by Linda Kay

Also Known As: The Haunted Castle; Secret Chronicle of the Ghost Cat

Directed by: Tokuzō Tanaka

This review contains a Kitty Carnage Warning!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: A standard bakeneko story in which Sayo (Mitsuyo Kamei), the young sister of blind monk Matashichiro Ryuzoji (Akihisa Toda), vows revenge on warlord (Kōichi Uenoyama) who not only wanted her for his concubine but killed her brother over a game of Go. Matashichiro’s black cat Tama becomes the vessel for her vengeance.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Matashichiro dotes on his black cat Tama who wears a little bell on a red collar around her neck.

After sending word to the warlord that he feels his sister is unsuitable to be a concubine (which gets twisted by another self-serving interloper), Matashichiro prepares to leave for the castle but wonders about his missing cat. It turns out Tama is seated inside the palanquin waiting to transport him, and snaps at Matashichiro when he tries to remove her. The cat is basically warning the monk not to go!

Matashichiro removes Tama and hands her over to Sayo.

While playing Go the warlord cheats and Matashichiro calls him out. The warlord, still angry about Sayo, kills Matashichiro. Later Sayo is shocked to see Tama with Matashichiro’s bloody headpiece.

Having been ordered to leave, Sayo kills herself and begs Tama to drink her blood so that she can seek vengeance on those who wronged her family. The cat eventually complies.

Once Sayo’s body is found, Tama hisses and flies through the shoji screen, becoming a kaibyō, capable of possessing various women at the warlord’s castle in order to take out the bad guys.

The actual cat is only seen briefly after this, in the form of bloody paw prints left across tatami mats, appearing briefly sitting on the Go board and as a glowing pair of eyes.

Kitty Carnage Warning! When the vengeful spirit is defeated at the end of the movie Tama’s deceased body appears on top of the closed up well where Matashichiro’s corpse has been sealed.

Final Mewsings: Many thanks to Ted Davis for letting me know about the cat in this film.

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