(1968)
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-YOSHIYUKI KURDODA and KIMIYOSHI YASUDACAST-KOJIRO HONGO, PEPE HOZUMI, MASAMI BURUKIDO, MUTSUHIRO, YOSHITO YAMAJI and BOKUZEN HIRDARI. SOURCE-ADV FILMS/RUBBERSUIT PICTURES DVD NTSC REGION 1
When the crooked Kanzo and his corrupt clan set up an ambush in the middle of the of scared grounds. They kill the keeper of these grounds setting of a curse of the Yokai (spirit monsters). Miyo, the grounds keeper’s granddaughter happening upon certain documents that implicate Kanzo. Knowing she has them, he sends his henchmen after her. Before her grandfather dies, he sends Miyo on a quest to find her father, he tells her that by giving her father a set of dice, he will then know who she is.. On her way, she meets up with a mysterious man who decides to help her find as well as defend her against Kanzo’s man. After tricking the mysterious man and kidnapping Miyo, she is brought to Kanzo.
There, she learns that he father is indeed one of Kando’s crooked man. He finds the dice and finds out that Miyo is his daughter and must protect her by helping her escape. Caught in the act, Kanzo punishes her father, but first those very same dice play in as a major factor in possibly saving her father from his appending doom. Miyo must play a game of odds or evens with the dice to spare both their lives. Little does Kanzo know, that the dice are made from her mother’s bones and carries her spirit, enabling Miyo to guess right each time. Kanzo, baffled by this goes back on his word of honor and instructs them both to die. Oh, but then it is time for the curse of the Yokai to collect what is theirs.
This is truly a wonderful mix of the supernatural, steep in Japanese folklore being fused with a tale of samurai/yakuza action. I was quite taken in by this very surprising purchase. At first, I thought I was in for something straight out of a Godzilla setting, big monsters or should I say man dressed in rubber suits running around scaring the be Jesus out of everyone. Instead I received one of the best blind purchases this year. ALONG WITH MONSTERS had many elements that made this hidden gem work quite smoothly. Everything from a story and plotline that keeps you the viewer interested in from start to finish. Not to mention the twist it takes near the end of the film. Characters as very steep and are very likable, the viewer will get a sense of strong emotion from many of them especially the little girl, Miyo.
The one major element that held my attention the most, was the absolutely amazing atmosphere generated throughout the whole film. Sure there was good sword swinging action, nicely paced adventure, stabs of comedic undertones, but it was the supernatural feel that only was presented in bits and pieces of the story that really caught my attention. Though the effects were pretty primitive, still with the haunting score and the equally as haunting visuals, this truly gave me the feel of a bed time story I was once told as a child. Something out of a Grimm Brothers fairly tales only being Japanese. That being another thing as well, the steepness of cultural undertones this film displayed, gave it such a warm hearted, almost genuine feel to it. Not to mention the creepy Yokai monsters that showed up to clean up house. This is truly the beginning of a new adventure being that there is at least three more titles in this very unique series.
The ADV Films DVD is pretty basic, armed along with the feature are two trailers for ALONG WITH GHOSTS. One for the US release and the other being the original Japanese trailer. The film itself is presented in anamorphic widescreen with a Japanese 2.0 track and English subtitles. The picture is quite clean as well as the audio. Also there is a coming attractions section for other ADV Films releases such as DAIMAJIN, GAMERA and others.
STORY-4 BITCH SLAPS PICTURE-3.5 BITCH SLAPS AUDIO-3 BITCH SLAPS EXTRAS-2.5 BITCH SLAPS OVERALL DVD-3 BITCH SLAPS
