Illusion of Blood

() is a 1965 Japanese film directed by Shiro Toyoda

Plot

Cast
 Tatsuya Nakadai as Iuemon Tamiya
 Mariko Okada as Oiwa
 Junko Ikeuchi as Osode
 Mayumi Ozora as Oume
 Keiko Awaji as Omaki
 Kanzaburo Nakamura as Gonbei Naosuke
 Yasushi Nagata as Samon Yotsuya
 Eitaro Ozawa as Kihei Ito
 Masao Mishima as Takuetsu
Source.

Production
Illusion of Blood is based on the kabuki play Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan by Nanboku Tsuruya. The play had been previously adapted to film by Shockiku as The Yotsuya Ghost Story I-II and Daiei Film as  The Yotsuya Ghost Story.  This version of the film focuses on the increasing madness of Tatsuya Nakadai's character of Iuemon Tamiya.

Release
Illusion of Blood was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on 25 July 1965. The film was released in the United States under the title Illusion of Blood with English subtitles
 It was distributed by Frank Lee International in March 1966.

Reception
In a contemporary review, "Dool." of  Variety referred to the film as a "blood-curdling Japanese ghost story" noting that the cast was "uniformly fine" and that "technical aspects, except for some abrupt cuts are first rate." A second review by "Mosk." of Variety compared the film Kwaidan and Ugetsu, noting that the film lacked "classical rigor" or ""human insight and observation" that the other films had respectively. Mosk. noted that the film did have "style,and good acting, excellent color and avoids violence and horror for its own sake."

A retrospective review by Cavett Binion (AllMovie) found the film to be an inferior version of the film Kwaidan, opining that it was "not as visually commanding" but that it "has its share of nightmarish imagery and cultural richness."

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links
 

Category:Japanese films
Category:Films scored by Toru Takemitsu