundred Stories for the his and his guests' entertainment, Tajimaya neglected to have the proper ritual performed to lift the curse the stories carried, so eventually, the monsters from the stories appear for real, at first only to Tajimaya's challenged son Shinkichi (Rookie Shin-ichi), but eventually they go after Tajimaya's men and even him himself ...

Delightfully grotesque blend of village drama and horror story with strong fairy tale undercurrents, which might come across as a tad childish - but childish in a good way, as the somewhat naive narrative accounts for much of the film's inherent charm. Add to this a very colourful, almost comicbook-like direction, some over-the-top monsters that are used scarcely enough to not outstay their welcome, some nice scares, well-placed bits of humour even ... and you've got yourself one entertaining film indeed.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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