YOKAI ON THE SCREEN

These colourful creatures remain a favourite in Japanese cinema and during the 1960’s starred in a trilogy of popular films

Yōkai, perhaps due to their bizarre visual traits, remain a popular subject for filmmakers. One of the most notable examples is a trilogy of Tokusatsu films (live-action films making heavy use of special effects) beginning with 1968’s Yōkai Monsters: 100 Monsters. The film tells of a rich and evil landowner who incurs the wrath of a group Yōkai after holding a Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai ceremony. A success, it was its sequel Yōkai Monsters:

Spook Warfare that became arguably the most beloved of the three. This saw the Yōkai facing off against Daimon, a fictional Babylonian spirit, whose usage shows the lack of desire to portray the Yōkai as evil. Indeed, in all three films they are presented as vengeful protectors with the final film Yōkai

Monsters: Along With Ghosts showing them saving a vulnerable child from villains. In 2005, famed Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike loosely remade Spook Warfare as the The Great Yōkai War, whose sequel, The Great Yōkai War: Guardians, was released earlier this year.