Very well executed

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

If you value visual style, good folk tales(of horror) and don't shy away from graphic scenes and unsettling themes, this movie needs to enter your watch list now! This collection of Japanese folk tales has been brought to life with sublime style! Everything from visuals, score, atmosphere and pacing is crafted stupendously to fit the story and maximize the impact each tale provides. I'd say the visuals alone are worth the watch, but the stories are also great! See for yourself, and be happy you didn't miss this gem!

Four tales of the supernatural drawn from Japanese folklore: in the first, an ambitious samurai returns to the wife he abandoned many years before only to find she hasn't aged in all that time; in the second, a beautiful vampire makes a young man promise never to mention an encounter they had or else; in the third, a blind balladeer has fans from beyond the grave; and in the last, there are reasons why some authors never complete their stories...Slow-moving and surreal, the hypnotically beautiful mis-en-scene kept me watching even if a couple of the stories weren't exactly riveting. My favorite was "The Woman Of The Snow" which was reworked in a segment of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE called "The Lover's Vow". Ironically, when KWAIDAN was released in the U.S. this segment (the best, IMO) was left out ...and folks still liked the film (even the NY Times' usually clueless Bosley Crowther). Nominated for an Oscar as "Best Foreign Film".

A collection of four Japanese folk tales with supernatural themes.In his Harakiri review, Roger Ebert described Kwaidan as "an assembly of ghost stories that is among the most beautiful films I've seen". True, Roger, true. A beautiful film, one of the best Japanese films, and probably the single best Japanese horror film ever made. Everything that came out of Japanese later (in the 1990s) owes a little something to this film.Sure, you could say, "But wait, the greatest Japanese horror film is Godzilla." And there is plenty of truth to that. But Godzilla is a whole other category, both in and outside of horror. There was really never anything scary about giant monsters beating on each other.

This film, directed by great Masaki Kobayashi, is divided into four majestically portrayed ancient Japanese horror tales. Although they might come as soft and bland by today's standards, due to the old special effects and year of the film, they may still inflict impact on you if you are into Japanese culture or you enjoy visual films in general. Furthermore, I believe this film was not meant to actually take the scary direction; it actually takes the art and visual one.I personally loved all four stories, but if there is one story that represents the whole atmosphere throughout the film, it is the third one. The third story includes as much Japanese customs and culture as the other ones, but this has that ghostly feeling to it that makes it stand out from the other tales. It concerns a blind lutenist, who is then invited to play for the lord of a clan that was tragically massacred at sea, and are now wandering in torment. Of course, Hoishi, the lutenist, is not aware he is playing for ghosts.If you are expecting to be scared in this film, it is definitely not for you. You will probably get bored, as this film is almost three hours long. On the other hand, if you have the patience to appreciate every frame of the pictures and movement of the camera, then you should give this film a try, I'm sure it will not disappoint you.My rating: 9/10