The Living Skeleton

Dir. Hiroki Matsuno 80 Minutes

Japan

1968

Starring: Kikko Matsuoka, Yasunori Irikawa, Masumi Okada

****/***** The Living Skeleton is one of four films Shochiku produced as they dabbled in the horror genre, and slightly anomalous in two ways: it is the only one of the quartet that is in black and white, and the only one without a science fiction element. What is offered is a creepy, almost traditional, ghost story with some Gothic elements. The film begins aboard a ship at sea where a group of pirates brutally kills everyone on board. Three years later, Saeko comes to a nearby seaside village to search for her missing twin sea who vanishes along with her husband at sea, taking shelter with a kind Catholic priest. While scuba diving, Saeko and her boyfriend discover a group of chained skeletons, and later that night the ghost ship of the murdered seamen appears at sea and its siren sounds call to Saeko. . . 

Director Hiroshi Matsuno has an incredible sense of mood that fills the picture with a consistent dread from the opening violent sequence. The narrative becomes a little disappointing with a few directions that feel slightly overly complex, and the film works best in its most simple moments. It is also a visual funhouse with dangling skeletons, plenty of bats flying around on strings, and a wonderful sense of space especially in its climactic scenes aboard the ghost ship. On the whole, it is an eerie and dreamy experience, with moments of mesmerizing memory that echo some of the best moments of something like Carnival of Souls or Night Tide.

October 18th, 2019