The traditional nature of this kaidan, or Japanese ghost story, is underscored by the fact that it is based on a tale by Encho Sanyutei (1839-1900) — an author and performer of the late Edo-early Meiji period. His popular story “Botan Doro” has been the subject of some 18 film adaptations, this one being the first of the “modern” period. Sanyutei’s story was itself an adaptation of a traditional Chinese folktale that has a long history of re-telling and performance, especially in the form of kabuki theatre. It entered Japanese culture in the 1600s and became one of that country’s most loved kaidan, fusing romance, sexual politics and terror into an emotionally potent drama.Read More »
Fantasy
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Masaru Tsushima – Otsuyu: Kaidan botan aka the haunted lantern (1998)
1991-2000FantasyHorrorJapanMasaru Tsushima -
Eugène Green – Atarrabi & Mikelats (2020)
2011-2020ArthouseEugène GreenFantasyFrance

Adapts the Basque legend of Atarrabi and Mikelats, the tragic story of the sons of goddess Mari-Mother Earth- who are given to the devil for him to raise them.Read More »
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Vera Chytilová – Sasek a kralovna aka The Jester and the Queen (1988)
Comedy1981-1990Czech RepublicFantasyVera ChytilováBoleslav Polivika stars as Slach the Jester in this metaphorical comedy fantasy. Slach is the caretaker of an abandoned Bohemian castle that is rented out to wealthy visitors during deer-hunting season. The German Konig (Jiri Kodet) and his French fiance Regina (Chantal Poulainova) arrive with flair in a white Mercedes. Slach imagines himself as a medieval court jester while the local villagers regard him as a simple buffoon. He imagines that Konig is the King and Regina the Queen, and Slach is seductively drawn to the Queen and does her bidding until she orders a beheading. Scenes shift between the present and the medieval court of the increasingly sadistic Queen. The gifted actor and playwright Polivika has parlayed his theatrical role into a successful film to make this one of the most popular of Czech features in 1988. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie GuideRead More »
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Hyun-seung Lee – Siworae AKA Il Mare (2000)
1991-2000DramaFantasyHyun-seung LeeSouth Korea

Plot Synopsis:
After Eun-jo ends her tenancy of Il Mare, a posh house on a lake, she writes to the new tenant asking for her correspondence to be forwarded. When the tenant replies, Eun-jo discovers that his letter is dated 1997, two years before she contacted him, and that he is the original owner of the property.Read More » -
Ali Ahmadzade – Madar-e ghalb atomi AKA Atomic Heart Mother (2015)
2011-2020Ali AhmadzadeDramaFantasyIranOn their way back from a wild party, Arineh and Nobahar cause a car accident. A mysterious stranger by the name of Toofan offers to cover the costs. This won’t be the last time they’ll cross his path over the course of the night. Cars form a popular setting in Iranian cinema. They move through the public sphere, yet their occupants remain among themselves. But what happens if a policeman suddenly gets into your vehicle, finds black market DVDs and forces you to admit, tipsily, that Argo is a film hostile to Iran? This road movie through Tehran by night begins as a hyperactive, drugged-up farce that pokes fun at the authorities, interprets the cultural history of Western toilets, and postulates other daring intercultural theories. Yet gradually the atmosphere changes and tension steadily rises in the car, thanks to Toofan, who keeps appearing again and again out of the blue. He plays a diabolical game with the two friends, one that crosses the boundaries into the metaphysical realm. As fanciful and spooky as the plot may seem, it is clearly anchored in Iran’s present.Read More »
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Marcel Carné – Le pays, d’où je viens AKA The country I come from (1956)
France1951-1960ComedyFantasyMarcel Carné

Synopsis
One Christmas Eve, a carefree young man, Eric, arrives in a small provincial town. Here, he meets Julien, a bar pianist who is his exact double. Julien is in love with Marinette, a pretty waitress, but he is too shy to make any romantic overtures. Eric decides to give the course of true love a helping hand by pretending to be Julien. Meanwhile, Eric’s fabulously wealthy uncle has sent his minions out to bring him back home, so that he may celebrate Christmas in the bosom of his family.Julien, pianiste de bar est follement amoureux de la petite Marinette, serveuse dans le même local. Mais il ne parvient pas à déclarer sa flamme. Arrive, la veille de Noël, dans le petit village enneigé, Eric, le sosie du jeune musicien…Read More »
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Mario Bava & Henry Levin – Le meraviglie di Aladino (1961)
Mario Bava1961-1970AdventureFantasyHenry LevinYoung man found in Baghdad in a lamp with a Genie Pony which help the Prince to defeat evil and the good Sposaro Grand Vizier of the Sultan’s daughter. Modest variations in the history of the Arabian Held in special effects at night with Mario Bava, Italian edition that the royal signature, and characterizations of gigionesche Vittorio. De Sica and Aldo Fabrizi.Read More »
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Marcel Carné – La Merveilleuse Visite AKA The Marvelous Visit (1974)
1971-1980DramaFantasyFranceMarcel CarnéQueer Cinema(s)

Synopsis
Jean stars as an angel who has fallen from heaven and landed in a picturesque French village.
Nursed back to health by the local priest and his helper, he returns the favor in a surprising fashion.Un matin, le recteur d’un petit village breton découvre le corps d’un jeune inconnu gisant nu sur la grève.
Au presbytère où on l’a transporté, l’inconnu retrouve ses esprits et déclare
qu’il est un ange tombé du ciel. Précisément la nuit de la Saint-Jean.Read More » -
Hark Tsui – Hua yue jia qi aka Love in the time of twilight (1995)
Hark Tsui1991-2000ComedyFantasyHong Kong

The plot is hard to summarize because there’s so much going on and it happens so fast. A young man who works in a bank and a young woman who works at the Peking Opera in a bustling Chinese town at the turn of the century are looking for mates (along with dozens of other young singles) during an annual festival and continually cross paths, but instead of connecting, they keep antagonizing each other. When the man, Kong, is killed in a bank robbery, he appears as a ghost to the young woman, Yan Yan, two weeks later and manages to get her to go back in time with him to the day of the murder to try and change history. Things take a frenetic turn as the two keep running into their earlier selves and the now-dead robber’s ghost shows up to conspire with his living self to thwart the couple. A horrible fate awaits the couple in an eerie afterlife if they fail…Read More »



